The safety jacket, equipped with a hidden camera, triggers an alert in case of unusual barking. What animals see is retransmitted on Smartphone residents. The goal: to give a place to these dogs often abused.
In Pucker, Thailand, stray dogs will put on their workwear. Often beaten, not fed and discredited by the population, these animals are still very numerous in the streets. A connected safety vest for dogs is currently being developed to change the look on them.
A subsidiary of Samsung, the advertising agency Ceil, and the Soy Dog animal protection foundation have incorporated a hidden camera and a neon computer into the fabric. The latter makes the distinction between conventional barking and those intended to give warning in case of unusual situation: an aggression, a fire, an accident or an intruder with suspicious behavior. A notification is sent to nearby Smartphone. On an application, residents see in real time what makes the dog react. "We do not think that any special training is necessary for animals. The connected jacket combines new technologies with their natural instinct. The only thing they will need is love and attention, "says project director in reflective vest at the online magazine Coconuts. The experimentation phase is launched.
In the long term, it would be a question of permanently changing the image of stray dogs in the country. "The problems of cruelty and the illegal meat trade are becoming more and more important in Thailand," he says. Capturing and locking up dogs cannot be a solution for the instigator of this device. "They have the right to continue living in freedom."
