We humans are grappling with growing pains. We're scared of global warming, we're scared of robot overlords, we're scared of 2012. Where is the neutral position between the evolution of technology and the preservation of nature?
What can robots teach us about the Virtual? What can animals teach us about the Physical? How can we ask them what world they might want to live in? Human-to-human communication is hard enough.
So far we have had much failure, some success. Animals can't be themselves in the labs where equipment and researchers need to be to study them. Many seeming successes are so superficial— conditioning a dog to say "I love you", an elephant to paint a self-portrait, or a robot to pass the Turing Test— as if it should be their burden to reach out. Some relationships are more profound. How have these deep connections occurred? What strategies are employed? What are the blankest spots of the Cyborg Trinity?