7 Wackiest & Craziest Research From Asia: Dog-Bark Translating Device

With all the wonderful research stories we have featured from Asia, it is only fair that we now discuss some of the wackiest. Here are 7 of the craziest stories that made us laugh and cry.

#3: Bowlingual, Dog-Bark Translating Device

What happens when a Japanese acoustics research laboratory and a veterinarian collaborate? The result is the Bowlingual, a dog-bark translating device that aims to help dog owners communicate with their pets.

The canine translator, a brainchild of Dr. Matsumi Suzuki, was developed by Japanese toy giant Takara Tomy through creating a digital library with five thousand samples of canine barks. Analysis of this library led Dr. Suzuki to categorize barks into six distinct patterns, which were matched to to six emotions: sadness, frustration, neediness, happiness, self-assertiveness and wariness.

Want to use the device on both your pet German Shepard and Chihuahua? Just select the breed of dog from a pre-programmed list of over 200 breeds in the device.

Once that is done, just attach the microphone around doggies neck and let it wirelessly transmit barks to a hand-held transmitter that analyzes what is being “said”. For first time dog owners, the device even provides suggestions as to how to react to the various canine emotions.

With it’s simplicity of design and ease of use, it is no wonder the device was named by Time Magazine as a “Best Invention of 2002″, and also picked up an Ig Nobel Prize the same year.

In 2010, Bowlingual was turned into an iPhone app.

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