Efforts to communicate with animals have been ongoing since humans first developed language. In contemporary society, technology plays a crucial role in this pursuit, with innovations such as talking buttons for dogs or utilizing artificial intelligence to understand whale communication.
A new approach in human-animal interaction involves a voice-activated collar, designed to enable pets to ‘speak’ back to their owners. This technology is in line with the objectives of Personifi AI, a startup spearheaded by John McHale, a technologist based in Austin, Texas. The company aims to create technology that personifies various entities, with a primary focus on pets at this stage.
The collar developed by Personifi AI includes a speaker, allowing pets to ‘respond’ with a prerecorded human voice, simulating a conversation with English-speaking animals. Initially designed for cats and dogs, the company envisions extending this wearable technology to other animals and, eventually, humans.
McHale was inspired to create this talking collar after his dog, Roscoe, suffered a rattlesnake bite. Initially unaware of the incident, McHale recognized Roscoe’s condition several hours later, resulting in a 10-day stay at an animal hospital. This ordeal prompted McHale to ponder how the situation might have changed if Roscoe could have communicated the incident sooner, ultimately leading to the development of the collar, named Shazam.
Shazam, unrelated to both the superhero films and the music discovery service of the same name, incorporates a microphone and voice box to facilitate interaction. The device creates an illusion of dialogue between pet and owner, though the conversations are technically with a chatbot on the collar.
According to McHale, the collar functions by assessing various aspects of the human, pet, and environment, processing these variables through a cognitive system built on machine learning and extensive datasets.
Priced at $495 for cats and $595 for dogs, the collars also require subscription fees. The feline and “ultra” versions cost $195 annually, while the BrainBoost service, which enhances the collar with features such as empathy, reasoning, and social awareness, costs $295 per year. These subscriptions are free for the first year but will automatically renew. Without renewing the BrainBoost subscription, the collar reverts to a basic voice mode, losing its advanced characteristics, making continued payment necessary for the optimal experience after the initial year.