Do you know when your four-legged friend is happy, sad, wants a treat or just wants to get out of the house? Thanks to new technology developed by EPF in Lausanne, dog owners will now be able to tell exactly how their pets are feeling.
Called the SuperAnimal model, the software is able to analyse the facial expressions, posture and gestures of 45 different animals, including our canine friends. By analysing several key points on an animal’s body, they are able to develop a picture of how the animal is feeling.
According to experts at the university, beyond knowing that dogs vigorously shake their tails when happy, you can read a lot into how they are feeling by analysing body language. This includes the position and movement of the legs, back, tail, tongue and ears.
EPFL noted that thanks to artificial intelligence, the new software is able to “automate the analysis of these movements, however subtle they may be.” It is hoped that by using pictures and videos taken via mobile phone, the software can read emotions and diagnose conditions in pets and wild animals that may not be obvious or visible to the human eye.
“Developing such tools not only eliminates observational bias but also helps humans draw faster and more reliable conclusions,” they noted. It is hoped that the algorithm can be used on more animals like fish, birds and insects in the future.
“Veterinarians are of course particularly interested, as is biomedical research…But it goes further,” noted EPFL expert Mackenzie Mathis, adding that new sport and neurological research could be made possible by the Swiss invention. What's more, the SuperAnimal is now freely available to veterinarians around the world and is completely open source.