There ‘s A Tech That’s Helping Dogs Learn How To Talk With Humans

Technology has gone so far these days, making the world a smaller place. Along with the advances in technology, one team is working hard on research and technology for man’s best friend. In this modern and fast-paced world, this company aims to achieve a dog-human communication where technology would allow dogs to speak in ways that people could understand.

The FIDO Project at Georgia Institute of technology is currently working on nose-activated vests and touchscreens that can be used by our furry friends to summon help for their handlers and so much more. The vest is one of the many emerging technologies that some universities are currently developing that could change the way working dogs and probably even pet dogs can communicate with people forever. People can now imagine a technology where the dog is the sensor, states Melody Jackson, FIDO Project director.

Jackson, who has a doctorate in computer science, is leading a team of scientists at Georgia Tech with the primary objective of enabling interactions for working dogs. A Project called FIDO targets to allow handlers soon to understand their dogs and dogs to communicate with them. The technology is currently being developed by the Jackson laboratory.

The research includes testing wearable devices for our furry friends, an in-home dog-friendly touchscreen panel, and a way to interpret what is being conveyed by a dog’s variety of barks. The results from these pieces of research could pave a way to a world of potentials for the way dogs and humans interact. To see whether the dogs could trigger wearables, the dogs in one of the research of the FIDO project were trained to utilize basic interfaces connected to their vests that necessitate a tug, bite, or poke using their nose.

The interface activates the simple Arduino circuit boards loaded with an SD card to record and monitor the dog’s interaction with the device. In one study, 11 different dogs with different breeds, backgrounds, and levels of training were used in testing various interfaces. The tests show a surprising result; that is, a wide range of dog breeds can be quickly trained to utilize the interfaces which they have never seen before.

So far, no one has commercialized any products building on this particular research. But, Jackson’s team and the FIDO Project has been coordinating with the police, military, and one private company, all of whom are deeply interested in developing products and technology based on the findings of the project.