Scientists are working on a pet translator because the future is here

Woof.

At some point or another, every pet owner wonders if their animals can understand them. I tend to have this thought on the reg, especially when I find myself asking my dog “how did you sleep last night?” each morning.

Turns out, understanding our puppers could be a reality in the not-so-distant future, with NBC reporting that scientists are working on a pet translator.

It’s said that artificial intelligence is helping scientists translate animals’ vocalisations and facial expressions into something we can actually understand.

So far, the calls of marmoset monkeys have been listened to and phrased, and an AI machine has been used to detect the facial expressions of sheep to determine when the animals are in pain.

Author of Chasing Doctor Dolittle: Learning the Language of Animals, Dr. Con Slobodchikoff is also currently working on an algorithm that will decipher the meanings of dogs’ behaviour. The ultimate goal is to create a device that can be pointed at a dog and translate its barks to English phrases like “I want to eat now” and “I want to go for a walk.”

According to a report on future trends sponsored by Amazon, we can expect a fully-working pet translator within 10 years.

You can read more about the developments here.