Researchers at the University of Liverpool have created a virtual reality Labrador Retriever in a pilot program called DAVE (Dog Assisted Virtual Environment).

They hope this new program can teach people how to spot and interpret canine behaviors such as aggression, so it can be used as a dog bite prevention tool.

DAVE’s developers say that studying how humans react to aggressive canine behavior is problematic, as researchers don’t want to put people at risk or upset dogs. A virtual reality dog can solve this problem.

A group of volunteers interacted with DAVE, and the researchers assessed how well they understood the signs of aggression in the VR dog. A few got too close and received a virtual bite.

Besides teaching dog safety, the developers also hope to use DAVE to help treat people with dog phobias.

You can read more about the study HERE.