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Design

Feline Facial Recognition May Be The Future Of Pet Tech

Bistro allows owners to care for their pets remotely through facial recognition, WiFi capabilities, and even a social media app to create viral videos in real time.

Crazy cat people (myself included) rejoice: the future of high tech pet care is here. Bistro is an automatic feeder that incorporates facial recognition, live video streaming, and even some Internet Of Things-like characeristics to ensure that your cat doesn't become a tubby tabby. Now you can leave home for a weekend, and not worry about your cat being fed. Bistro claims to turn the "quantified self" concept into the "quantified cat."

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The machine works when your cat steps onto the Bistro platform, where a camera analyzes the pet's face through facial recognition technology. If the pet has already been fed that day, the machine will remember the greedy furball and not dispense more nibs. If the owner's feeling generous, though, Bistro allows you to dispense more food by creating a new cat profile remotely through your phone. The platform also has weight sensors, so it can track daily consumption levels and overall health, making the device like an autonomous robo-vet. If there's an odd change in appetite, the app notifies the owner via text. Since Bistro is WiFi-enabled, you can now take care of your pet from anywhere in the world.

And here's where the app gets a little intense, even for the real deal cat fiends. With the built-in camera, owners can live stream video of their cats, and socialize the footage online—possibly offering the opportunity for real-time viral video creation. Bistro owners can even "follow" and subscribe to the Bistro feeds and videos of their friends and their pets. This isn't the first social media program for domestic animals, but few have integrated real-time video capturing that can immediately be turned into footage for, say, 24-hour online cat TV channels.

Founder Mu-Chi Sung has already raised more than his $100,000 crowdfunding goal, and there are still several weeks left in the IndieGoGo campaign. While there's a lot of concern about the ramifications of facial recognition software, applying the technology to our pets is a welcomed innovation. Cat burglars should still fear the lens, though.

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For more on pet technology, stay tuned for a Make It Wearable: The Concepts documentary on pet wearables, here on The Creators Project.

h/t Gizmag

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