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New DogPhone invention lets your pet call you
Image source, Getty Images
Hold the bone! Your dog can now give you a call. Wag-nificent!
A team of researchers from Scotland and Finland have invented a new gadget that allows pets to call their owners.
Nicknamed the DogPhone, the gadget is a soft ball toy which sends a signal to the owner's laptop, launching a video call, when their pet moves the ball.
Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, lead researcher at Glasgow University, says their research gives animals choice and control, to improve their wellbeing, and may help dogs who struggle with separation anxiety.
Image source, Getty Images
Dr Hirskyj-Douglas, who has a Labrador called Zack, said: "There are hundreds of internet-connected 'smart toys' on the market that dog owners can buy for their pets"
"However, the vast majority of them are built with the needs of dog owners in mind, allowing them to observe or interact with their pets while away from home. Very few of them seem to consider what dogs themselves might want."
"What I wanted to do with DogPhone was find a way to turn Zack from a 'usee' of technology, where he has no choice or control over how he interacts with devices, into a 'user', where he could make active decisions about when, where, and how he placed a call."
How did they test it?
Image source, University of Glasgow
Dr Hirskyj-Douglas got Zack to help her test the DogPhone, and recorded the results.
In the first part of the experiment, lasting two days, Zack made 18 calls, however, half of these were 'accidental' calls made while he slept on the ball, which led the researchers to think that the sensor in the toy was a bit too sensitive.
During the second part of the experiment, which lasted for seven days, Zack only made two calls, suggesting that they had changed the sensitivity too much.
In the third part of the experiment, Zack made 35 calls over seven days in total, averaging around five calls a day. The research team were happier with how the sensor worked this time.
Image source, Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas
During their calls Zack would sometimes show Dr Hirskyj-Douglas some of the toys that they would play with together, as well as moving closer to the screen, and picking up his ears when she would show him things.
Dr Hirskyj-Douglas said that there are lot's of possible uses for this kind of technology, including dogs being able to call each other!
What do you think about the dog phone? Would you use one with your pets? Let us know in the comments.