A researcher from Georgia Tech is working on giving dogs the ability to talk to humans, and it could have huge potential for service dogs.
Melody Moore Jackson, creator and director of Georgia Tech's BrainLab, is creating computerized vests for dogs so they can "speak."
The vests come with a lever that the dog could tug, as well as a sensor that the dog can touch with its nose, Jackson demonstrated on Daily Planet's Future Planet. When the dog activates the vest, either by pulling the lever or touching the sensor, it activates a controller unit attached to the vest.
The controller unit can then deliver an audio message or send a text via Bluetooth to a designated contact.
This could have huge potential for service dogs who often need to communicate to get help. If the dog's owner is unconscious, the dog could more easily get help from a passerby using the vest. When the vest is activated, it can send a message like "excuse me my owner needs your attention," Jackson demoed during an NPR interview.
Search and rescue dogs could also use the vests to send their GPS coordinates when they find someone.
But there are other ways the vest could communicate. For example, sometimes the dog may not want to communicate with a third-party person, but with their owner.
Jackson described a scenario in the NPR interview where a dog halted his blind owner because they were approaching wet concrete. When the owner used his cane to detect whether an object was in the way, he felt nothing and insisted that him and the dog keep walking.
The vest could've helped the dog more easily communicate that they had to change their route.
Jackson dubbed her efforts the FIDO Project, which stands for Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations. More research is being done to see if there are other areas on the vest that can be equipped with sensors — it's important that the dog can easily reach any new areas that are used.
In a 2014 formal study, Jackson tested eight dogs who were wearing vests with five different sensors. The longest it took a dog to learn the system was 30 minutes — the fastest was 27 seconds.
That means it's only a matter of time before communicating with your canine friend is taken to a new level.
