Teaching dogs to talk is easier than you think
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/18/tech/talking-dogs-georgia-institute-technology/
Atlanta (CNN)If dogs could talk, Melody Jackson knows what they would say. Or at least, what she'd like them to say.
Jackson,
an associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has
developed technology that is giving dogs a voice, an ability she says is
crucial for search and rescue, bomb detection and therapy dogs. The
dogs wear vests equipped with sensors that can send either audible cues
or text notifications to a smartphone.
Jackson
earned her Ph.D. in computer science from Georgia Tech in 1998 and has
trained assistance dogs for nearly 20 years. Now she's putting her two
passions together. Jackson's research team, which includes professor
Thad Starner and research scientist Clint Zeagler, has created high-tech
vests for canines for a project called FIDO, which stands for
"Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations." The program is
sponsored by The National Science Foundation and also the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DARPA.
The vests have been approved by Jackson's 8-year-old border collie, Sky.
"He
actually has helped us design a lot of these sensors, by telling us
what works and what doesn't work," she says. "So, he's sort of our first
line of testing before we go out to the rest of the world. He's a very
critical part of our design team."
The
vest has side sensors that the dogs trigger with a bite or a nudge of
their nose. They're trained with toys, identifying between a Frisbee or a
ball, and telling their handler which is which. Jackson explains this
is an example of a "discrimination task" that can be translated to more
important tasks, such as bomb detection, where the dog would tell his
handler what explosive he or she has scented.
Jackson
has been observing bomb dog training in hopes of putting her vests to
the test with canines on patrol with soldiers on the battlefield.
"A
bomb-sniffing dog has pretty much one alert that says, 'Hey, I found an
explosive." But that dog knows what explosive is in there. ... They
know if it's something stable like C4 or something unstable and
dangerous like TATP that needs to be handled carefully," Jackson says.
The problem is "they have no way to tell their handler."
Jackson
and her research team have also developed a medical alert vest that
allows a dog to find a missing or trapped person, activate a sensor, and
let that person know that help is on the way. This task could be
instrumental during an earthquake or disaster rescue where a trapped or
injured person is in need of assistance. This vest is being beta tested
by a real service dog team in California, Jackson says.
Georgia
Tech is also working to develop a vest that allows the handler to track
the dog wearing it. When the dog finds its target, the dog activates a
sensor that sends GPS coordinates back to the handler. The dog then
tells the person in jeopardy that help is on the way, and the rescue
canine does not have to leave the victim's side.
Jackson believes there are personal applications for this technology as well.
"What
if that dog could reach around and pull a tab on its vest and call 911
with your GPS location, and text your husband: 'By the way she's at
Starbucks on Fifth and Spring, and she's having a seizure right now.'
Your husband would know immediately that 911 is on the way."
The
vest could be helpful for a person who cannot speak or a
hearing-impaired person. The dog could tell others to get help with the
phrase "Excuse me, my handler needs your attention." Jackson's dogs are
also trained to discriminate between a doorbell or a fire alarm, and to
activate the appropriate sensor on their vest to text a message to the
handler's cell phone.
"A hearing
dog helps someone who's deaf, so they alert to things like the doorbell
ringing or the baby crying or someone calling your name," Jackson says.
"What they'll do is nudge their owner and take them to the source of the
sound. ... What if that sounds is a tornado siren? That's just in the
environment. The dog has no way to lead you to the source of that
sound."
Jackson says one of her
dogs was able to understand the vest and its capabilities in just 27
seconds. She believes any trainable dog would be able to pick up on the
technology very quickly.
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