Georgia Tech researchers and Zoo Atlanta are innovating technology to keep elephants healthy and sharp.

Building on this innovation, Arianna Mastali, a Georgia Tech PhD student, is developing an interactive wall that produces sounds elephants typically hear in the wild. Mastali says elephants’ keen ears can hear low-frequency sounds, and that the sounds from the wall keep them mentally stimulated.

She explains, “In the wild, they sometimes communicate through those low frequencies by being able to feel the vibrations and their feet,” Mastali said. “And that’s how they can communicate over long distances. Because of that, we wanted to avoid using any natural elephant sounds in our enrichment. And we specifically chose just basic low tones so that we weren’t interfering or potentially saying anything that could be confusing for the elephants.”

In comparison to other zoos, which have similar enrichment walls, the audio features in this one set it apart. Kirby Miller, Zoo Atlanta’s senior elephant care specialist, is working with Mastali to develop the system.

Describing how the features are tailored, Miller said, “It depends on what behavior we’re trying to elicit. So [if] we want trunk manipulation, object interaction, something sensory, so we can switch that out depending on what it is to keep it novel for them. So, that just keeps them stimulated and keeps their day really interesting.”

As a result of these efforts, the zoo says the elephants have doubled their time at the wall.

Looking ahead, Mastali said, “At this point, we are working towards taking things and removing them from the wall and using a camera with computer vision so that we don’t have to worry about wear and tear long term, or potentially elephants trying to break it. And we are in the process of trying to develop our algorithm to be more accurate in detecting whenever a trunk is present at one of these holes, so we can provide that sound enrichment to them long-term.”

Miller highlights the impact on the caretakers: “It’s been really great for us,” Miller said. “This is a type of enrichment that we can’t provide as caretakers. There’s only so much we can do. So having Arianna do that for us has been really great…”

Looking to the future, Mastali hopes the zoo’s care team can use the wall long after her research is finished.

She adds, “Over the next two years, I would say we are hoping to get something that works full-time, and we can make it so it’s usable for the animal care team to be able to use without our supervision.”

She hopes the interactive tech can be used to engage other zoo animals for years to come.

The City of Decatur cut the ribbon on a new and improved town square Friday. It’s an $8 million project city leaders approved to upgrade the popular gathering area for residents.

“The project began as a master planning process. We call it Town Center 2.0,” said David Junger, the deputy city manager for the City of Decatur. 

Junger said city leaders and members of the community came together to reenvision the space.

“A big part of the transformation project involved the removal of an old gazebo bandstand. It really didn’t function in terms of our concerts and our music that we like to support,” he explained.

Restrooms were also built at the location. 

“We have never had public restrooms up here, and that was big part,” Junger said.

The newly upgraded space was designed especially for families with young kids in mind.

“People come up here to eat dinner, socialize, and now we have a beautiful play area for children,” Junger said excitedly. 

Some residents said they would’ve liked to see the square remain the same. They also questioned why the city spent $8 million on these improvement projects. The deputy city manager, during an interview with CBS News Atlanta, provided details regarding the sources of the funding.

“The great thing about the project is that there are no residential tax dollars going to this,” Junger said. “It’s being purchased by a special-purpose local option sales tax, so it is sales tax dollars being used for this project, and these are improvements that can be enjoyed by all in the community.” 

Additional improvement projects are ongoing.

“On North McDonough, we are building a new pedestrian plaza, and from the north, you are getting an incredible view of the old historic courthouse and the John Lewis statue, and that speaks to our community as well,” Junger said.

Much of the work was planned for completion before the World Cup. 

“We have 30 days of concerts and watch parties for the World Cup events,” he explained.

Those events begin on Thursday.