SCIENCE
With Apple’s new animal translation software, the days of guessing what Fido is saying are over.
Apple announced a new technology yesterday that will translate animal speech into English. The application, which Apple has named “Animal Decoder,” records animal sounds and provides the translation in the form of text and audio.
Basically, when your dog barks it will tell you what he or she said. The app currently translates vocal languages of common pet species including dogs, cats, lemurs, pythons, and three-toed sloths. Planned additions include the knighted penguin and llamas.
Apple diligently worked with language psychologists as well as animal behavior experts from the UW-Madison Veterinary School to create “Animal Decoder.” Stephen Van Wolf, a member of Apple’s app development team who worked with veterinarians commented on the new technology.
“We’ve always loved animals and it brings us great joy to bring human-animal communication into the world,” said Van Wolf.
Language barriers have long been an issue for humanity, but now that inter-specie communication is possible, there’s no telling what progress will be made.
The release date for “Animal Decoder” is April 1, 2012 with a price tag of only $9.99.
