Friday, January 18, 2008

I Know What Dogs Think! I Know What Dogs Like!


LIFE IMITATING A GARY LARSON 'THE FAR SIDE' CARTOON STRIP

Hungarian scientists are working on a computer program to enable people to understand dog barks.

The software is said to work out the nuances of a dog's barks, howls, yaps and growls, reports the BBC.

After analyzing 6,000 barks, it aims to determine when a dog has seen a ball, when it is fighting, playing, meeting a stranger or when it wants a walk.

But the scientists admit the technology only just out-performs humans.

While the computer correctly recognized the emotional state of 43% of dogs, humans did almost as well with 40%.

Csaba Molnar, from Eotvos University in Budapest, told the BBC: "I would say that we proved there are very strong contextual differences between the barks.

"But very long further work is needed to determine which emotional states and which characteristics belong to each different breed.

No comments: