They Create A Vest That Allows Communication With Dogs
When the bond with our dog is very strong, sometimes we have said: “It just needs to talk.” Can you imagine what it would be like to be able to communicate with your dog? Being able to have a quiet glass of wine at home while you “talk”? Well, there is a group of American students who believe that this is possible and have decided to create a vest that makes the furry talk.
Does it seem incredible to you? Well it’s true. Although it is a project still in the testing phase, the results are being excellent and very positive. Do you want to know more about this innovative invention?
What is the vest that makes dogs talk?
Do you remember the movie Up ? Yes, the one in which a house flew thanks to a large number of balloons. Well, in that film there was Dug, a very funny dog that had a collar with a galactic appearance but that allowed him to talk to humans. If he lacked such a necklace, communication was impossible.
Have these young entrepreneurs been inspired by that movie for this great invention? We do not know for sure, but it is very likely that it was.
The project is being carried out at Georgia Tech University and the head of the project is Melody Jackson. His idea came from seeing that although dogs can say many things through barking or body expression, until now, that was the only way to communicate, and in many cases that is not enough.
This vest consists of several sensors that are activated by the dog’s bites or by the rubbing of its snout. Once the sensors are in operation, they create sounds that are transformed into human language that can be audible or sent as a text message to a smartphone.
In principle, the vest is designed for “working” dogs such as guide dogs, therapy dogs, assistance dogs, police dogs or rescue dogs. The program is known as FIDO (according to the acronym in English, which translated into Spanish would be something like: facilitate interactions for dogs with occupations).
Real examples of the vest that makes dogs talk
To demonstrate the effectiveness of this vest that makes dogs talk, Melody makes different lectures with real demonstrations that prove the value of this invention.
For example, in one of them, a person with epilepsy and his dog, which was wearing one of the vests, were used. Thanks to this special garment, the dog was able to detect when its owner was going to have an attack and was trained to take it to a wall and prevent it from falling or so that through a direct button it could call emergencies.
He has also spoken on multiple occasions in his lectures about the usefulness that this vest could have in the detection of explosives. The dog could be alone when finding a load and being able to warn its human companions through the canine garment so that they could act more quickly.
On the other hand, in rescue dogs it would be a vital element to speed up the search processes. For example, nowadays, a dog can easily find a person thanks to the incredible virtues of his nose, but when he locates them, he must leave them alone (they could be badly injured or perhaps they are being persecuted …) to return to look for their team. Once he finds it, he will guide his fellow humans to the person in question.
With this vest, most of these steps could be skipped and the process would be greatly streamlined, even saving lives.
When can we see it working? There is no date yet, but the evidence seems to indicate that everything is going from strength to strength, so it is likely that very soon we will be able to witness one of the best inventions in history.
Image source: www.clarin.com
