Trendpool ? Japanese Owners Communicate with, Check on Pets

Digital devices let Japanese owners communicate with, and show off, their pets

A large and visible section of Japan?s pet industry overtly focuses on a style that could be termed ?cute? or kawaii. From elaborate clothing, to luxury foods and even ?prams? for dogs, many Japanese pet owners love treating their pets as precious infants, with over-the-top results and ballooning budgets. This also extends to blogs and social media, where at times it may seem that every popular Japanese YouTube video features a dog or cat, and likewise many regular blogger?s content consists entirely just of pictures of their animals.

It?s only natural that a consumer base so infatuated with their pets should want to speak to them. Japan has already seen several devices designed to increase owner-pet communication, perhaps most notoriously Takara-Tomy?s ?dog? interpretation gadget, the BowLingual. A related iPhone app was later released that not only ?translated? your pouch?s language, but also allowed you to tweet their messages.

Smart Eye is a monitoring device that lets you take pictures and then upload them to your smartphone or tablet. It has been designed by Smart Solutions especially for pet-owners who want to keep an eye on their beloved animal, and perhaps snap a picture of when the cat or dog is doing something cute.

It works like a web cam that can save stills or video, and these can watched and recorded in real time on your smartphone, so you never miss the antics of your pet, and likewise can check they are safe and well while you are away. There are two different cameras to choose from, one silver, one black, and as long as you have an internet connection you can even hear what they are, well, saying. The cameras, which cost between 50 and 60,000 JPY (about $650-780), have sensors which mean they can follow the animal as it moves around and you can control things like the zoom by your iPhone, iPad or Android device.

A new free service for Smart Eye this September takes it one step further. Now you can post the pictures of your pet and share them via a social media website to be set up by the makers in October.

Harnessing a desire for the cute leads to whole new areas of hardware and products, not just kawaii fashion accessories. While some might view the idea of having a monitoring device checking on the wellbeing of your pet via your phone as being border on the controlling or even the neurotic, the social element implies that users will be sharing the positive things about their pets, rather than catering towards owners with anxieties.

Image source: Ameblo

Source: http://www.trendpool.com/japanese-owners-communicate-with-check-on-pets/

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