Today we’re talking to Melody Jackson, Professor at Georgia Tech; and we discuss how Melody is researching interaction between dogs and computers, her sensor vest for dogs that enhances communication between humans and dogs, and how this technology can improve the lives of people with disabilities.

All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! 

Check out more about Melody and FIDO at https://gvu.gatech.edu/research/projects/fido-facilitating-interactions-dogs-occupations

About Melody Jackson:

Dr. Jackson is the creator and director of the BrainLab, whose mission is to research innovative human-computer interaction for people with severe disabilities. Dr. Jackson’s work focuses on studying real-world applications for direct brain interfaces as well as other biometric interfaces. She participated in the first team to implant a human being with a chronic recording electrode in 1998, and has also extensively explored noninvasive brain-computer interfaces with technologies such as EEG and functional Near Infrared (fNIR) imaging. Her work has been funded by a variety of sponsors including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health (NINDS), NIDRR, and DARPA.

Prior to her current appointment at Georgia Tech, Dr. Jackson was a tenured Associate Professor in the Computer Information Systems Department at Georgia State University. Previous to GSU, she was on the faculty of the College of Computing at Georgia Tech for nine years as a Research Scientist, creating and directing the Open Systems lab, and teaching Software Engineering. Before coming to academia, she worked for nine years in industry as a professional software engineer developing real-time embedded systems, secure operating systems, networking, and compilers. Companies included Texas Instruments, Sperry, and National Semiconductor.

Dr. Jackson holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology (1998). Her dissertation work in user interface reengineering combined the areas of Human-Computer Interface and Software Engineering, and her minor was Postsecondary Education. Dr. Jackson also holds a B.A. in Computer Science with a minor in Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin (1980), and the M.S. of Information and Computer Science from Georgia Tech (1988).

About FIDO:

FIDO: Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations

The FIDO Sensors team is creating wearable technology to allow working dogs to communicate. Assistance dogs can tell their owners with hearing impairments what sounds they have heard; guide dogs can tell their owners if there is something in their path that must be avoided. We will be demonstrating a variety of wearable sensors designed for dogs to activate.