Currently, 40% of Spanish households own a pet, according to the Madrid Association of Pet Veterinarians. That’s about 20 million dogs, cats, birds or hamsters that brighten the lives of many people every day.
Over time, society is more aware of animal care and there are many people who leave their pets at home with concern. If you are one of them, you can relax now, because IoT already allows you to care about your pet in ways you cannot even imagine. Besides, you will end up joining the new healthy trend that contemplates, not only the health of the people, but also your pets’ health.
The first thing that came to the market were the location gadgets. Ergonomic collars that incorporate GPS technology and allow locating the pet in a radius of several kilometers. From there, new systems have been developed with sensors, connected to the Internet, and even with cameras, capable of monitoring specific data in their health or mood.
Devices like Dondosend location data to a mobile app, for great tranquility of those who have the naughtiest pets. With this necklace you can keep an eye on them and avoid more than one upset.Ntt Docomois a similar one, but it also offers a record of the health status of the animal: it measures, among other things, its temperature, its weight, the digestion process, the burning of calories and the physical activity carried out.
The offer could stop here, but there is still more. Technology has enabled us to obtain information beyond the physical state of our pets and we observe the emotional state and socialization of our pets. These types of solutions are the most used today. An example is Fitbark, a connected collar that monitors how our pets rest: it collects information about sleep patterns with sensors and determines if they rest well enough. Another feature is the comparison of the animal’s behavior with others of the same race, to assure the owner that their behavior and their constants are always good.
We can still go one step further with Kyon Pet Tracker, the device that monitors the mood of pets through an algorithm and sends notifications to the user if he is thirsty, wants to play or needs a walk. In addition, it activates by repeated barking to warn the user.
At an anecdotal level, some extravagant solutions are also being developed, for which the market is not yet ready. One example of this is The posting tail device, which detects the mood by the tail´s movement. When it moves because of happiness, it takes a picture and automatically uploads it to his profile on social media, thus collecting the best moments and sharing them with other users.
For the next few years, the market is trying to find new solutions with LPWA connectivity that contributes to extend the usage of IoT technology in the world of pets.
