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CNN Live At Daybreak

What's Behind the Bark?

Aired November 14, 2003 - 06:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: When your dog howls at the moon, do you ever wonder what he's really saying?
Well, a new product for pet owners claims to answer what's behind the bark.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM TAKARA COMMERCIAL)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If anybody here objects to this marriage, speak now or forever hold your...

(DOG BARKS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, Ben!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That's the TV ad for "Bow-Lingual," developed by Takara, a Japanese company that claims it can translate your dog's barks into English.

Peter Harkin from Takara and his dog Mona join us live from New York with a demonstration.

Good morning.

PETER HARKIN, TAKARA SPOKESMAN: Good morning.

COSTELLO: You know, Peter, it's really easy for me to say oh, come on. So I'll say it, oh come on.

HARKIN: Well, yes, that's actually, that was our own reaction in the beginning, as well. You know, the concept of communicating with dogs almost sounds like science fiction. The real key here, though, is that it's based on voice analysis technology and that's the technology that's been around for a couple of decades. There are actually a lot of research projects that are going into using voice analysis to analyze emotions. And so this is fairly mature technology.

COSTELLO: Yes, but happy, sad, needy? I could figure that out by just listening to my dog bark.

HARKIN: Well, that's true. Owners generally do know a lot about what their dogs are saying. What we wanted to do here was sort of give that, for one, sort of give it a scientific basis, you know, so that people could be sure what their dogs were trying to get across. And...

COSTELLO: Well, before you go on, let's demonstrate on Mona because she's been very patient.

HARKIN: Sure. Let's.

(MONA BARKS)

HARKIN: OK, and so now you see it's receiving. And then analyzing. And it says, "I love you."

COSTELLO: Oh...

HARKIN: And then it gives you the emotion and the emotion here is happy. So Mona is happy to be here.

COSTELLO: And who does she really love, is it you or me?

HARKIN: Well, that's -- she might love Max, her trainer, here.

COSTELLO: This thing costs, what, 100 bucks?

HARKIN: Yes, it's about $100, depending on the retailer.

COSTELLO: Yes. That's a lot for that. I mean are many people interested?

HARKIN: Well, yes. People have been really excited about it. I think one of, you know, one of the sort of backgrounders is that this is actually -- it's based on about three years research at a government associated lab in Japan. And there was a lot of research went into it. They actually tested on 5,000 samples from dogs, matched that up with video. There was a lot of research that went into it.

And then another thing is that what we found in our research is that a lot of people, they really, they're real close to their dogs. In a way, they're almost closer to their dogs than they are to their children. So, you know, the idea of being able to communicate with their dog and of getting close to their dogs, a lot of people are really excited about it.

COSTELLO: Yes, it's just a fun thing. It is.

HARKIN: It is.

COSTELLO: And if you have a hundred bucks to blow -- I'm sorry, it's hard for me to believe this, and I have a dog.

But I understand it comes on different style collars and you can pick the collar that goes well with your dog's coat?

HARKIN: Actually, it's a microphone. There's a blue and a red version and then you can use it with any collar. There's just a little foam thing that you can strap it onto your collar there.

COSTELLO: Got you. I see it on Mona there.

HARKIN: Yes, there it is.

COSTELLO: Well, thank you, Peter, very much for demonstrating.

We appreciate it, and sorry I was so tough on you.

HARKIN: No, you weren't. But thank you. I appreciate it.

COSTELLO: But, you know, I'm a journalist.

HARKIN: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Peter.

HARKIN: Well, please try it out.

COSTELLO: I will.

Thank you, Peter.

HARKIN: OK, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 14, 2003 - 06:51   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: When your dog howls at the moon, do you ever wonder what he's really saying?
Well, a new product for pet owners claims to answer what's behind the bark.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM TAKARA COMMERCIAL)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If anybody here objects to this marriage, speak now or forever hold your...

(DOG BARKS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, Ben!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That's the TV ad for "Bow-Lingual," developed by Takara, a Japanese company that claims it can translate your dog's barks into English.

Peter Harkin from Takara and his dog Mona join us live from New York with a demonstration.

Good morning.

PETER HARKIN, TAKARA SPOKESMAN: Good morning.

COSTELLO: You know, Peter, it's really easy for me to say oh, come on. So I'll say it, oh come on.

HARKIN: Well, yes, that's actually, that was our own reaction in the beginning, as well. You know, the concept of communicating with dogs almost sounds like science fiction. The real key here, though, is that it's based on voice analysis technology and that's the technology that's been around for a couple of decades. There are actually a lot of research projects that are going into using voice analysis to analyze emotions. And so this is fairly mature technology.

COSTELLO: Yes, but happy, sad, needy? I could figure that out by just listening to my dog bark.

HARKIN: Well, that's true. Owners generally do know a lot about what their dogs are saying. What we wanted to do here was sort of give that, for one, sort of give it a scientific basis, you know, so that people could be sure what their dogs were trying to get across. And...

COSTELLO: Well, before you go on, let's demonstrate on Mona because she's been very patient.

HARKIN: Sure. Let's.

(MONA BARKS)

HARKIN: OK, and so now you see it's receiving. And then analyzing. And it says, "I love you."

COSTELLO: Oh...

HARKIN: And then it gives you the emotion and the emotion here is happy. So Mona is happy to be here.

COSTELLO: And who does she really love, is it you or me?

HARKIN: Well, that's -- she might love Max, her trainer, here.

COSTELLO: This thing costs, what, 100 bucks?

HARKIN: Yes, it's about $100, depending on the retailer.

COSTELLO: Yes. That's a lot for that. I mean are many people interested?

HARKIN: Well, yes. People have been really excited about it. I think one of, you know, one of the sort of backgrounders is that this is actually -- it's based on about three years research at a government associated lab in Japan. And there was a lot of research went into it. They actually tested on 5,000 samples from dogs, matched that up with video. There was a lot of research that went into it.

And then another thing is that what we found in our research is that a lot of people, they really, they're real close to their dogs. In a way, they're almost closer to their dogs than they are to their children. So, you know, the idea of being able to communicate with their dog and of getting close to their dogs, a lot of people are really excited about it.

COSTELLO: Yes, it's just a fun thing. It is.

HARKIN: It is.

COSTELLO: And if you have a hundred bucks to blow -- I'm sorry, it's hard for me to believe this, and I have a dog.

But I understand it comes on different style collars and you can pick the collar that goes well with your dog's coat?

HARKIN: Actually, it's a microphone. There's a blue and a red version and then you can use it with any collar. There's just a little foam thing that you can strap it onto your collar there.

COSTELLO: Got you. I see it on Mona there.

HARKIN: Yes, there it is.

COSTELLO: Well, thank you, Peter, very much for demonstrating.

We appreciate it, and sorry I was so tough on you.

HARKIN: No, you weren't. But thank you. I appreciate it.

COSTELLO: But, you know, I'm a journalist.

HARKIN: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Peter.

HARKIN: Well, please try it out.

COSTELLO: I will.

Thank you, Peter.

HARKIN: OK, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com