Now Hear This

Bowwow
Wonder what your dog is really thinking? Japanese toymaker Takara claims it can get you in touch with your inner canine through its new Bowlingual. A radio microphone attaches to Fido's collar, and a handheld receiver "translates" his yelps, growls and whines into such phrases as "I can't stand it," "How boring" and "I'm lonely." How does it work? Samples of dog noises were collected, interpreted by animal behaviorists and stored in a doggie database. When your dog barks, the sound is beamed to the handheld and matched to the database. When in doubt, take him for a walk.
INVENTOR Takara Toys
AVAILABILITY Only in Japan, $100
FOR MORE INFO www.takaratoys.co.jp/english

Pass the Mike
Democracy is about giving everybody a voice, but that's not so easy if there's only one microphone. Enter the Sputmik, a colorful gadget designed to let anybody who wants to take the floor at a public meeting or lecture. Developed as a collaboration between Design Continuum, based in Boston, and M.I.T., the Sputmik (it's a pun on Sputnik) is a basketball-size, completely wireless microphone that's well padded and easy to handle so crowds can pass it overhead like a beach ball at a rock concert or even toss it from person to person.
INVENTOR Design Continuum and M.I.T.
AVAILABILITY Prototype
TO LEARN MORE www.dcontinuum.com

Palm Reader
Two years ago, IBM researcher Ismail Haritaoglu found himself at a Tokyo train station, unable to make heads or tails of the kanji lettering in the posted routes and timetables. Next time he'll be ready. His InfoScope snaps a picture of a street sign and ships it over a wireless network to a remote computer that extracts the text and beams back a translation all in less than 15 seconds. Haritaoglu is working on a similar service for GPS-equipped cell phones that would offer travel tips.
INVENTOR IBM Almaden Research Center
AVAILABILITY Prototype
TO LEARN MORE www.almaden.ibm.com