Orang-utans use Xbox tech to interact

Orang-utans could be playing computer games with Melbourne Zoo visitors by the end of the year.

Learning to adjust the air-conditioning in their exhibits could also be possible one day for the zoo's orang-utans, thanks to a world-first research project.

Researchers for the first time on Tuesday introduced a human participant to work alongside the orang-utans playing interactive games.

The games use interactive motion-sensing technology Microsoft Kinect - commonly used with Xbox - with images projected onto the orang-utans' exhibit and a motion-sensing camera.

The University of Melbourne, Microsoft and Zoo Victoria project aims to give the orang-utans at Melbourne Zoo greater choice and control over how and when they interact with their surroundings.

"What I'm really excited about is that we're not giving them rewards for interacting with this technology - they are doing it because they want to," University of Melbourne researcher Marcus Carter told AAP on Tuesday.

The zoo hopes to let visitors join in the fun and eventually allow the apes more control over their exhibit.

Dr Carter said the technology opened possibilities beyond just enrichment games.

"The challenge comes in how do you design for an orang-utan, rather than what can you do with the technology," he said.

Dr Carter said Malu, the 12-year-old Sumatran orang-utan famous for escaping the exhibit briefly last July, has shown off his problem-solving ability.

"He has understood, in each of the challenges we've been giving him, how to interact," he said.

Malu's sister, five-year-old Dewi, was particularly fond of an application that has videos of her keepers.

If successful, the technology may be introduced for other animals at Melbourne Zoo.