Shir Amir

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Shir Amir is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of animal-computer interaction (ACI) and canine behavioral science. Her work focuses on developing automated systems to analyze and diagnose canine behavior, with a particular emphasis on anxiety-related disorders that threaten dog welfare and are the leading cause of shelter relinquishment. Her most influential paper, "K9-Blyzer" (2017, 16 citations), introduced an automatic behavior analysis framework specifically designed for dogs, addressing a critical gap in a field that had previously developed tracking systems for birds, insects, and mice but neglected canine subjects. Expanding on this foundation, her 2018 study "Effects of anxiety on canine movement in dog-robot interactions" (15 citations) demonstrated how automated analysis can detect subtle behavioral markers of fear and anxiety during human-robot interactions with dogs. This work is particularly significant because timely diagnosis of canine behavioral disorders remains a complex challenge requiring extensive observation. Amir's contributions are helping to revolutionize animal science by providing objective, scalable tools for early detection of psychological distress in dogs, potentially reducing abandonment rates and improving the wellbeing of both dogs and their owners through technology-mediated intervention.