Wearable Computers For Rescue Dogs Will Help With Canine Communication

If you were thinking that wearable computers were just a fad, surely all the excitement surrounding Google glass and glass-like innovations have changed your mind. Wearable tech is apparently here to stay, and some people believe in coming years, we will wear computers to do and track just about everything. This is even expanding beyond the realm of humans. This wearable computer for dogs is just one example of how wearable tech is stretching over into the animal kingdom.

This isn’t the first time there have been wearable computers created for dogs. As a matter of fact, there have been several. However, none have been as advanced and as useful as this one. This is the first super techie one I’ve seen, and it could really change the effectiveness and the communication we have with dogs who are performing specific tasks.

This innovation is called “Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations” or FIDO for short. It was developed right down the street from where I live at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Melody Jackson, Thad Starner and Clint Zeagler created this computer specifically for bomb-sniffing dogs, rescue dogs or dogs that assist people with disabilities.

This system has a head-mounted display and a sensor, which allows the handler to transmit a verbal command that the dog can hear through an earpiece or see on the head-mounted display. Also, to communicate information back to people, the dog wearing this computer can bite, tug or put their mouths in a certain place, based on the information that needs to be conveyed.

It’s a whole communication system that allows dogs with occupations and the people who train them to become more effective as a team. Wow, wearable computers have already come such a long way. You can read more about this on Technology Review.