A Bark Translator
Translation technologies are very advanced and they never cease to amaze. Not only are they facilitating communication between different cultures, but now they have gone much further. With the new bark translator released by the Nordic Society for Invention and Discovery, the language of dogs will now be understood.
Dogs use different mechanisms to express themselves and communicate what is in their brain. They wag their tails or adopt postures that suggest how they feel or what they want. However, barking is that way of “saying” out loud “what they are thinking or experiencing.
Many dogs bark looking at their owner. They want to be understood, but they don’t always succeed. Sometimes those barks are enigmatic. The owner can’t figure out what they mean. That is why the bark translator promises to be one of the great solutions of these times.
This is how the bark translator works
The bark translator is a headset that has been dubbed “No More Woof”. The dog must wear it on his head, and thus a special device measures the electrical signals from his brain.
The signals go to a system that has patterns of neurophysiology, microcomputation, and special software. All this is recorded on a computer board called “Raspberry Pi”.
Once that step is completed, the system processes all the information and converts it into human spoken language. You can choose the output language. The result is heard through a loudspeaker, or through an application on the mobile device. The bark translator works as a simultaneous interpreter.
What can be interpreted
It is necessary to clarify that the new barking translator offers only an approximate version of the dog language. It cannot be expected to deliver overly detailed messages about what a dog is feeling or thinking.
The No More Woof device can only decipher the basic patterns of some emotions. Among them are happiness, sadness, tiredness, hunger and curiosity caused by a person or another animal.
The creators of this bark translator have indicated that the device is still under development. Little by little its capacity will expand. This will allow more complete and varied messages to be interpreted, so that communication is more fluid.
Barking, a canine language?
Until just a few decades ago, the barking of dogs was thought to be just a meaningless noise.
Although full information is not yet available in this regard, progress has been made in the investigation. So far , at least three types of barking have been identified. The first of these is the so-called “super bark”. It is a low, energetic and fast bark. It is associated with disturbing situations.
The second type of barking is higher-pitched and somewhat melodious. Dogs have been identified to emit it when they feel lonely or isolated.
Finally, the choppy and intense barks are those used by canines to play.
The future of bark translators
Everything seems to indicate that the barking translator is one of those inventions that is here to stay. The No More Woof is not the only one on the market. In 2007, one of these translators had already been invented in Japan. Likewise, Amazon has announced that in 10 years it will have a similar super device on the market.
Despite all this technological advance, it should not be forgotten that communication between humans and dogs has a strong affective component. A good owner learns to interpret almost perfectly what his dog wants or does not want. In some cases, just a glance or an attitude is enough for the message to be understood partially.
The bark translator can make this long-standing and close relationship much easier. However, it will not be able to replace that kind of telepathy that is forged when the dog and its owner are great friends. That wonderful and deep channel of affection can never be supplanted.
Finally, it should be remembered that barking is only one of the forms of expression of dogs. There are many more. They go to great lengths to understand their masters. It is worth making the same effort to understand them.
