Bowow: The 'Google Translate' App to Help you Understand Your Dog

Students Erika Choe and Cheryl Zhang were disturbed to learn that 20% of adopted dogs are returned to shelters each year. “This tough transition not only strips dogs of their sense of safety—it also reintroduces negative stressors and potentially euthanasia.”

The Bowow app features two main methods that read the dog's audio and visual cues—situational monitoring through 10-15 second recorded clips on your phone app, and global monitoring through an integration with your at-home pet camera.

But why do dogs get returned in the first place? The duo's research showed that behavioral problems are often the key reason for unsuccessful dog adoptions. In response, Cheryl and Erika designed Bowow, a 'Google Translate' app for dog owners to better understand the meaning behind their pet's barks.

BOBOW is a 'Google Translate' app for dog owners to better understand the meaning behind their pet's barks.

The team closely followed research studies on adoption and rehoming practices to better understand the role of behavioral problems in unsuccessful dog adoptions worldwide. "Unfortunately, some [people] abandon their dogs due to miscommunications. We need to help owners understand how dogs feel and increase their bonding,” reports Andrew Gill from Petpuls (a smart AI dog collar that understands what dogs are communicating).

"How might we make behavioral management for dog owners accessible?"

Erika and Cheryl were motivated to design a solution answering the following challenge: "How might we make behavioral management for dog owners accessible?" The duo dove deep into the systemic issues lacking in the dog adoption process. "We found a significant lack of support services for new dog owners to manage behavioral and medical difficulties," Erika shared. They found that most behavioral training help or advice exists only behind a paywall. The team parsed out three main steps to counter this problem and to strengthen the bond between dogs and their owners:

1) Help dog owners better understand what their dogs are communicating at no cost or an affordable cost
2) Recommend actionable solutions
3) Provide access to behavioral expertise 

The Bowow app features two main methods that read the dog's audio and visual cues—situational monitoring through 10-15 second recorded clips on your phone app, and global monitoring through an integration with your at-home pet camera. Once audio and visual cues are picked up, the AI program infers and analyzes the types of barks and body language. Users are immediately provided with straightforward, actionable training tips to curb or reinforce behaviors. To open access channels further, the app offers the option to get personalized consultation with a behaviorist at a premium fee. 

With growing research conducted to analyze dog barks and their body language, along with the rise of AI-programmed smart collars that help owners understand when their dogs are distressed, the Bowow app is just one step away from actually existing in the real world.