A Nose-Computer Interface Could Turn Dogs Into Super Detectors
1 min read
Summary
Canaery, a Florida-based startup, is developing a neurotech device that can decode the smells detected by dogs and transmit the information to a smartphone app in real-time.
It has partnered with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, part of the US Department of Energy, to create a tiny interface that can be placed on an animal’s olfactory bulb, the part of the brain that processes smells.
The device collects neural signals and sends them to a small computer for decoding, and the information can then be displayed via a mobile app, currently able to recognise the presence of a range of substances from explosives to drugs.
The current prototype has been tested on rats, and the company is now developing a version suitable for dogs.
