BowLingual

BowLingual (バウリンガル^?), or "Bow-Lingual" as the North American version is spelled, is a computer-based dog-to-human language translation device developed by Japanese toy company Takara and first sold in Japan in 2002. Versions for South Korea and the United States were launched in 2003. The device was named by Time magazine as a "Best Invention of 2002." The inventors of BowLingual, Keita Satoh, Dr. Matsumi Suzuki and Dr. Norio Kogure were awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for "promoting peace and harmony between the species."

The device is presented as a "translator" but has been called an "emotion analyzer". It is said to use technology to categorize dog barks into one of six standardized emotional categories. BowLingual also provides a phrase which is representative of that emotion. The product instructions clearly state that these phrases "are for entertainment purposes only" and are not meant to be accurate translations of each bark.

BowLingual has several functions which include dog training tips, a "Bow Wow Diary," tips on understanding a dog's body language, a medical checklist and a home alone bark recording function. The device consists of a hand-held receiver that contains a LCD information screen and functions as the controller and a wireless microphone-transmitter which is attached to the dog's collar.

When a dog barks, the microphone records and transmits the sound to the hand-held unit for computer analysis by a database with thousands of dog barks pre-recorded into it. The unit then categorizes the bark into one of six distinct dog emotions (happy, sad, frustrated, on-guard, assertive, needy) and displays the corresponding emotion on the screen. After displaying the emotion, BowLingual then displays a phrase which has been categorized to fit within the range of each emotion.

Regional versionals of BowLingual have been released in Japan, South Korea, the US and Canada. The versions for South Korean South Korea, the US and Canada have different modifications in comparison to the Japanese version. In May 2003, at the request of the Japan Foreign Ministry, Takara provided Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi with two prototypes of the English version of BowLingual several months before it had been released in North America. Koizumi then presented these to Russian President Vladimir Putin, for each of his dogs (Tosca, a standard Poodle, and Connie, a Labrador Retriever), at ceremonies celebrating the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg.

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