This dog harness wants you to know how your pup is feeling
Your doggo might not be happy even if that tail is wagging, but the Inupathy harness can help you find out.
- She received the Renau Writing Scholarship in 2016 from the University of Louisville's communication department.
An Inupathy harness could help you better understand your dog.
At some time or another, we've all wished we could talk with our pets. While technology hasn't turned us into Dr. Doolittle yet, one company is trying to improve communication between dogs and their owners. Japanese company Langualess has developed Inupathy, a harness that measures your dog's heart rate and apparently translates that data into an analysis of how your pet may be feeling.
At CES 2020 in Las Vegas, Langualess (a combination of "language" and "less") told CNET that the harness can tell if your dog is relaxed, excited, happy, interested or stressed, and changes colors based on their mood. And when you use the app, you can track your dog's moods over time, watch for trends, and compare them with other dogs.
At CES, Langualess showed off several toy dogs (i.e. not real ones) sporting the harnesses. A company representative showed me one of the harnesses and the accompanying app interface.
The harness connects to the app so you can keep track of trends in your dog's moods.
The research behind a pupper's feelings
Langualess CEO Kana Yamairibata wants a world where communication between humans and animals is more open, a representative told me. For example, some signals, like tail wagging, can be interpreted as happiness, but sometimes it's just interest.
The team collected data and established patterns on how heart rates changes in dogs. The team would track, for example, the heart rate of when a dog was given a treat and was assumed to feel happy.
For now, Inupathy is geared toward dogs, but Langualess is hoping to expand to other furry friends in the future. The harness is already on sale in Japan. A US launch is planned for this year.
More from CES 2017
Here's more info on Inupathy:
- Harness size: Extra small, small, medium, large and extra large
- Average dog size: 1.5 to 70 kg, or 3 to 154 pounds
- Charging method: Micro-USB
- Usage time: Continuous for 12 hours, or two days for 6 hours at a time
- Compatible device: iOS and Android devices with Bluetooth 4.0 or higher
- Compatible OS: iOS 12.1 or higher (iPhone 5 or higher), Android Marshmallow 6.0 or higher
