I love the technology of wearables. I proudly own six with all different features and each ones brings a new hope and possibility like my Amazon Halo, which unlike others, reads your body fat off of a picture you take on your phone and lets you track it. So, when new dog technology products arrive on the scene and one that requires strapping a vest to my dog so that I would know his feelings and desires, it was certainly intriguing.
Due to my addiction to wearable technology of any sort I thought to myself just last week that my many tried and true tests of actual wearables likely exceed any other reviewer on line so I should write an article on it. But alas, I am not sure dog owners care much about wearables as they typically are getting in those steps whether they like it or not. But perhaps dog lovers would care about wearables dog technology if they were made for a dog.
Since I adore wearables and dogs I was excited to find Inupathy, the self purported first dog technology product in the world (although sales seem to have ceased for the moment) to visualize your dog’s status from heart rate analysis. Inupathy will purportedly fill your life with dogs, with new information and deep insights.
Inupathy Dog Technology
The dog wears a vest and the LED light on the device displays messages in real time about your dog such as “relaxed”, “nervous”, “interested” and “stressed.” My first impression was that it is not really any amazing technology. After all as pet lovers we can generally look at the body language of our dogs and know immediately what they are thinking (mostly can you spare a treat, I have been really good.)
However, I suppose at the same time I could just read cues from my body to know if I have walked enough in a day and I prefer to read a watch to know how many steps I’ve taken instead.
Regardless how the dog technology works is pretty interesting.
How does Inupathy dog technology work?
When a dog gets nervous, its heartbeat gets faster. This happens due to the activation of its sympathetic nerves. Inupathy has stated that they have found out dogs’ feelings in more detail by studying and analyzing heartbeat changes of dogs.
We can learn a lot too. We looked into our dogs eyes and we stared into their hearts,we pet them, we loved them and we hung out and played with them. Here is what we found:
Inupathy seemed to be on the right track in that they are thinking of cool dog technology but it seems kind of lame since these cues can all be seen and learned by developing a connection with your dog. I am trying to do the same with myself. I have not worn a wearable for at least a day.