Wouldn't it be nice to be able to communicate with your dog on a level that is understandable to you both? This may seem like a pipe-dream, but the technology may not be all that far off.
A Cal State Long Beach art department faculty member, Brittany Ransom, not only teaches about digital fabrication, electronics, kinetics and mechanics, but she has come up with an innovative dog toy that will make the old way of training our pooches a thing of the past.
It's called The Jaw Jabbler and it uses different “legs” of the toy to communicate different wants or needs of the dog. So basically each time your dog wants to eat, poop or play, it would select that corresponding “nubby” to make his desire known to you.
Although, Ransom has been working on this prototype since she was a grad student at the University of Illinois in 2010 (while pursuing a masters in fine arts), she continues to work out the bugs during a six-week residency in San Francisco.
However, when it's completed, she's still unsure where to go from there with this unique invention.
With the brilliance behind the Jaw Jabbler, it may not be all that difficult to find a company that will back her technology. I know I'd buy one for my canine companion. Or perhaps she might want to look into crowdfunding? Just a suggestion (unfortunately, I have little money…sorry).
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Ransom came up with this techie-toy as she was tired of those annoying old squeakies that are just noise in the pet parent's ears. Plus, in her opinion, most dog toys seem to be uninteresting to pooches and they become easily bored with them after the initial playtime is over.
The Jaw Jabbler is not the only high-tech toy to enter into the pet arena recently. For example, the GoDogGo is an automatic fetching machine that will keep those balls flying so your arm doesn't get worn out, yet Fido can still play to his heart's content.
You've probably heard of pet parents setting up a camera to watch what their pets are doing while they are away. Well now the PetCube has taken peeping on our pets to a whole new level.
With this handy little device you can talk to your pooch or kitty with the two-way audio stream through its own built-in microphone and speaker. Plus, you can play games with your pet and get motion and sound detection notifications all through your cell phone. Genius!
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Techie toys and products are the wave of the future for our pets…these aren't our parents' pet toys. The innovations behind the products are not only making our lives as pet parents more convenient, but it's a great way to explore new and different ways to communicate and play with our beloved fur babies.
