Sunday morning

Thanks Johnye for sharing.

Subject: Article from Matilda Ziegler Feature Writer 2013 07 22

Ann Chiapetta - Computerized Vest Helps Dogs Talk Imagine you are working your guide dog and it stops, telling you the path before you is blocked. If you are a blind handler, you will know the dog won't go forward even if you tell it to because it uses intelligent disobedience to avoid the obstacle. Even as you trust your dog and proceed to go around the obstacle, you may not know what is in front of you blocking the way. Instead of being led around the unknown obstacle, and perhaps not ever realizing what it could be, you are told by the dog via a computerized voice or text that it is wet cement. Pretty cool, huh? Say hello to a computerized prototype vest for dogs named "Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Oc'cup'ations", a.k.a. FIDO that is meant to help handlers communicate with their service dogs. According to recent news articles, the device looks like a typical service dog vest that hugs the canine's shoulders and back, fastening under the dog's belly. The FIDO model has a compact computer with a microprocessor that sits between the dog's shoulder blades with several distinctly shaped items which can be pulled or pushed by the dog. Dogs can alert the handler to things like a tornado siren or alarm, alerting the handler to the danger or obstacle with just a tug on a string or push of the nose on a button. Researchers at Georgia Tech are working on the prototype vest to do the very thing described above and much more. Since dogs can understand about 700 words to convey what they see, smell or hear around them, fine tuning the technology that enables us and the dog to communicate better is only a tail wag away from becoming a reality. This is all possible with a mini computer and a receiver, like Google glass or an ear bud to either hear or see the information the dog chooses to convey. For instance, the dog can tug on a toy that represents the information, like stairs or a curb, which is sent via a microcomputer to the handler. The alert system will depend on the dog owner's needs, though researchers are still fine-tuning exactly how the owner will be alerted to what the dog sees, hears, or smells. Potentially any dog that works with its handler will be able to utilize the vest. This is especially encouraging for explosive detection and search and rescue dogs as well as dogs teamed up with people with disabilities. The funding for this research is being paid for by a recent grant from Google Glass team to the Georgia Institute of Technology. Professor Melody Jackson from the Georgia Institute of Technology came up with this idea after discovering that one of her students worked with a guide dog and wanted a better way to find out about the obstacles the dog avoided