вЂњOne unexpected consequence of the experiment is that I sometimes found myself unexpectedly anxious when I placed a call to Zack and he wasnвЂ™t in front of the camera or he didnвЂ™t approach the screen. вЂњHowever, itвЂ™s clear that on some occasions he was definitely interested in what he was seeing, and that he displayed some of the same behaviours he shows when we are physically together. While Zack made some вЂњaccidentalвЂќ calls when he slept on the ball, researchers said several of the calls involved the dog showing his owner his toys and approaching the screen, suggesting he wanted to interact with her.Дr Hirskyj-Douglas responded using her phone to show Zack her environment, including her office, a restaurant and a street busker, during which the dog pricked up his ears and approached the screen.Дr Hirskyj-Douglas said: вЂњOf course, we canвЂ™t know for sure that Zack was aware of the causal link between picking up the ball and making a call, or even that some of the interactions which seemed accidental were actually unintended on his part. вЂњWhat I wanted to do with DogPhone was find a way to turn Zack from a вЂuseeвЂ™ of technology, where he has no choice or control over how he interacts with devices, into a вЂuserвЂ™, where he could make active decisions about when, where, and how he placed a call,вЂќ she said.ДЄfter several demonstrations of how the ball could be used to start a video call, Zack was given the toy to play with for 16 days spread over a period of three months. In a trial, Zack called Dr Hirskyj-Douglas by picking up and shaking a ball fitted with an accelerometer, which prompted a video call on a laptop in her living room.Дr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas has collaborated with her dog Zack and colleagues at Aalto University in Finland to develop the DogPhone (University of Glasgow) The results of ZackвЂ™s interactions with a prototype DogPhone, which is still undergoing further experiments, are the focus of a new research paper at the 2021 ACM Interactive Surfaces and Spaces Conference in ЕЃГіdЕє, Poland.

вЂњVery few of them seem to consider what dogs themselves might want, or how technology might benefit them as living beings with thoughts and feelings of their own.вЂќ вЂњHowever, the vast majority of them are built with the needs of dog owners in mind, allowing them to observe or interact with their pets while away from home.

The team behind the pet-friendly invention said the DogPhone could help address the separation anxiety of pets who have grown used to having people at home during the coronavirus pandemic.Дr Hirskyj-Douglas, who is a specialist in animal-computer interaction at the universityвЂ™s School of Computing Science, said: вЂњThere are hundreds of internet-connected вЂsmart toysвЂ™ on the market that dog owners can buy for their pets. The new invention, believed to be the first of its kind, is the brainchild of University of GlasgowвЂ™s Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, her 10-year-old labrador, Zack, and colleagues from Aalto University in Finland.Дr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, of the University of Glasgow, and her 10-year-old labrador, Zack, during an experiment using the DogPhone (Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas) When the accelerometer senses movement, it prompts a video call on a screen connected to the device.

Separation studio trial