Do you remember the technology that allowed Dug, the dog from the animated film Up , to speak? The Pixar film left us all, audiences and critics, with our mouths open, just like the invention of Joji Yamaguchi, a Japanese software and hardware engineer who is developing a device that will allow dogs to communicate with their owners .
The Inupathy, designed as if it were a harness and that is placed around the body of the animal, has a heart rate sensor and a full-color LED on the back that allows you to see what emotional state your pet is in :if it is exalted, the light will be red; if it is relaxed, it will show blue; if you feel happy, a nice rainbow will appear; and if it is concentrated, the light you will see will be white. It is designed for dogs between 4 and 40 kg, it will be available in gray, pink and blue and the battery lasts about 5 hours, depending on the use, although they are working on extending its duration.
The magic behind this device is an algorithm that is based on the analysis of the variations of the animal’s heart rate and that establishes patterns to know what its emotional state is. Its inventor, who was a biologist researcher before starting his career as an engineer, has always shown a great interest in animal behavior, and, although he acknowledges that the results of the research have been very good, he explains thatplans to further optimize the device and make the Inupathy even more comfortable for dogs to wear, so that in the future there may be changes in the design. To do this, the project seeks funds on the Indiegogo.com crowdfunding platform.
The objective of this invention is to enrich the quality of life of the pet, since visualizing its emotional state can help the owner to understand what the dog needs. And it will also be practical for the human, who, for example, will be able to visualize when his pet has really calmed down after a fight with other dogs.
Likewise, Inupathy has projectedrun in the cloud,so that all your dog’s heart rate data is recorded, daily information that can be very useful for the physical and mental care of the pet, since you can monitor it and follow its progress through your smartphone.
It will even be suggested to the userdifferent types of games depending on how the dog is– From chasing your favorite object to playing hide and seek or finding a treasure. All these activities will give the user a score, on a scale of 1 to 100, according to the fun that the activity has provided their pet, and the owner will be able to chat with others to share their experiences with them.
