Imagine a small gadget that can anticipate and understand animal behavior with the slightest touch or a device that can interpret what an animal is thinking in a matter of seconds!
It seems like a plot from a sci-fi movie – however, with the recent advancements in AI, big data, and robotics, the future seems full of surprises.
Inupathy: A collar that predicts dog behavior
Taking a step towards flexible and unobtrusive technology, a Japanese company – Langualess, has made Inupathy, a dog harness that can seamlessly translate the mood of the animal to the owner.
Inupathy is the first of its kind product for dog owners. Developed by a biologist, the harness has sophisticated sensors that monitor heart rhythms and displays a range of colors that specify different feelings of the animal, such as happy, focussed, relaxed, excited, and sad.
With the capability to easily understand dog behavior, owners can provide better care for their pets. As per the co-founder of the company, Joji Yamaguchi, the Inupathy harness will bring owners closer to their pets by helping them better understand the emotions of their pet dogs.
The concept
The idea behind this innovative dog-collar came from the fact that most people fail to express their true emotions, while in the case of animals, it becomes a lot trickier! Animals can't speak or tell what they feel, so interpreting their emotions takes a lot of effort.
The main concept was developed by Joji Yamaguchi, who made a prototype of the harness to better understand the behavior of his pet dog. “We believe that technology has the power to amplify kindness. Instead of creating a technology involving robots acting like dogs, we want to advance our understanding of animals and build a stronger owner-pet relationship,” says Yamaguchi, CTO of Langualess.
How it is different
Inupathy is different from any similar device in the market as it effectively measures the heart rhythms of animals even with a thick fur coat. Apart from that, it analyzes the heartbeat in real-time without causing any delays allowing the owner to understand what their dog feels in the very instance.
“The product helps us understand the emotions of dogs so that we can involve them in our decisions. So far, we have only built gadgets for the convenience of human beings, but this time we will be able to see the world from the point of view of animals,” says Kana Yamairibata, CEO of Langualess.
In Japan, 700 customers have already purchased the Inupathy harness. One of the immediate goals of the company is to succeed in the US market. Through a successful crowdfunding campaign, they aim to deliver Inupathy to 500,000 dog lovers around the world by 2023.
CES2020
Langualess will be exhibiting at CES2020, which is the world's gathering place of business for consumer technologies. Langualess will be showcasing Inupathy so that a large number of people can become aware of the product and directly experience its working. In a way, it will help people understand how technology can transform their relationship with their pets.
