This explanation would be unremarkable except that Taro happens to be a dachshund. When the burglar broke in, Taro did what any watchdog would do: he barked. What happened next is the brainchild of Matsumi Suzuki, president of Japan Acoustic Lab in Tokyo. He invented a wireless gadget that hangs around the dog’s neck. It analyzes the bark and determines whether the dog is experiencing “frustration, insistence, happiness, sorrow, desire, or menace.” If it’s “menace,” the gadget could send out the e-mail warning.
Suzuki got the idea for “Bowlingual” while analyzing human speech for law- enforcement and news organizations. An animal lover, he began analyzing hundreds of dogs, and found consistent voiceprint patterns that corresponded to discrete moods, regardless of the breed of dog. Tokyo Toymaker Takara will market the device in June 2002 for 14,800 yen ($111).
