Abstract

The biodiversity crisis is increasingly addressed in studies of human-computer interaction and closely related disciplines. Although established and emerging technologies offer opportunities to appreciate and engage with the nature, relatively few studies have considered the roles these tools can play in facilitating humans and animals cohabiting spaces such as backyards, neighborhoods, and cities. Our goal was to summarize the technologies and approaches that have been used in this arena and to identify overlooked or important areas for future studies. We conducted a systematic literature review of research published in the ACM and IEEExplore digital libraries. We found and reviewed 15 studies that focused on using technology to facilitate cohabitation with wildlife that were published prior to February 2024. Within this small sample of growing literature, games and cameras were the only technologies used in >1 study. A more obvious trend was that most studies were either focused on birds or were not specifically geared towards engaging with a particular wildlife taxa. These results show that technological interventions for inspiring human-wildlife cohabitation is a field still in the early stages of development. We recommend more studies focus on misunderstood, or persecuted wildlife that are in need of improved relationships with human communities.