Rover@Home : computer mediated remote interaction between humans and dogs

Abstract

In this thesis we create a method to allow dogs and humans to interact over the Internet. In particular, we generalize an established dog training technique known as "clicker-training" such that the remote and co-located interactions are reported by dog owners to be similar. In the process of creating this computer-mediated interaction, we learn what it means to design an interface for a creature with very different sensory modalities than humans. Dogs are not "furry humans" but entirely different creatures with very different perceptual, motor, and cognitive systems than humans. This work is significant because by systematically applying HCI design principles to non-humans, we include animals in the HCI community. This creates an opportunity for the evaluation of the generality of much HCI literature, as well as increasing the sources from which we can draw inspiration.