Using an iPad to develop a human-dolphin language is definitely one of the more unusual uses of the device.

Jack Kassewitz, president of Global Heart, a non-profit firm heading up the dolphin research, is using an iPad loaded with apps to interact with a 2-year-old dolphin named Merlin.

How it works: Kassewitz shows Merlin an image on the iPad – a cube, yellow duck, ball, or a circle – which, if the gadget-friendly dolphin recognizes, he taps with his nose and then looks for the real 3-D object that someone is holding nearby. At the same time, underwater microphones connected to the iPad record what the dolphin is saying; that is, his language.

The goal is to develop a system of symbols and sounds that correspond to objects and concepts for dolphins and humans to communicate.

Like tech fans, the iPad was simply a new gadget for Merlin. “For him, it was a new toy,” Kassewitz said. And Merlin also gets his own stylus. “What happens is, if the dolphin gets too much water on its nose it affects the connectivity between the skin of the dolphin and the iPad so we have a backup system using a dolphin stylus.”

7 Novel Uses for the iPad