Dream job? Here you can watch paid cat videos all day

The project looks at the interaction between cats and humans. To do this research, you need to collect lots of submitted cat videos, watch them and create a database of them.

Of course, that sounds ideal. But is that it? “A lot of people think that you watch several different movies in one day,” project manager Marjo van Koppen tells Editie NL. But the viewing rate isn’t exactly high. “You actually spend days researching a video.”

Analysis

Watching a movie, you are constantly analyzing the content. “You study very precisely which parts of the body a cat uses when it wants to say something and how it uses them.”

For example, you can observe how he asks for food. A cat goes through certain stages to get this message across. “The cat first tries to get its owner’s attention,” says Van Koppen. “If the cat wants to walk to a bowl of food in another room, it will walk slowly in front of you, then turn around several times to make sure you are following it. Then it will point at what it wants. It makes him position his body in a certain way.”

You write what happens during the video every second. Think of a moving ear, a wink, body friction, or a person looking away.

for science

“Then you collect the videos and see which models keep coming back.” If there is enough information in the films, it should be transcribed and published. “This way, other scientists can also view our findings.”

The project actually has two goals: “First of all, it serves science, so that we know how language and communication work. And what is the difference between humans and animals. We also want to use the information to show people what a cat is”. as. means by his body language.

disappoint a lot of people

The Vacancy is very popular with cat lovers. “We have already received several enthusiastic responses, but we still have to disappoint a lot of people,” says Van Koppen. “We are not only interested in people who love cats, but also who have undergone language training.”