Look, who's talking

Do you want to know what your baby or pet is trying to tell you? Well, thanks to Japanese inventor Yamamoto Masomi of Yokohama, understanding baby or pet talk will never be difficult again. He is patenting a system that might help you comprehend what exactly your baby or pet wants. A video camera monitors the baby or pet and records any noises it makes. A pre-programmed "comparator" correlates the sounds with known body movements and facial expressions. Speech synthesis software then says out loud whatever message the comparator believes the baby or pet is trying to get across. This, suggests the inventor, should stop people ill-treating babies and pets because they will have a better idea of what the child or animal is trying to tell them.