Humans have long sought to communicate with animals, dating back to the earliest development of language. In recent times, technological advances have provided new methods, such as using talking buttons for dogs or employing artificial intelligence to interpret whale sounds.
A recent innovation in human-animal communication is a voice-activated collar designed to allow pets to “talk” back. This device represents the latest approach in bridging the communication gap between humans and animals.
John McHale, an entrepreneur from Austin, Texas, is the founder of Personifi AI—a company focused on creating technology that gives human-like characteristics to various entities, starting with pets. The collar developed by McHale’s company features a speaker that plays prerecorded human responses when someone speaks to the pet or the collar itself. This creates the perception that the pet possesses a human-like personality and can speak English. Currently, the collar is available for cats and dogs, but McHale plans to expand into wearable technology for other animals and eventually humans.
McHale conceived the idea for the talking collar after his dog, Roscoe, was bitten by a rattlesnake. The incident went unnoticed for several hours until Roscoe showed signs of distress. Although Roscoe has since recovered, the event left a lasting impact on McHale, prompting him to wonder if the situation could have been quickly addressed if Roscoe had communicated what happened. This led to the creation of the device named Shazam.
The collar, named Shazam, is unrelated to the superhero movies or the popular music discovery service. It is equipped with a microphone and a voice module, allowing users to interact with what seems like their pet, but is actually a chatbot embedded in the collar.
According to McHale, the system begins by assessing states of being, analyzing various factors related to the human, the pet, and the environment. These variables feed into a “cognitive cortex” developed through machine learning and large data sets.
The Shazam collar is priced at $495 for cats and $595 for dogs, with subscription fees of $195 per year for cat and “ultra” collars, or $295 per year for the BrainBoost service. The BrainBoost service is described by a Shazam representative as providing advanced features such as empathy, reasoning, and social awareness. These subscription fees are waived for the first year but will automatically renew unless canceled. Without the BrainBoost subscription, the collar reverts to a basic voice function, requiring continued subscription for the enhanced experience after the initial free year.
