So here’s a weird scenario: You’re sitting on your porch stuffing your face with cheesy grits and you can’t find your dog. You can’t yell at her because your mouth is full of grits, and you can’t get up because sitting on the porch is damn relaxing. What you need is a remote control. For your dog.
Well, your lazy arse is in luck. A couple of scientists from Auburn University recently built what they’re calling “a system for autonomous canine guidance“, a.k.a. a dog remote. (This is not to be confused with the dog-to-human translator we saw a couple months ago.) Don’t worry, though. It’s not as cruel as it sound at first. The system — made up of a microprocessor, a GPS receiver, a wireless radio and an attitude and heading reference system — basically replaces spoken commands with vibrations or tones. And it works pretty well, too. In preliminary tests, dogs responded correctly to the cues 98 per cent of the time.
A remote-controlled dog is especially useful in emergency situations like a building collapse. With the GPS chip you can keep track of where the dog is and send commands wirelessly to the device. The GPS would also enable guide dogs to follow directions from place-to-place. And of course, it’s also helpful if you’re stuffing your face on the porch and don’t want to get up. Really, though, you should just get up and play with your dog. [Science Daily]