To understand what was possible, they trained the monkeys to perform a “same-different task” - to decide whether two things are the same or not. This and our custom eye tracker setup gave us great gaze signals,” Arun explained.

So we developed modular head/chin supports to stabilise their head. We saw that monkeys bring their head to the same position each time to drink juice. The second challenge was getting an accurate gaze. “First, we had to design a touchscreen workstation where monkeys could perform complex tasks in return for a juice reward. Science & learning Apart from just building a nice animal-friendly naturalistic lab, Arun and team also solved some major technical challenges. The study has been published in the journal ‘elife’. “As part of the study, they were trained to voluntarily position their heads on a chinrest to learn and perform complex cognitive tasks,” the IISc added. According to IISc, the setup consists of a naturalistic group housing chamber and a behaviour room where monkeys could perform tasks on a touchscreen workstation. This is designed to provide a unique environment where scientists can study novel social interactions while the monkeys are learning, which is currently not possible with traditional methods. In their new lab, monkeys move freely in a large natural space - with trees and play area - and also access a touchscreen workstation, where they can be trained to perform complex tasks.

Science lab setup in bangalore