Towards a canine-human communication system based on head gestures

We explored symbolic canine-human communication for working dogs through the use of canine head gestures. We identified a set of seven criteria for selecting head gestures and identified the first four deserving further experimentation. We devised computationally inexpensive mechanisms to prototype the live system from a motion sensor on the dog's collar. Each detected gesture is paired with a predetermined message that is voiced to the humans by a smart phone. We examined the system and proposed gestures in two experiments, one indoors and one outdoors. Experiment A examined both gesture detection accuracy and a dog's ability to perform the gestures using a predetermined routine of cues. Experiment B examined the accuracy of this system on two outdoor working-dog scenarios. The detection mechanism we presented is sufficient to point to improvements into system design and provide valuable insights into which gestures fulfill the seven minimum criteria.

[1]  Cassim Ladha,et al.  Dog's life: wearable activity recognition for dogs , 2013, UbiComp.

[2]  Thad Starner,et al.  FIDO—Facilitating interactions for dogs with occupations: wearable communication interfaces for working dogs , 2014, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing.

[3]  T. Vicsek,et al.  Identification of Behaviour in Freely Moving Dogs (Canis familiaris) Using Inertial Sensors , 2013, PloS one.

[4]  Alexander Ferworn,et al.  Canine Pose Estimation: A Computing for Public Safety Solution , 2009, 2009 Canadian Conference on Computer and Robot Vision.

[5]  Thad Starner,et al.  MAGIC: a motion gesture design tool , 2010, CHI.

[6]  C. Ades,et al.  A dog at the keyboard: using arbitrary signs to communicate requests , 2008, Animal Cognition.

[7]  Alper Bozkurt,et al.  Machine learning based posture estimation for a wireless canine machine interface , 2013, 2013 IEEE Topical Conference on Biomedical Wireless Technologies, Networks, and Sensing Systems.

[8]  Clarence J. Pfaffenberger,et al.  Guide Dogs for the Blind, Their Selection, Development, and Training , 1976 .

[10]  Andrew Stuart,et al.  Exploring interspecies sensemaking: dog tracking semiotics and multispecies ethnography , 2012, UbiComp.

[11]  R. Brugarolas,et al.  Behavior recognition based on machine learning algorithms for a wireless canine machine interface , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Conference on Body Sensor Networks.

[12]  L. J. Myers,et al.  The scientific foundation and efficacy of the use of canines as chemical detectors for explosives. , 2001, Talanta.

[13]  C. Peirce,et al.  Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce , 1936, Nature.

[14]  Alexander Ferworn,et al.  Wireless estimation of canine pose for search and rescue , 2008, 2008 IEEE International Conference on System of Systems Engineering.