Cross-Species Communication: Formation of a Symbol-Based Human–Animal Digital Interface

Humans and animals share a longstanding bond, yet meaningful cross-species communication remains an open research challenge. While recent digital systems—such as button-based or auditory interfaces—have enabled structured interaction between felines and humans, most approaches begin from human-designed symbols rather than from the actual scenarios in which communication emerges.

This study proposes a scenario-based framework for feline–human interaction. Instead of assuming predefined symbols, the approach begins by identifying recurring behavioural scenarios—such as care, discomfort, attention seeking, or social negotiation. Within each scenario, the goal is to examine which behavioural points may naturally evolve into symbolic representations, based on observable tendencies rather than human inference. This forms the basis for preferential symbol emergence, where symbols arise from the context itself, rather than being imposed beforehand.

Accordingly, the study poses three core research questions:

(1) Which scenarios consistently appear in feline–human interaction?

(2) Within each scenario, which behavioural cues could serve as candidates for symbolic representation?

(3) How might these candidate symbols be digitally encoded and tested without reducing ethologically complex behaviour to fixed abstractions?

For instance, scratching—often associated with discomfort or power imbalance during caregiving—may not represent a single symbol but rather a spectrum of responses which my evolve into a layered multimedia or parametric response within a specific scenario that calls for contextual interpretation. Likewise, observations such as a cat recognizing a worker icon after seeing a real worker suggest that symbol inference may occur through spontaneous scenario-based association rather than direct learning.

By grounding symbolic representation in scenarios rather than assumptions, this work outlines an initial framework for an ethically aligned and perceptually informed digital interface for cross-species communication.