[NAGDU] [nagdu] New technology for guy dog users.

Cindy Ray cindyray at gmail.com
Wed Dec 2 16:11:41 UTC 2015 

With all due respect, I don't believe it would help brand spanking new dog users either. I never once felt that I wasn't in charge. I wasn't paying attention and had a problem with my first dog that my attentiveness might have helped to save, but that's only speculation. I could not imagine that something like this would have assisted me.
Cindy Lou Ray
cindyray at gmail.com


-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Wayne And Harley via NAGDU
Sent: Wednesday, December 2, 2015 7:01 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Wayne And Harley <k9dad at k9di.org>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] [nagdu] New technology for guy dog users.


    
I think, this tech would only be useful to brand spanking new Guide Dog Owners.  Experienced GDO's use their ears, other senses and knowledge of their dogs to, unconsciously, monitor their dogs.


Yours, Very Sincerely And Respectfully,

Wayne M. Scace 

-------- Original message --------
From: Cindy Ray via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Date: 12/2/2015  06:39  (GMT-06:00) 
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,	the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org> 
Cc: Cindy Ray <cindyray at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] [nagdu] New technology for guy dog users. 

Didn't the article say the one guy was blind? I think he was one of the researchers. I'm not interested enough to re-look because I think it is bogus, but that's just me. I agree with you, Julie. But even if the one guy is blind, that isn't a representation. I think igt is unnecessary; I also think that they would end up having a specific harness handle you would have to use and on and on. And what would you expect to pay for this little gem?
Cindy Lou Ray
cindyray at gmail.com


-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J. via NAGDU
Sent: Wednesday, December 2, 2015 6:35 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Julie J. <julielj at neb.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] [nagdu] New technology for guy dog users.

I saw this on Facebook a while ago.  I went to check out the website and it isn't accessible.  Go figure.  Now, to be absolutely honest, I don't know if it was the website of the actual product or another website who was just talking about it.

I agree with what everyone else has said.  It's unnecessary, too reliant on technology, doesn't matter in the end and all that.  I'd also like to add that the  creators of this are apparently clueless about harness handles. 
There are harnesses where the handle doesn't come off, harnesses with proprietary handle connections, all sorts of connection configurations, lengths of actual handle, offset, ergonomic, material and the list goes on. 
It is laughable to think that this handle they are creating will be able to swap on to any harness.

I wonder if they talked to actual blind people with actual guide dogs and asked what would be helpful?  It seems that inventors and researchers just go off in any random direction.  I suppose there's money and it satisfies their curiosity, so why not?  Still I wish there was a little more effort put into validation of product ideas before all this money was spent on stuff that about 5 people are going to use in the end.

Julie
Courage to Dare: A Blind Woman's Quest to Train her Own Guide Dog is now available! Get the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QXZSMOC
-----Original Message-----
From: Tara Briggs via nagdu
Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2015 7:15 PM
To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
Cc: Tara Briggs
Subject: [nagdu] New technology for guy dog users.

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
>
>
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