Just when you thought you have enough needy friends texting and calling you, comes the DogPhone.
Yes, as you might suspect, it’s a phone that allows your dog to ring you up, to get a little face time with their master when you’re not at home.
According to AFP, the invention from “animal-tech scientists” in Britain and Finland allows your dog to “dial” you via video, by jiggling a ball attached to an accelerometer. This motion then prompts a video call from Fido.
University of Glasgow’s Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas invented the tech — with help from her Labrador Retriever, Zack — along with researchers from Finland’s Aalto University.
The technology was tested with having Zack make some “calls,” which triggered various video footage.
“Of course, we can’t know for sure that Zack was aware of the causal link between picking up the ball and making a call, or even that some of the interactions which seemed accidental were actually unintended on his part,” Hirskyj-Douglas tells AFP. “However, it’s clear that on some occasions he was definitely interested in what he was seeing, and that he displayed some of the same behaviors he shows when we are physically together.”
The scientists hope the technology could be used to ease the transition for “pandemic pets,” whose owners are transitioning from working at home to going back to the office.
Dog scientists hope the technology could be used to tell you to pick up some steaks before getting home.