We May Soon Have Pet Translators

August 1, 2017 in Daily Bulletin

In the future you may be able to hear your dog’s perspective on life wrote Sarah Butler and Hannah Devlin:

  • Prairie dogs – which are rodents not dogs – have been found to have a sophisticated language to describe predators and colours.
  • Some think that other mammals – including pet dogs and cats – may have similarly complex language systems.
  • The same algorithms that have substantially improved human voice recognition could be used on animal noises to see if clear patterns emerge.
  • Others are skeptical. Dog barks can be context specific – but most people are pretty good at figuring out already if a dog’s bark is angry or happy.
  • It might be helpful for young children. They often incorrectly think that a dog baring its teeth is smiling and would like a hug.

Read more on The Guardian.