[nagdu] New technology for guy dog users.

[Tara Briggs]

Hi all! I am very curious to hear what all you think about this new technology. Looking forward to the discussion!
Tara 

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Everette Bacon <ebacon at utah.gov>
> Date: December 1, 2015 at 1:25:14 PM MST
> To: marniewest at utah.gov, Tara Briggs <thflute at gmail.com>, Scott Wilcock <stitchbert at gmail.com>, tinabell92 at gmail.com
> Subject: Pretty Cool!
> 
> New Tech Helps Handlers Monitor Health, Well-Being of Guide Dogs
>  
> Sean Mealin and Simba, using a traditional guide dog harness and handle. Photo credit: NC State University.
>  
> For Immediate Release
>  
> November 16, 2015
>  
> Sean Mealin
>  | 
> 336.365.8301
>  
> David Roberts
>  
> Matt Shipman
>  | 
> 919.515.6386
>  
> Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a device that allows people who are blind to monitor their guide dogs, in order to keep tabs
> on the health and well-being of their canine companions.
>  
> “Dogs primarily communicate through their movements and posture, which makes it difficult or impossible for people who are blind to fully understand their
> dogs’ needs on a moment-to-moment basis,” says David Roberts, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper describing
> the new technology. “This challenge is particularly pronounced in guide dogs, who are bred and trained to be outwardly calm and avoid drawing attention
> to themselves in public.”
>  
> This guide-dog harness handle contains electronics that allow users to monitor the breathing and heart rate of their dogs. Photo credit: David Roberts.
> Click to enlarge.
>  
> This guide-dog harness handle contains electronics that allow users to monitor the breathing and heart rate of their dogs. Photo credit: David Roberts.
> Click to enlarge.
>  
> To address this need, the researchers have developed a suite of technologies that monitor a dog’s breathing and heart rate and share the information with
> the dog’s handler.
>  
> “Our goal is to let guide dog handlers know when their dogs are stressed or anxious,” says
> Sean Mealin,
> a Ph.D. student at NC State and lead author of the paper. “This is important because it is widely believed that stress is a significant contributing factor
> to early retirement of guide dogs and other service animals. The technology may also be able to help handlers detect other health problems, such as symptoms
> of heat exhaustion.”
>  
> The issue is particularly important to Mealin, who is blind and works with his own guide dog, Simba.
>  
> The research team had
> previously developed monitoring technologies
> that are incorporated into a lightweight harness that can be worn by rescue or service dogs. The trick was to find a way to share that monitoring data
> with users who are blind – and to do so in a way that allows those users to act on the information.
>  
> “We didn’t want to give handlers an endless stream of information that would be difficult to interpret,” Mealin says.
>  
> So, the researchers developed a specialized handle that attaches to a guide dog’s harness.  The handle is equipped with two vibrating motors.
>  
> One motor is embedded in the handle by the handler’s thumb, and vibrates – or beats – in time with the dog’s heart rate. When the dog’s heart rate increases,
> so does the rate at which the motor beats.
>  
> The second motor is embedded in the handle near the handler’s pinky finger, and vibrates in synch with the dog’s breathing. The vibration increases and
> decreases in intensity, to simulate the dog breathing in and out.
>  
> “We wanted to use electronic signals that intuitively make sense for the dog handlers,” Roberts says.
>  
> The prototype handle has been tested using simulated heart rate and respiratory data, and was found to be effective at accurately conveying information
> to users.
>  
> “We’re refreshing the design and plan to do additional testing with guide-dog handlers,” Roberts says. “Our ultimate goal is to provide technology that
> can help both guide dogs and their people. That won’t be in the immediate future, but we’re optimistic that we’ll get there.”
>  
> The paper, “
> Towards the Non-Visual Monitoring of Canine Physiology in Real-Time by Blind Handlers
> ,” is being presented Nov. 16 at the Second International Congress on Animal Computer Interaction, in Johor, Malaysia. The paper was co-authored by Mike
> Winters, Ignacio Domínguez, Alper Bozkurt and Barbara Sherman of NC State; and by Michelle Marrero-García, a high school student who worked on the project
> as part of a summer program at NC State. The work was done with support from the National Science Foundation under grants DGE-1252376 and 1329738.
>  
> -shipman-
>  
> Note to Editors: The study abstract follows.
>  
> “Towards the Non-Visual Monitoring of Canine Physiology in Real-Time by Blind Handlers”
>  
> Authors: Sean Mealin, Mike Winters, Ignacio X. Domínguez, Alper Bozkurt, Barbara L. Sherman, and David L. Roberts, North Carolina State University; Michelle
> Marrero-García, CROEM Specialized Residential School
>  
> Presented: Nov. 16, Second International Congress on Animal Computer Interaction, Iskandar, Johor, Malaysia
>  
> Abstract: One of the challenges to working with canines is that whereas humans are primarily vocal communicators, canines are primarily postural and behavioral
> communicators. It can take years to gain some level of proficiency at reading canine body language, even under the best of circumstances. In the case of
> guide dogs and visually-impaired handlers, this task is even more difficult. Luckily, new technology designed to help monitor canines may prove useful
> in helping handlers, especially those with visual impairments, to better understand and interpret what their working partners are feeling or saying. In
> prior work a light-weight, wearable, wireless physiological monitoring system was shown to be accurate for measuring canines’ heart and respiratory rates.
> In this paper, we consider the complementary problem of communicating physiological information to handlers. We introduce two nonvisual interfaces for
> monitoring a canine’s heart and respiratory rates, an audio interface and a vibrotactile interface. We also present the results of two initial studies
> to evaluate the efficacy of the interfaces. In the first study we found that many participants were more confident in detecting changes in heart and respiratory
> rate using the audio interface, however most of the time they were just as accurate with the vibrotactile interface with only a slight increase in detection
> latency.
>  
> SHARE
>  
> Everette Bacon M.A. CVRT
> DSBVI Utah
> 250 N. 1950 W.
> SLC, UT. 84116
> 801-323-4372
> ebacon at utah.gov
> Twitter @baconev
> “I know I was born and I know that I’ll die, the in between is mine” E. Vedder
>  
>