Artificial intelligence could train your dog while you are out at work. A prototype device can issue basic dog commands, recognise if they are carried out and provide a treat if they are.
Jason Stock and Tom Cavey at Colorado State University trained an AI to identify when dogs were sitting, standing or lying down using over 20,000 images of dogs from different breeds. The AI achieved 92 per cent accuracy.
This was then combined with a moveable camera, a speaker for issuing instructions and a dog treat delivery tube to create an automated trainer.
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The AI found it trickier to tell the difference between being prone and standing in dogs than in humans. 鈥淚f the AI was looking at the legs, for instance, it would do better, as opposed to looking at the shape of the back or some other feature of the dog,鈥� says Cavey.
Cavey says his motivation for the project was finding it hard to keep his hyperactive Australian shepherd dog entertained while he was out at work.
鈥淚t is a step forward and an exciting area,鈥� says Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas at Aalto University, Finland, who has a PhD in dog-computer interaction. 鈥淵et it is also ethically precarious as computers are not able to recognise the welfare of dogs as effectively as humans.鈥�
Dirk van der Linden at Northumbria University in the UK also praises the tech while having some qualms. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the automating of the human-dog relationship that I think is increasingly problematic, because it is using a technological fix for a very valuable interspecies relationship that caregivers ought to keep working on,鈥� he says.
That is something Cavey is aware of. 鈥淥ur future work would be to look and see what is a good emotional state, rather than good behaviour,鈥� he says.
搁别蹿别谤别苍肠别:听arXiv,
