Think your dog is happy when he comes up to you and wags his tail? Think again. He could be beseeching you for love, or asking for some nosh or to get out of the house.

You'd know what your dog is trying to say before he ruins the carpet with the LED Dog Tail Communicator, designed by James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau. It's a part of the designers' Augmented Animals project, which envisions a world where technology is also acknowledged and utilized by animals. The Tail Communicator measures a dog's WPM, or wags per minute, and translates that enthusiasm into a message a string of words that hover in the air like one of those LED-arm clocks.

It's just a concept being shown off at the Modern Museum of Art in NYC for the Elastic Mind exhibition, but who knows — maybe you could rewire the device and turn your dog into a walking clock.

, via Next Nature