Although my most recent plans to see Pixar’s newest hit ‘Up’ were thwarted, I have heard good things about it, with many people saying that the ‘talking dog’ was one of the shining stars of the movie. Like everyone else, I have seen the trailers and it definitely seems like ‘Dug the dog’ provided some good comic relief. I have also read that many dog owners and lovers claim that the writers and animators seemed to depict the dog very accurately in both its mannerisms and emotions. Many dog owners have a great connection with their pet, and at times dogs certainly have a way of letting their owner know how they feel without actually telling them. Sometimes its body language and sometimes it’s a groan or bark. But how many times have you experienced a dog just barking for what seems like a random reason? You go check to see if someone is at the door and there’s not. You try to let your dog out in the yard because you think maybe that’s what they’re getting at, yet they don’t want to go outside. You check their food and water supply to see if maybe they’re hungry, and when the food and water bowls are found full, a sentence somewhat along these lines comes next: “What is wrong with this dog? What is he barking at?” In many cases, it winds up being one of life’s mysteries that we will never know the answer to…until now? Yes, I do write it as a question because I am a bit skeptical, but if I had an extra $220, plans for a Japanese vacation, and a dog of course, I may be interested enough to experiment with TakaraTomy’s newest invention: The Bowlingual Voice Dog Collar. The Japanese toy company has released the collar which includes a microphone and digital sound reading device that supposedly translates a dog’s bark into one of six emotions that the dog may be experiencing. Apparently those random barking fits can now be diagnosed as either happy, sad, frustrated, threatening, needy or assertive barking. The story from ABCNews.com says that “The Japan Acoustics Laboratory, according to a press release, provided ‘research and development and consulting as well as aiding speech, acoustics and radio waves’ for the Bowlingual Voice's creation.”
However, despite scientists’ involvement in the project, many are still very skeptical and understandably so. Many make the argument that all dogs don’t bark the same, while others argue that while dogs experience a wide range of emotions, the actual feelings or thoughts that they are experiencing wouldn’t translate into anything us humans can understand or relate to. All I know for certain, is that if a product like this proves to be effective, it is only a matter of time before it becomes a fancy promotional product for your dog to join the likes of our other promotional pet products. After reading Mike’s blog about Doggy beer, it may not be long before your dog is asking you to grab him a cold one.
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