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Scientists Develop Computer That Can "Translate" Dog's Bark

dailymail.co.uk — In a series of tests the team of scientists, from E ötvös Loránd University in Hungary led by Csaba Molnár, discovered that a computer could recognise whether a dog was in a stranger, fight, walk, alone, ball or play scenario.

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  • linkerjpatrick, on 01/17/2008, -0/+84The first thing that popped into my mind when I read this story was the Far Side cartoon that had the guy wearing a helmet and hearing all the dogs in the neighborhood saying "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
    • gummih, on 01/17/2008, -0/+14Same here - Gary Larson knows best
    • PleaseJustDie, on 01/17/2008, -1/+4My first thought was Sea Quest DSV... Cause the computer could translate the dolphin's speech.
      • terminal157, on 01/17/2008, -2/+12"feed me some fish"

        "I want more fish"

        "I'm in the mood for rape now"

        "feed me more fish or I'll rape you"

        ...Dolphins eat fish and like to rape. It's scientific fact.
    • illegalcortex, on 01/17/2008, -3/+1-
    • foreignwarren, on 01/17/2008, -1/+1damn it......you beat me to it! I think the caption was something like "After 25 years of research, Dr. blah blah finally tests his dog translator" and the next pane shows the dogs going "Hey! Hey!" ...one of my all time favorite Far Sides..... anyone have a link to it?
  • ChronicColonic, on 01/17/2008, -0/+35This article reminds me of this:
    http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z94/bfreeforeve ...
  • risico001, on 01/17/2008, -8/+3Yeah this is ridiculous. A marketing scheme for a product, nothing more.
  • aliquad, on 01/17/2008, -0/+3This article reminds me that my dog knows all about me
  • davmed, on 01/17/2008, -5/+1Only an advertise
  • hammerattack, on 01/17/2008, -3/+60Now can they invent a chip that takes what a woman says and translates that into what they really mean? Like, "Oh honey, don't worry about me, you go have fun with the guys" would translate to "if you don't stay home with me and watch Dancing with the Starts, you'll collect social security before you touch me again."
  • Topher06, on 01/17/2008, -1/+4Is this like the baby translaters. Waa I sh*t myself. Waa I'm hungry, Waa I want attention. Actually, did they just rebrand the baby translator.
  • xeven, on 01/17/2008, -3/+0what will happen next? a computer that will translate cat's meow? or other animal sounds?
  • iupetre, on 01/17/2008, -0/+33Simpsons did it!!!
    • KeepSwinging, on 01/17/2008, -0/+5"This leash is demeaning to both of us"
    • smackafiyah, on 01/17/2008, -0/+4"I want what that dog is eating"
  • TheFiestyFaun, on 01/17/2008, -0/+3Woof! Bark bark!
  • SuperWinner, on 01/17/2008, -0/+25Bark = hungry
    Woof = walkies
    Ruff = happy
  • Jsmuli2, on 01/17/2008, -0/+42"What the hell is this unattainable red dot that magically appears on the floor?!?!?!?!?!"
    "I could have sworn you threw a ball, yet I couldn't hear it hit the ground, HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!?!"
  • MeatBiProduct, on 01/17/2008, -3/+2So does everything that shows up on drudge report make it to the frontpage of digg these days?
  • Dunhamzzz, on 01/17/2008, -1/+9Reminds me of the baby translator from the Simpsons
  • braudio, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1I wonder if it can translates those little woof's that come out when my dog is dreaming? Then I'd actually know if she actually _is_ running or not...
  • HeyArnold, on 01/17/2008, -0/+7your dog wants a steak.
    /this sounds so farking familiar...
  • dupswapdrop, on 01/17/2008, -4/+2I'll buy the translator that takes what my wife saids and turns it into what I want to hear. Wait a minute I do that already!
  • pkarpenko, on 01/17/2008, -0/+13"We must think long and hard about the final solution to the cat problem."
  • vaga222, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1hehe it's from the daily mail, take it with a bucket load of salt :)
  • woohhaa, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1The only thing my dog says is "Pig Ear!".
  • protogenxl, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1Wasn't the BowLingual released in 2002?
    It Won an Ig Nobel
  • Sithlrd, on 01/17/2008, -2/+1Buried. Welcome to TechTV circa 2004.

    http://www.g4tv.com/screensavers/episodes/3533/HD_ ...

  • KatieBee, on 01/17/2008, -5/+5hey, scientists, you know there's still no cure for aids and cancer, right?
  • Curlz31, on 01/17/2008, -4/+1Bark translators!!??!!....are you serious?!!!? ...Imagine how far we would be as a society, if everybody put their brains into something constructive.
  • Encablossa, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1How about a cat?
    http://www.metacafe.com/watch/894687/very_talking_ ...
  • ftbwater, on 01/17/2008, -0/+15If you're too dumb to figure out what your dog wants, you're probably too dumb to make any sort of use of this technology. Buy a lizard.
    • DrDigg, on 01/17/2008, -0/+14No way, you know how much a lizard translator costs
  • thepretext, on 01/17/2008, -1/+0The CESAR 9000?
  • michael43, on 01/17/2008, -0/+3The scientist spent years and a fortune developing the dog translator only to find that the dog wanted to smell his butt.
  • billmill, on 01/17/2008, -0/+2Would I need to teach my dog Hungarian in order do use this? Unfortunately my dog barks in english.
  • FTHamilton, on 01/17/2008, -0/+5It was correct only 43% of the time? This means that whatever it is telling you is probably wrong!
  • reuscel, on 01/17/2008, -0/+2Damn! It's just a bit too late to be used for canine testimony in the Michael Vick trial.
    • metapop, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1they'd have to invent one which allows dead dogs to talk.
  • johnnybluejeans, on 01/17/2008, -1/+343% accuracy? Wow, what a breakthrough. The article says this is better than human recognition, but I don't believe that for a second. Maybe if I was listening to a dog barking on tape I wouldn't have a clue as to what it was barking about (and maybe a computer would have a 40% clue). However, humans have the ability to 'translate' a dogs bark based on the context of the situation and knowledge of the dog's personality.
  • Joners, on 01/17/2008, -0/+6"could recognise whether a dog was in a stranger" Ok....
    • geodescent, on 01/17/2008, -1/+2If you need me I'll be in my lab
    • TheReport, on 01/17/2008, -1/+1apparently Hungarians are quite fond of Beastiality
  • sstidman, on 01/17/2008, -0/+3This is nothing new. BowLingual has been on the market since 2002:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BowLingual
  • rupric, on 01/17/2008, -0/+4It's not rocket scientist, when my dog goes by the door and barks, I don’t need a computer to tell me to get off the couch and take him out or I’ll be cleaning up a hot pile of processed alpo on the next commercial break.
  • cutebutnerdy, on 01/17/2008, -1/+1Where is this world coming to (the dogs). Intresting but anyone can make up a language for their pet it's called baby talk. Leave nature alone, if it were meant for us to understand their language then they would talk in ours.
    • fyngyrz, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1Yeah, and if we were meant to fly, we'd have wings.

      Moron.
  • theonesteve, on 01/17/2008, -0/+0My dog only barks when there's something wrong, not when he wants to go outside, play, or sleep. If he's barking, I don't care about the specifics - it's always obvious what's wrong. This 'research' seems to be a way for the 'scientists' to spend grant money without proving anything.
  • jeffreyjflim, on 01/17/2008, -0/+0wow!!! 43% for guessing the correction situation, and 52% for identifying the correct dog. Given that those percentages might still be significant in light of the number of other possibilities, it still would have been good to be able to get the actual figures for everything... Like was "fight" often confused with "stranger", with fight 43%, and stranger 42%? Just shows a bias there in the program - and frankly in this case, a not very good program.

    And it also mentions that it was most accurate in identifying "fight", and "stranger", and least accurate in "play"? So what is this magical 43% figure then? The average?
  • appletoapple, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1Welcome to the Monkey House....
  • anamaroopa, on 01/17/2008, -0/+0aboriginal tribes people in sri lanka have approximately 50 word vocabularies with their dogs, it is amazing to see.... so the computer guys are a bit behind reality, as often is the case
  • blakeage, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1god poodles are ugly
    • Anonymous3, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1Devil poodles aren't much better either.
  • j0hneb0y81, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1in regards to the title, maybe "Scientists" should be in quotes as well.....
  • Flatlineskillz, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1mmmglavin
  • FecalHurler, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1What's that?? TIMMY FELL DOWN THE WELL??
  • elamr, on 01/17/2008, -1/+1Still no cure for cancer. :..(
  • rrife, on 01/17/2008, -0/+0I bought a dog bark translator from PetSmart for $10 a few years ago.
  • freakguy54321, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1Ron Burgundy: [Ron's dog barks at him] You know I don't speak Spanish.
  • digjam, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1YEAH RIGHT!
  • marrstu, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1Screw that I want a computer that can talk to dogs.
  • Battleloser, on 01/17/2008, -0/+1I'd bet most people who have had a somewhat vocal dog in their lives can pick up on doggyspeak pretty quickly without the use of a computer.
    • chrisb62, on 01/18/2008, -0/+0i was about to say the same thing. ive had my dog for about 11 years now, and i know exactly what she wants or is doing when shes barking.
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