Gadget promises to translate baby babbling

[dr. what]

...goo goo gah gah grk?...

TOKYO, (AFP) - The cryptic cries, grins and gurgles of babies that leave parents dumbfounded could soon be deciphered, if the wonders of modern technology are to be trusted.

Three years after a toymaker scored a smash hit with the "Bowlingual" gadget to interpret the warp and woof of a dog's life, Japanese researchers may have an even bigger sensation -- a translator for baby babbling.

"We aim to develop a device to read babies' feelings," says Kazuyuki Shinohara, a neurobiology professor at the state-run Nagasaki University who leads the research team.

The gadget could be a godsend in a country where a growing number of young people find child-rearing too burdensome, although some experts are cautious about an almost science-fiction world where babies are understood with machines before they learn to talk.

Shinohara's group has been conducting experiments involving mothers and their babies by monitoring the infants' cries, facial expressions and body temperature changes in a project backed by the government-subsidized Japan Science and Technology Agency.

"We are trying to read babies' faces numerically such as the distance between eyebrows and the nose tip," Shinohara tells AFP.

As for other clues on what babies mean to say, researchers are also analyzing whether high or low frequencies in the sound of the cries show they want specific things.

The team is also monitoring the temperatures of babies' bodies, mostly the face, through thermography. Shinohara says changes in temperature normally indicate particular desires.

The professor, who declined to elaborate on his conclusions or the shape of the gadget pending patenting, aims to launch the device by mid-2006.

"The technology will be completed by around summer this year," he says. "Commercialization will likely come in spring or summer of next year as it is expected to take some time to make the device smaller."

The product would be for use at both medical institutions and in homes. The professor says he wants to make the price for a home-use version below 10,000 yen (95 dollars).

As Japanese families are becoming smaller, many parents lack knowhow in taking care of babies.

"We have seen a lot of mothers who can hardly hug their babies," Shinohara says. "With their husbands returning home late and local communities losing close bonds among residents, these mothers have to struggle with child-rearing alone even if it is a totally new experience for them," he says.

Some experts are skeptical whether technology can fill the gap.

"You may lose confidence as a parent if your baby cries a lot. But your child-rearing ability increases gradually by trial and error," says Yuko Iguchi, clinical psychologist at National Children's Castle in Tokyo which offers children opportunities for athletic, artistic and other activities.

"Such ability grows only if you mobilize all of your five senses. It would set off an alarm bell in me if parents understand their baby only through machines," she says.

Japan has one of the world's lowest birth rates, with many people putting off marriage indefinitely fearing that family life would harm their careers and lifestyles.

Shinohara claims his device could make bringing up children more enjoyable for parents.

"It is cruel just to tell them 'You should naturally know what your baby wants'," he says.

"There is no use scolding the parents. We want them to have fun in raising babies by taking advantage of technology," he says.

The professor claims the device may also help detect abnormalities such as autism or show children are being neglected if the child remains mute at the sight of an event that would normally cause a clear facial expression.

Not all parents are convinced the gadget will work.

Rumiko Kobayashi, a 31-year-old mother of an 18-month-old boy and three-month-old girl, says babies want different things from different people and what held true for mothers might not be the case for fathers.

"It may be good to give it to struggling parents as a joke gift but I would not buy it," she says.

But Mio Okada, a 21-year-old student, says "it's good" to develop a translator.

"I have taken care of babies of relatives but sometimes got confused about what they wanted. When they cried violently, I asked them 'What? Can you be a bit clearer about what you want -- do you want to change diapers or have milk?'," she says.

In a potential sign of the market for the baby translator, Japanese toymaker Takara Co. Ltd. has sold 300,000 Bowlingual dog translators in Japan since its launch in September 2002, as well as 100,000 in North America and 50,000 in South Korea.

[wolveraptor]

I didn't even hear about the "Bowlingual". Jesus, they talk as if they can actually translate dog and baby thoughts with precision!

[neoolong]

Looks like somebody watched one too many episodes of The Simpsons.

[Hawkwings]

Agreed. But, if this was for real, I think many parents would be very, very happy.

[Master of Ossus]

"I want what the dog's eating."

[General Brock]

Do you really want to know what your baby or your dog are really saying to you ? Now, think about this.

[Montcalm]

Do you really want to know what your baby or your dog are really saying to you ? Now, think about this.

*Googoo gaga whee* translation *Dad did it with the neighbour's wife.

[Lagmonster]

A translator to interpret a dog's communication would be nice (and simple; they only ever have two or three things to communicate). A baby translator is just stupid: The point is to teach it how to communicate using human languages, not translate its pre-vocal-chord-development grunting.

[Melchior]

U remember an EU resolution about this thing (that said that it didn't work at all, and that the ads lied), but I am not sure.

[Melchior]

I remember an EU resolution about this thing (that said that it didn't work at all, and that the ads lied), but I am not sure.

It should be like this, sorry.

[Lusankya]

Wouldn't a baby translator stunt the infant's verbal development in the long run? I mean, let's face it, babies are just people, and people are lazy shits, and if they can get their message across by babbling, then they're not going to bother learning how to speak as quickly as if they were having difficulties with communication without it.

[Zero]

The baby probably has no idea that it's being vaguely understood anyways. Even if the thing works, he'll just know that he's getting what he wants, which babies get anyways. He would still learn the language, with intention or without. How many babies today do you think really TRY to learn the language? As near as I can figure, it just happens.

[wolveraptor]

The baby probably has no idea that it's being vaguely understood anyways. Even if the thing works, he'll just know that he's getting what he wants, which babies get anyways. He would still learn the language, with intention or without. How many babies today do you think really TRY to learn the language? As near as I can figure, it just happens.

It's not that. It's when teachers and parents actively try to teach their babies speaking skills. Didn't your parents ever repeatedly say a word, trying to get you to say it? They sure as hell wouldn't have wasted so much time like that if they could understand your babbling. It's the parents, with jobs and such, who won't be trying as hard, not the kids.

[General Brock]

Montcolm wrote:

Googoo gaga whee* translation *Dad did it with the neighbour's wife.

BWAhahahah cough* cough* (Reverts back to Sam the Eagle mode)...

Ahem. Indeed.