Talking dogs: A device, from Sweden, that tells you what your dog is thinking

A group of Swedes is selling a device they say can translate your dog's thoughts into English - and they're seeking investors to help pay for further development of what they admit is a 'work in progress.'

The first of many things we find questionable about this is why the young researchers at Nordic Society for Invention and Discovery - constantly on the lookout, they say, for 'cool' and 'awesome' things they can do with technology - wouldn't be translating the thoughts of dogs into Swedish.

The only answers I can come up with are that either they are far more interested in making some money than in figuring out what goes on in a dog's head, or they view the residents of dog-loving, English-speaking countries as more gullible, and more likely to fall for what they are peddling.

We did buy a lot of Abba albums after all, didn't we?

Already, they've raked in more than $16,000 in their IndieGoGo fund-raising drive.

The product is called No More Woof. It consists of a headset, worn by your dog, the (non-intrusive) sensors of which pick up EEG signals, and software that translates those signals, via loudspeaker, into thoughts.

Strangely, this company-made video (above) never shows the device in action, yet the inventors are ready to sell you one - either a basic model for $60, or an advanced model for $85, or a more advanced model for $300, or a really, really advanced model for $600.

The development firm also takes credit for inventing a hovering lamp that follows you from room to room, an iPad-charging rocking chair, and 'Nebula 12,' described as an indoor cloud. They are currently at work on a flying carpet.

It's no joke - even if No More Woof sounds pretty laughable.

So far, No More Woof has come up with only four distinguishable statements they can attribute to a dog, based on EEG readings: 'I'm excited, 'I'm tired, 'I am hungry,' and 'Who are you?' Once detected by the headset, they are voiced by a loudspeaker.

The bottom line, as we see it, is that they've come up with a way - or claim to have, at least - to make the most fascinating animal on earth boring.

Imagine a quiet evening at home, your headset-wearing dog at your side: 'I'm hungry. I'm excited. I'm hungry. I'm hungry. I'm hungry.'

And this after you spend hours trying to set the whole thing up, using directions we can only assume will be Ikea-like.

The firm says it is trying to advance human-dog communication. But it doesn't come across as being sincerely interested in that. It seems much more interested in fund-raising.

No More Woof's Indiegogo page repeatedly stresses that the device, while already for sale, is still in development: 'To be completely honest, the first version will be quite rudimentary. But hey, the first computer was pretty crappy too.'

They don't insist that you buy one. If you prefer, you can just send them some money for their continued research.

Our advice would be to hold on to your money, and if you want to communicate with your dog, spend more time with him or her, pay more attention to him or her, look more deeply into him and her, and make your relationship not one of giving and taking orders, but one of learning from each other and exploring life together.

You already know - or at least you should - when your dog is hungry, excited or tired.

Do we really need to be hearing a robot voice tell us that? Do we really need - even if it did work and could develop into something more sophisticated - to turn our intriguing companions into the equivalent of a nagging wife, demanding husband, whining kid, or, worse yet, Siri?

I prefer the silence. And, much as I often wonder what my own dog is thinking, I prefer the mystery.

(Photos and video from NoMoreWoof.com)