Amazon to Develop Pet Translating App
September 12, 2017
Anyone who has participated in a one-way conversation with their beloved pet can appropriate Amazon’s latest ambitions in creating an app to translate dog and cat sounds into human language. Not being the first to have this idea, Amazon should note that there has been no significant advance in this particular science and, perhaps, they are over-reaching even their own capacities.
The Guardian recently shared of Amazon’s dreams of a pet-translating app and came to the conclusion that at best it would provide the same service as adult supervision.
Kaminski says a translation device might make things easier for people who lack intuition or young children who misinterpret signals ‘sometimes quite significantly.’ One study, for instance, found that when young children were shown a picture of a dog with menacingly bared teeth, they concluded that the dog was “happy” and “smiling” and that they would like to hug it. An interpretation device might be able to warn of danger.
While there is no doubt that the pet industry is exploding in dollars and interest, Amazon’s app aspirations are a bit of a stretch. It is understandable how such a gimmicky app would set Amazon apart from other translation apps and sites, even if it has the same accuracy.
Catherine Lamsfuss, September 12, 2017
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