Artificial Intelligence software used to Determine Dog Bark Meaning

In a recent study, it has been shown that computer software can recognize and determine the meaning of a dog bark. 14 Hungarian Sheep Dogs had over 6,000 barks recorded and tested with computers and humans. These barks were then broken down into 6 different bark types.

1. Dogs barking at strangers

2. Barks during a fight (with a trainer and protective clothing, not dog fights)

3. Barks for walks

4. Barks for balls

5. Playtime barks

6. Barks while the dog was left alone and the owner walked out of sight

It was determined that overall, computers and humans can recognize different barks types. Humans were able to better determine the play and alone bark and computers were better able to determine the walk and ball bark.

Dogs were chosen for this experiment because of their long companionship with humans. It was noted that when humans speak to dogs, you can understand their intentions, where communication between just animals is harder to understand. In the future other dog breeds will be used. The different types of dogs could impact how they communicate with each other and humans. To read the full article please visit: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22689420/