A new app can help you translate your cats meows
As great as being a cat owner is, one of the most frustrating parts about it is not being able to understand your cat. You can't really get a straight answer from questions like, "What's so important that you feel you need to block my computer screen while I'm working" or "Why do you keep on peeing on everything?" But thanks to technology, we might be able to better understand our cats, even though we don't speak the same language or even have the same type of vocal chords.
Javier Sanchez, a former Amazon engineer who worked on Alexa, has developed a new app that can translate your cat's cute mews into human words. It's called MeowTalk, and it incorporates similar technology to that of Alexa to bridge the language barrier between human and cats.
Sanchez, both a cat lover and cat owner, was inspired by the NPR series "The Secret Language of Cats. According to Sanchez, cats can develop their own vocabulary, which they employ constantly to do things - like ask for a treat even though they literally just already had a treat. "It's not a language. They don't share words or communicate with each other. Cats never meow at each other out in nature," Sanchez told KING 5.
Sanchez found that cats have nine basic needs. MeowTalk categorizes your cat's meows among those nine basic needs, then provides a human language. It can tell if your cat is trying to say, "I'm hungry," "I'm happy," "I'm in pain," or the inevitable, "you left me outside." Sanchez used a prototype on his own cat while he was holding the cat and it translated the cat's meows as, "I'm angry! Leave me alone!" That sounds legit.
The app can also be trained to understand an individual cat's specific cat language through user input. Users can create a cat profile and assign labels to their cat's meows when they think they know what their cat is asking for. The app will learn the new "word," then predict what the cat is saying the next time the app hears it.
Sanchez hopes that the app allows pet owners to understand their cats better during a time when we're all stuck at home with our pets. "A tool like this can help certain people bond even more with their cats, especially if they can't be in contact with other people on a regular basis," Sanchez told Geek Wire. "So this could be a real game changer for a key demographic that have cats."
The app is still under development, but the prototype is available to download for Apple and Android phones. Ultimately, Sanchez wants to create a collar that can translate for the cat with a vocal response. So basically, he wants to make sci-fi movies come true.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
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Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."