Maybe the idea came with Dug, the dog in the movie “Up,” whose owner created a collar that translates his language into human and allows Dug to converse quite capably.
Amazon is interested in the development of animal communications expert Dr. Con Slabodchikoff’s translating dog collar. The Northern Arizona University professor emeritus and CEO of Animal Communications Limited has spent the past 30 years examining the communications of prairie dogs, who, as it happens, have a very sophisticated language. For example, he says, they have sounds to alert when a predator is seen that go beyond just a simple, “Look out,” to offering very specific information about the species and appearance of a threat. “For humans,” he says, “the color of clothes the humans are wearing, the size and shape of the humans, even whether or not the humans have a gun.” If it’s a dog or coyote, they have detailed language to describe that threat.
Dr. Slabodchikoff hopes his life’s work will help cut down on the number of dogs who end up in animal shelters, or euthanized, because of behavioral problems. “So my thinking is if we can develop this device, which I know that we can, that humans will be better able to understand the needs of their dogs and dogs will be better able to understand the needs of their humans,” he tells KTRH News.
He expects something to be on the market in less than ten years, possibly five, and is currently looking for funding for development.
IMAGE: Disney