I saw an AI collar make a dog talk…

A truly unusual and sometimes surprising experience was had by DT English-language journalist Andy Boxall with a dog, a dog leash and artificial intelligence that makes it talk.

We all talk to our pets, but what if they could talk back to us? This is the premise Shazam group by Personifi AIA wearable device that verbalizes your pet’s mood, movements and emotions. The use of AI actually makes two-way conversation possible.

If this all sounds crazy, it’s just the beginning of what makes Shazam Band some of the craziest technology we’ve seen in a long time. And if I hadn’t seen how it works, I doubt I would have believed it was real.

This is Shazam, an artificial intelligence pet collar.

Shazam (not the one that recognizes songs) comes in two sizes, one for dogs and one for cats, and is worn like a collar. It contains multiple sensors, including a 6-axis gyroscope, GPStemperature sensor, speaker and microphone. There’s a battery inside that can last you for weeks, and another battery in the box so you can always have it charged and ready to go. Use artificial intelligence to interpret your pet’s movements and actions, as well as the tone you use when speaking to them, to create verbal responses that reflect your pet’s intentions, thoughts, and personality.

I know. This sounds either amazingly stupid or the best thing, depending on your level of pet obsession. But stay with me, because this is much better thought out than you might expect.

Want to know how Shazam interprets what your pet is thinking accurately enough to put it all into words that fit their personality? The company is partnering with Matt Beisner, a dog trainer best known for the show. Dog: impossible on Disney+ to train artificial intelligence alongside social media sensation Bobby Johnson, aka “The RxckStxr,” and voice actress Georgiana Marie.

Another key member of the team is Roscoe, the founder’s dog and Personifi AI CEO John McHale. Roscoe is one of hundreds of animals that are already training AI. During a brief Zoom video call before the announcement, I watched Roscoe interact with McHale and other team members via Shazam. Not just the interaction of wagging the tail, jumping up and down, but the interaction verbal. No, I’m not crazy; As crazy as it may sound.

One of the weirdest tech demos I’ve ever seen

When I spoke with McHale, it was early morning in his office, Roscoe had not been fed or walked, and was apparently a little grumpy about being woken up. We laughed at the prospect of doing a tech demo with an animal, a wearable device, and an artificial intelligence system that interpreted its actions and operated in real time, and how that might lead to things going wrong. In fact, the following moments were an eye-opening, Doctor Dolittle-style vision of the future.

They asked Roscoe if he wanted to go for a walk and chase the squirrels, and if they had fed him yet, and all this was said in that usual rhetorical manner in which we talk to domestic animals. Except through Shazam. replied Roscoe. Not in a “if you listen too much I think he said sausages” kind of way, but he really did.

Well, Roscoe didn’t speak, but the words came out of the speaker of the Shazam wearable and in a voice that emphasized Roscoe’s dopey personality. Yes, he was hungry, the squirrels were probably following him, and he was upset that none of this happened. The voice and style will be familiar to anyone who watches Bobby Johnson’s comedy sketches.

It was one of the weirdest tech demos I’ve ever seen, and I was smiling and laughing the entire time, my mind racing between childlike joy and utter confusion. You won’t talk about Tolstoy to your Shazam-wearing pet, but you will see a new side of his personality.

However, there is a more serious use case. McHale explained that he came up with the idea after Roscoe was bitten by a snake and managed to hide the problem, but was clearly out of his mind. Roscoe eventually underwent several major surgeries and survived, but if he could say that he was bitten by a snake, then everything could have been resolved much faster.

Turn your pet into an AI chatbot?

Even with Shazam, it’s unlikely that Roscoe would have been able to articulate that he was bitten by a snake, but he might have been able to voice that he wasn’t okay in a way that we could understand and react quickly. Any visit to the vet would also be memorable, that’s for sure.

Shazam can also help your pet show they care about you, providing more emotional support when you approach and interact as they seem to understand that you’re sad, hurt, or need a furry cuddle.

Because Shazam is based on artificial intelligence and is constantly learning, it’s not like receiving a series of canned responses that approximate emotions. It’s more like an AI chatbot, but instead of being a voice from an empty vessel, Shazam takes your pet’s real emotions and personality, or the personality you give it, and blends them into a voice, so it’s not. something that it is not, or a completely artificial invention. Shazam has 27 characters to choose from, each with their own personality and character – from a witty Southern belle to a fast-talking mob boss – and the ability to create custom personality traits using the app. Several voices are available in both Spanish and Chinese.

The app also displays activity tracking data from the Shazam collar, and built-in GPS tracks your pet and also has a geofencing feature that encourages your pet to stay within certain set boundaries. He does this by verbally telling the pet through a speaker that he is going where he shouldn’t, as if it were his own subconscious that is meant to confuse the neighbors. You set one voice as the primary caregiver and can also program other secondary voices to increase safety and make life easier for your pet.

Giving your pet a voice is not cheap

Putting words into your pet’s mouth won’t come cheap. The Shazam wearable costs $495 for the small version and $595 for the large version, including voice and app access for one year. If you want to change your voice, it will cost $99 each time, and a subscription for every year after the first will cost $295. Pre-orders will begin on October 25th and orders will ship in February 2025.

Only you know if it’s worth it

We already recognize and try to understand our pet’s personality and emotions. Shazam takes this to the next level by expressing emotions in a language we can understand. When you first see it in action, it may look and sound a little silly, but after a few minutes you will realize how much fun you can have with it and even how it can help keep your pet safe and healthy. The big question is how long this pleasure will last after the novelty wears off. You should also find out the significant costs.

Shazam is such a crazy product that you’ll either be desperate to place an order or think it’s one of the most ridiculous things ever made. The voices and characters created by Personifi AI aren’t for everyone either, and the ones I heard were harsh on the chosen hook: for example, the superhero character looked like an even more exaggerated Buzz Lightyear. I think they can be quite squeaky. However, if you don’t want to be distracted by Shazam or your pet, it’s as simple as saying “quiet” like you normally would.

Every owner has wondered what their pet would say if they could talk, and Shazam allows you to somehow answer that question. As for whether it works in the real world and beyond a very short demo, that remains to be seen, but after seeing Shazam in action I thought there would be a lot of crazy people with cats and dogs. There you are going to lick this crazy piece of technology, regardless of the cost.