Fantasy Science Pt. 30: Talking Dogs In UP & Real Life

Have you ever wondered just how accurately sci-fi films portray real science? Well, my friends, this column is for you! Fantasy Science & Coffee, aims to bridge the gap between science and science fiction in films and popular culture. My hope is to explain things in a fun way – like we’re chatting over coffee.

You may be thinking: who is this person, why does she think she can explain science, and why the heck would I want to have coffee with her? Well, I’m Radha, a scientist based in India. I quite like hot beverages. I’ll also pay.

In this thirtieth part of the series published on the second Tuesday of every month, we’re going to chat about the talking dogs in the film Up and some real-life tech that gives voice to our best friends!

Talking Dogs in Up

You’re in the South American wilderness, stuck in a labyrinth of trees and strange rock formations, and you stumble across…someone’s pet dog. And the dog comes up to you and begins to talk. In English. He says:

My name is Dug and I have just met you and I love you.

Because that’s exactly the sort of thing a dog would say, isn’t it? This is the situation Carl Fredrickson and Russell from the 2009 film Up find themselves in. After obviously being stunned for a few moments, they are delighted. Well, little Russell is delighted; it takes Fredrickson most of the film to truly appreciate the adorableness that is Dug. The friendly dog is but one of many talking dog companions of villain inventor Charles Muntz. What allows them to talk is a collar Muntz designed to capture every canine thought and convert it into human language. And by every canine thought, I mean every canine thought: The dogs often get distracted mid-sentence and shout, “Squirrel!”

Hilarious and spot-on, right? It’s clear that the makers of Up contemplated a question most animal-lovers among us have probably pondered at some point: What if dogs could talk? Interestingly, some researchers are taking this question quite seriously. While we are still far away from being able to hold long, meaningful conversations with our best friends (I’m talking about two-way communication in human languages, I’m totally not implying that the conversations you currently have with your dog aren’t long and meaningful!), technology is being developed that may help working dogs better communicate not only with their humans but strangers as well.

Talking Dogs in Real Life

One of the projects at Georgia Tech’s Animal-Computer Interaction Lab is called Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations or, very appropriately, “FIDO.” They are not building collars but vests that aide communication between working dogs and the people they assist. The wearable technology incorporates sensors that rely on natural canine behavior, such as biting, tugging, and nose touches.

Here’s a description from their 2014 paper, FIDO—Facilitating interactions for dogs with occupations: wearable communication interfaces for working dogs:

The main goal of the FIDO project is to research fundamental aspects of wearable technologies to support communication between working dogs and their handlers. In this study, the FIDO team investigated on-body interfaces for dogs in the form of wearable technology integrated into assistance dog vests. […] We were able to demonstrate that it is possible to create wearable sensors that dogs can reliably activate on command, and to determine cognitive and physical factors that affect dogs’ success with body–worn interaction technology.

Think about how beneficial this could be! Imagine being approached in a public area by a service dog that says, “Please follow me, my owner requires assistance.” There would be no ambiguity about why the dog approached you. You’d follow straight away, potentially saving someone’s life.

In an HLN interview, Dr. Melody M. Jackson, founder and director of FIDO, explains how one of their partners who tests the technology uses a wheelchair and is unable to call loudly for help because she has a soft voice. Her dog is equipped with a sensor that, if activated, triggers a loud call for help. Here’s the video in which the technology is demonstrated:

The applications are not solely medical. The project targets a variety of working dogs, including search & rescue, military, and police dogs. The dogs can be trained, for instance, to alert handlers about how unstable an explosive is, rather than to simply detect the presence of an explosive.

There are, of course, some hurdles to cross, which is why the vests currently serve a single function each, and this technology is not yet widespread. Sensor technology needs to be precise and cannot accidentally be set off by a dog’s environment or regular canine behavior like grooming, in order to avoid literal false alarms. And then there’s the training. Interestingly, the ACI lab at Georgia Tech is also looking into “Predicting the Suitability of Working Dogs using Instrumented Dog Toys,” which can potentially save tons of resources if dogs are deemed unsuitable for work in the early stages of training.

So while wearable technology for animal-human communication is still in the R&D stage, it’s got amazing life-changing potential. And who knows, down the line, it may expand beyond working animals to include domestic pets, literally giving voice to their thoughts. Though, to be honest, as a cat lady, I’m not sure if I want my suspicions confirmed that my cats are secretly plotting world domination. Not to mention the horrible secrets they’d spill to my guests. I do, however, wonder what sort of jokes they’d share. Like Dug reciting his favorite joke:

Hey I know a joke! A squirrel walks up to a tree and says I forgot to store acorns for winter and now I am dead. Ha! It is funny because the squirrel gets dead.

Now the question is: if your dog could talk, what would your dog say?

More to Explore

Articles

Wired: The Tech Helping Dogs Learn to ‘Talk’ With Humans (2019)

The Guardian: Barks and bytes: the rise of wearable tech for pets (2017)

The Conversation: Wearable tech isn’t just for humans – dogs, cats and chickens are sporting it too (2014)

Papers

C. Byrne, et. al. “Predicting the Suitability of Service Animals Using Instrumented Dog Toys.” Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies. (2018)

A. Godfrey, et. al. “From A to Z: Wearable technology explained.” Maturitas. (2018)

G. Valentin., et. al. “Wearable Alert System for Mobility-Assistance Service Dogs.” Journal on Technology and Persons with Disabilities. (2015)

M. M. Jackson, et. al. “FIDO—Facilitating interactions for dogs with occupations: wearable communication interfaces for working dogs.” Personal and Ubiquitous Computing. (2014)

Resources

ACI Lab at Georgia Tech Homepage