Title: The Internet of Living Things: Enabling Increased Information Flow in Dog—Human Interactions

Joelle Alcaidinho

Ph.D. student, Human Centered Computing

School of Interactive Computing

College of Computing

Georgia Institute of Technology

Date: Monday, November 28th, 2016

Time: 3:30 - 5:30 pm

Location: TSRB 223

Committee:

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Dr. Melody Jackson (Advisor, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech)

Dr. Gregory Abowd (Co-Advisor, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech)

Dr. Elizabeth DiSalvo (School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech)

Dr. Rebecca Grinter (School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech)

Dr. Thad Starner (School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech)

Dr. Genevieve Bell (Corporate Strategy Group, Intel Corporation, Santa Clara)

Abstract:

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Despite an eleven-thousand-year-old coexistence between humans and dogs, the flow of information between these two species is highly asymmetrical. This asymmetry can be traced, in part, to three barriers. We have classified these as perceptual, distance and contextual barriers.

Perceptual barriers are a result of humans being unable to perceive information from sensory modes not used for human communication (e.g., scent). Distance barriers are present when the humans are beyond line of sight (or hearing) to make direct observations. For example, humans in a work environment are unlikely to notice their dog is exhibiting distress behaviors at home (e.g., constant barking). Contextual barriers are manifest when a behavior is undecipherable by a human due to a lack of context or expertise. For example, yawning in the absence of context can be interpreted as tiredness. Additional information, such as the onset of a thunderstorm, clarifies that this behavior could have a different cause, namely stress. Similarly, because a dog’s human companions are the most likely to understand this contextual information, they can only communicate with a limited number of individuals.

These three barriers cause the aforementioned information asymmetry. The field of information technology has a long history of overcoming such asymmetries, and so, I propose using wearable computing systems for this purpose. Wearable computing systems increase the quantity and quality of information, its accessibility, and the number of recipients in dog—human interactions. The Descriptive approaches allow dogs to send a specific message to  humans. The Diagnostic approach allows humans to understand canine actions on a broader scale. Finally, the Directive approach supports decision-making in canine—human systems, such as explosive-detection teams.