Nowadays, neither the military nor the rescuers can do without a sharp eye and a keen sense of smell of four-legged assistants. Dogs are actively used to search for explosive devices and contraband, and are involved in patrolling dangerous areas. Communication with animals always goes through the instructors, who are usually close to the dog and transmit commands to it with sound signals or gestures. During high-risk missions, for example, when searching for explosives, dog handlers can direct the dog with a laser pointer, but in this case, the direct presence of a person is still required, who always exposes himself to danger.
Augmented Reality (AR) glasses for dogs are a new development of the American private company Command Sight, which allows trainers to give commands to four-legged dogs from a distance. The creation of the technology took place under the supervision of the US Army Research Laboratory, which has high hopes for the project. Speaking about the ideas we are used to about virtual reality, we must understand that in the case of dogs, this is a completely different story: the purpose of development is not to immerse the animal in some other reality, but to give commands remotely.
So what do the new AR glasses do?
The gadget has a built-in display depicting visual commands that the dog has been trained in, a laser pointer that will guide the dogs in space, and an external surveillance camera that broadcasts to the owner what his tailed friend sees in front of him. So the military will be able to control the dog, orient it in space and see everything that happens in front of it, being safe. It is assumed that using 3D scanning, each pair of glasses will be adapted to the angle of view of its four-legged owner. It should be noted that service dogs will not have to get used to the new device for a long time. The US Army has long used Rex Specs tactical goggles to protect the eyes of our smaller brothers from physical damage, for example, when landing from air vehicles.
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At the moment, the gadget is a prototype that requires improvements, it is certainly too early to talk about its use in the field. One of the main challenges facing the developers is to make AR glasses completely wireless. In the current model, communication between the dog and the instructor is via a wired connection, resulting in extremely limited movement of the dog. The US Department of Defense sees great potential in this project: until now, no modern equipment can replace the extraordinary sense of a dog, so the possibility of more effective communication between a person and a dog is of significant benefit. After successful testing of a prototype glasses, Command Sight received a subsidy from the ministry to develop a wireless version. It is assumedthat in two years the AR glasses will be ready for commercial release.
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- US Army trials augmented reality goggles for dogs // BBC News. 2020.
- US Army working on AR glasses for military dogs [ ]. URL: newatlas.com/vr/dog-augmented-reality-glasses-us-army-military-ar-vr
- The US military developed AR goggles for dogs [ ]. URL: futurism.com/the-byte/us-military-developed-augmented-reality-goggles-dogs