This AI collar translates dogs and cats: pet-tech revolution or a commercial gimmick?

A Chinese startup claims to have finally broken down the boundary between humans and animals, clearly with an eye toward our beloved four‑legged friends. The AI collar launched by Meng Xiaoyi uses artificial intelligence to make the meaning of barks and meows understandable: the result is a real-time translator for dogs and cats, a tech novelty that could appeal to animal-loving users!

Meng Xiaoyi’s startup presented an AI collar that translates dogs and cats: how it works and how much it costs

Behind this particular device is the Chinese company Meng Xiaoyi: the idea behind the AI collar created by the startup is as simple as it is brilliant. The device is capable – at least in theory – of deciphering the vocalizations of dogs and cats, so as to allow owners to understand their four-legged companions.

To do this, the accessory uses artificial intelligence through a process based on three fundamental pillars:

• Vocalizations – the collar captures and analyzes every sound emitted by the animal;
• Body language – it also collects signals coming from movements;
• Database – the system compares all the data with a gigantic database (we’re talking about millions of entries) concerning animal behavior.

At the end of the process, the AI is able to derive meaning from barks and meows, functioning just like a real-time translator. It also includes a companion app – Xiaoyi Intelligence – to connect the gadget to the smartphone via Bluetooth.

The price of Meng Xiaoyi’s AI collar is 118$, an amount that could be described as quite affordable when compared to the goal of unveiling what lies in the minds of dogs and kittens. Clearly it has been a success, with almost 10,000 pre-orders from users curious to “communicate” with their animals.

Does it really work?

All of us are wondering how reliable this particular novelty announced by the Chinese startup is. The company claims that its AI collar has a 95% accuracy rate, but at present there are no independent studies that can confirm it.

It is worth noting that the Asian company has been clear: this is still a tool that offers an approximate interpretation of certain signals, and not a literal translation. This seems plausible: probably the technology behind the AI collar uses precise behavioral cues, in order to infer states such as hunger, stress, the desire to play or to get attention.