Dogs, we mostly get them, but cats?
To bridge the gap between the loveable felines and their owners, a company has created a cat collar prototype that translates a feline's meow into human voice.
Created by London ad agency adam&eveDDB, Mar's Temptations lab's "Catterbox" contains a microphone, speaker, Bluetooth technology and wifi. The collar, which comes in four colors, is 3-D printed and rubber lacquer-coated.
Explaining how they came up with the concept, Temptations global brand director Pete Simmons told adweek:
"Through research, we learned that an adult cat's meow is their way to communicate with humans and, by investing in this prototype device, we can start to improve understanding between them both-giving cats a voice for the very first time," said Simmons.
The team behind the invention analyzed the cat vocalizations and related them with corresponding human emotions. There's no assurance that the words really match what you cat is trying to say. However, it is seen as a big step to understanding feline behavior.
Last year Gary Weitzman, released a book called How To Speak Cat.
In an interview with Mirror UK, he said cats use their meows to make humans do what they wish.
"Cats meow to each other as kittens, but as soon as they hit adulthood they stop meowing to each other except in very specific circumstances. The only creatures they normally vocalise with in this way are humans. And it's usually because they want something - food or play," he told the news site.
In a Feline Behavior Conference last year, Dr. Sharon Crowell-Davis said one of the most misinterpreted behavior of cats are their "purring." While some people think "purring" means they are happy, she said it actually means "don't go," a simple way of showing the owners it needs attention.
Prototypes of the collar have been launched in the US and New Zealand.