相信很多养动物的朋友

都和小编一样尝试过各种

所谓的动物语言翻译器

当然现在的这些软件

基本都是搞笑的

但是科学家告诉我们

在不久的将来

翻译动物的语言不是梦


 

What if your pet dog or cat could talk instead of barking or meowing? You’d know just how much Rover loves you — and maybe how sorry Fluffy is about that mess on the carpet.

We all know that’s not about to happen. But recent advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning suggest the longstanding dream of being able to converse with animals — in a limited fashion — could become a reality.

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Carpet: thick material used for covering floors.

 

Artificial intelligence: AI

 

 

Converse: to have a conversation with someone


 

With the help of AI, scientists are learning how to translate animals’ vocalizations and facial expressionsin to something we can understand. Recent advances include an AI system that listens in on marmoset monkeys to parse the dozen calls they use to communicate with each other and one that reads sheep’s faces to determine whether an animal is in pain.

Taking note of the research, an Amazon-sponsored report on future trends released last summer predicted that in 10 years, we’ll have a translator for pets.

 

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Vocalization: a sound that is produced with the voice

 

Facial: of or on the face

 

Marmoset: a very small monkey from the tropical forests of South  and Central America that has larger eyes,thick fur, a long tail covered in hair, and long nails

 

Parse: to separate the sentence into grammatical parts

 

 

Sponsor: to support a person, organization or activity by givingmoney, encourage or other forms of help.


 

WHAT PRAIRIE DOGS HAVE TO SAY

Dr.Con Slobodchikoff, a professor emeritus of biology at Northern Arizona University and the author of “Chasing DoctorDolittle: Learning the Language of Animals," is on the vanguard of animal communication. More than 30 years studying prairie dogs have convinced him that these North American rodents have a sophisticated form of vocal communication that is nothing less than language.

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Emeritus:no longer havinga position, especially ina college or university, but keeping the title ofthe position

 

Vanguard: a group of people who lead the development of new ideas ora leading position in the development of something.

 

Prairie: a wide area of flat land without trees

Convince: make someone certain

 

Rodent: small mammals with large sharp front teeth, such as mice.

 

Sophisticated: made in a complicated way

Vocal: produced by the voice

 

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The prairie dogs make high-pitched calls to alert the group to the presence of a predator. Slobodchikoff discovered that those calls vary according to the type of the predator as well as its size. The animals can combine their calls in various ways and can even use them to indicate the colour of a nearby human’s clothing.

 

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High-pitched: a voice higher than usual

 

Presence: something is in a place

 

Predator: an animal that hunts

 

Indicate: to show, point

 

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But Slobodchinoff wasn’t content just to understand prairie dogs. With help from a computer scientist colleague, he developed an algorithm that turns the vocalizations into English. And last year, he founded a company called Zoolingua with the goal of developing a similar tool that translates pet sounds, facial expressions, and body movements.

“I thought, if we can do this with prairie dogs, we can certainly do it with dogs and cats,” Slobodchikoff said.

 

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Algorithm: a set of math instructions especially given to a computer, it will help to calculate the answer to a problem


 

Pet Tech Will Transform A Dog's Life In Some Surprising Ways

The work is at an early stage. Slobodchikoff is amassing thousands of videos of dogs showing various barks and body movements. He’ll use the videos to teach an AI algorithm about these communication signals. The algorithm still needs to be told what each bark or tail wag means, and at this point that means humans must offer their own interpretations.But Slobodchikoff aims to incorporate the growing scientific research that uses careful experiments rather than guesswork to decipher the true meanings of dogs’ behaviour.

Slobodchinoff’s ultimate goals is to create a device that can be pointed at a dog to translate its woofs into English words — for example,Slobodchiknoff said, “'I want to eat now’…or ‘I want to go for a walk.’”

 

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Amass: to get a large amount of something

 

Interpretation: an explanation or opinion of what something means

 

Experiments: a test done in order to learn something or to discoverif some work is true.

 

Decipher：to discover the meaning of something that in a hidden way

 

Ultimate: the best or the worst, the final

 

（Resource by NBCnews）