Sunday, May 22, 2016

Teaching Dogs to Talk is Easier Than You Think

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.

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"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.


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