Woof! Dog-to-Human translator in the works

Soon you may no longer have to wonder what your dog's barking means: a device is in the works to translate the canine's thoughts into English.

 

Dubbed "No More Woof," the device uses electroencephalogram (EEG) technology to read the dog's thought patterns and read them out in human language.

 

 

"Among the patterns we have found are 'I'm Tired,' 'I'm excited' and possibly 'I'm Hungry' and the clearly intense brain activity when a dog sees a new face, that we translate into: 'Who ARE you?'" the developers said on their Indiegogo page.

 

They said they set a low $10,000 goal to be "the start of future development."

 

People who preorder the device will get the first edition of the product, while showing support for further research "into finally breaking the language barrier between animals and humans."

 

According to the developers, the device also uses special brain-computer interface (BCI) software.

 

They also said that since animal brains are less complex than humans, their signal patterns are more distinct for feelings of anger, curiosity or tiredness.

 

New interface

 

The developers said they are experimenting with a new BCI to detect, analyze and translate the brainwaves of dogs into comprehensive thoughts.

 

While earlier versions of the device streamed thought sequences, the latest version now uses Raspberry PI to handle this process directly inside the device. 

 

"This might not seem as a big deal, but actually it clearly distinguishes this project from all previous research. When the EEG readings are gathered, you could say that the trick of reading an animal’s mind is stripped down to a more or less complex deciphering problem," they said.

 

Scraping the possibilities

 

Despite the technology already used for the device, the team said it is just "scraping the surface of possibilities" at this time.

 

"(T)he project is only in its cradle. And to be completely honest, the first version will be quite rudimentary. But hey, the first computer was pretty crappy too," it added.

 

It also stressed all the products are at the first stage and shall be regarded as research support.

 

Not the first time

 

A separate report on Mashable said this was not the first time an EEG headset is used, as similar hardware had been around since 2009.

 

It said a startup, Emotiv, produced a $300 headset for gaming in 2009, and a more advanced headband called Muse is about to go on sale.

 

On the other hand, it said the developers assured no animals are harmed in the experiments.

 

"No animals have ever or will ever be harmed in our experiments No More Woof is a 110% animal-friendly technology," it quoted the lab as saying. — TJD, GMA News