To complicate matters, I have come up with a shopping list of ideas for final projects. Here are the finalists:

  1. BARK/ART

BARK/ART tracks a dog’s vocal activity, as it is related to canine anxiety,and translates the barking into art. Via a microphone or sound sensor of some sort picks up the barking while the owner is away, and the program will draw a shape. The shape’s size, girth, etc will be directly connected to the length of the barking for that particular incident. It will also offer a time stamp. The ownerIMG_1954 can then track the data and see if there are patterns of barking behavior and possibly discover triggers or specific times when the dog experiences this heightened anxiety and see if there is any way to lessen that feeling for their animal. They can also save the “art” that is created from this scenario.

 

2) O.K9 (Pet Version 1.0)
Another project idea having to do with dog anxiety, O.K9 1.0 reacts to a dog’s barking. When it hits a certain pattern of length/volume and senses the dog nearby via motion sensor, preloaded images, videos and/or voiceovers of the owner talking to the dog will appear on a screen visible to the dog, in hopes of alleviating stress and calming them down. (In a future iteration, this would involve the ability for the dog to be trained to use the interface to call and video chat their owner.)

3) O.K9 (Pet Version 2.0)
IMG_1952This product again attacks canine anxiety via a physical object that acts as a temporary fix for the owner’s absence. The device is a larger stuffed object in the shape of a human. The human puts a shirt on the stuffed object to give it their scent for the dog to recognize. The stuffed human is then placed in an accessible location to the dog. The stuffed human can be preprogrammed by the owner with different phrases that are familiar and comforting to the dog. If the dog comes close to the device or barks near it so that the motion and/or sound sensors pick up the communication, the response and output of these phrases will be released per incidence of bark/motion. This will hopefully calm down the dog and encourage him/her to cuddle up and relax with the stuffed version of their human.

4) O.K9 (Human Edition)
IMG_1951This therapy dog app and interface is designed for users who could benefit from a therapy dog, but do not have the ability to have one. Whether it be for seniors in a nursing home, people with mental health issues in non-pet-friendly housing, or patients in a hospital, they will now have the ability to experience the affection and comfort that comes from being with a dog.
HOW IT WORKS: User has a stuffed animal with a with a micro controller, sensors and blue tooth. When the user pets or interacts with the physical interface it creates a response from the on screen real life dog. The hope is that there is a live dog on the other end communicating in real time. However, to get this on its feet, it may be pre-recorded story lines with programmed interactions.

 

5) Interactive Educational App
IMG_1953This is an app mixed with a physical interface that teaches young children (in Japan) learn English through interaction, friendship and play. A character in the app, becomes friends through conversation and voice recognition, with the young user. The user can then “play” to learn basic English and communicate with the character in the app by playing games, watching related educational video together. Games/lessons utilize a board with blocks that have content related to the lesson. Blocks that offer the correct answers or that are arranged correctly on the “game board” activate certain interactions and responses on screen. (There is more to it, but this is all that I will say on this topic.)