It certainly wasn’t the U.S. Army. The Verge reports that the Army Research Laboratory has been overseeing a new project, trialing a set of augmented reality goggles for dogs. The current prototype were created by Seattle-based private-sector company Command Sight and used by a Rottweiler named Mater.
Mater’s handler can use the goggles to give Mater commands when they are too far apart for those orders to be heard. Via augmented reality, the goggles simulate what dogs see when they follow instructions from a laser pointer. Mater’s handler can see a live feed from the goggles and transmit commands in real time, allowing them to remain hidden while Mater searches an area, for example.
The team behind this project has been pleased with the results and hopes they may one day be able to provide these goggles to all dogs employed in the Army. “[Mater’s] ability to generalize from other training to working through the AR goggles has been incredible,” said founder and CEO of Command Sight A. J. Peper, but “we still have a way to go from a basic science and development perspective before it will be ready for the wear and tear our military dogs will place on the units.”
