Chinese company says it has a device capable of "translating" pet sounds

Chinese technology company Hangzhou Meng Xiaoyi Technology claims to have developed a device capable of "translating" animal sounds into voice messages, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). The "pettichat", a smart collar, is placed on the animal and connects to a mobile device application capable of capturing meows and barks and transforming them into human messages.

The device consists of a built-in microphone and motion sensors, which monitor the animals' behavior. The captured data is processed in a cloud, using Alibaba Cloud's Qwen language model. In addition to translating the pets' sounds, the device also promises to translate the owners' speech into pleasant sounds for the animal, which can express affection and even scolding.

Despite the company's claims that the device achieves 94.6% to 95% accuracy in recognizing emotions, its effectiveness is heavily criticized by experts. Biologists and veterinarians say that animal communication is very different from human language and involves contexts and microexpressions that would be difficult to capture by AI. There are still no studies that prove that pettichat works.

The product is listed on the official PettiChat website and in crowdfunding campaigns with an international average price of US$129 (approximately R$654).

See the most popular dog and cat breeds in the world

Source: CNN