Designing an internet for dogs
鈥極n the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog鈥 is a meme from the early days of the web. The internet was developed to share information and bring communities separated by geography together, and researchers interested in both animal welfare and machine interfaces are beginning to ask if this can be applied to other animals.
鈥楢 2018 study of British dogs found that, of the 8.9 million dogs in the UK, 2.1 million were left alone for considerable periods of time. Dogs which are unable to socialise may be more prone to developing negative and problematic behaviours, and the lack of dog-to-dog contact is a major issue in affecting behavioural problems in solitary pet dogs,鈥 says Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, the computer scientist from Aalto University leading the study.
To combat the stresses lonely dogs feel, Dr Hirskyj-Douglas and her colleague, Interaction Design Professor Andr茅s Lucero from Aalto School of Arts, Design and Architecture, have started exploring dog-computer interfaces to try and focus in on where our gaps in understanding exist, so researchers can solve these problems to develop a doggy internet.
Non-human interaction with computers has been limited to only animal-to-computer or animal-to-human interactions, such as tech to enrich animal enclosures in zoos or things like TV channels for dogs. Dr Hirskyj-Douglas has already researched , and is currently extending this research further into dog-to-dog communication.
The Design Ideas
The ideas that make dog-to-dog internet communication possible are intrinsically fun, but the research itself is serious. A team of designers and researchers brainstormed potential devices, and then compared their proposals to see where common challenges lie. The six proposed designs fell into two broad categories, internet connected toys and screen-based devices, where dogs could interact with each other in real time.
Companion-Dog aims to let dogs in different houses play with each other using a dog plush toy. When this toy is picked up, it alerts the other Companion-Dog toy in a friend鈥檚 house through a series of 鈥榳oof鈥 sounds. If the other dog would like to play, he/she also picks up the Companion-Dog toy. This then activates a screen that lets the dogs communicate
Virtual Walk allows the dog to 鈥榳alk鈥 and 鈥榬un鈥 with his or her friends whilst in the home. This device is made up on a treadmill which the dog can run/walk on and a screen to see their friends also running/walking at the same time.
When the dog walks up to the screen, it turns on and shows content to the dog. This content is based upon the dog鈥檚 behavior, where his/her feedback is collected through his/her tail wags (equivalent of a 鈥榣ike鈥). The dog keyboard has several buttons which allow the manual changing of the content to comedy, food, action, cat videos and nature. This keyboard also has a button to allow the dog to call a friend, who will then also be shown on the TV screen and the content shared allowing joint viewing.
Tangiball allows two dogs to play with balls that remotely move the same whilst seeing holograms of one another. For example, this allows one dog in their home to pick up Tangiball and throw it, throwing the Tangiball in the second dogs home. As a result, this allows two dogs to play with each other in a way that simulates two dogs playing with a ball at the park.
Dogs like 鈥榯ug-of-war鈥 games with ropes. When the first dog interacts with the technology a notification will be sent to the second dog by wiggling the rope in the second dogs home alerting the dog that his/her friend wants to play. Once both dogs have 鈥榖itten down鈥 on the rope the tug of war game begins. The strength of the 鈥榯ug鈥 from each dog is sent through the rope to allow for long distance interaction with the tangible rope object.
This idea allows neighbouring dogs to organise to meet each other. If one dog wants to meet another dog, a laser guides them leading to a nearby fence. The other dog鈥檚 collar shines a laser on the floor which guides the dog to the fence.
The conclusion from the design session is that for the dog internet to progress, further research would be needed to turn specific dog behaviours into inputs that machines can then use to transmit to, and be understood by, other dogs. 'Understanding what is being 鈥渟aid鈥 by the dog to the technology and understanding the relationship between the dog and other actors is core,鈥 says Dr Hirskyj-Douglas.
The results of the work are being presented at the The team hope that the ideas raised will help guide the field towards developing tech for animals to connect to one other.
Further details:
Contact details:
Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas
ilyena.hirskyj-douglas@aalto.fi
Professor Andr茅s Lucero
andres.lucero@aalto.fi
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