If you like animals or have a pet, you have probably tried to speak with them. But a “pspsps” can only get you so far. No matter how hard you try to understand what your cat or dog says, you likely still fail to get what they are saying. Now, a Chinese startup seems to have found a solution for you. An AI collar that can make your pet talk in human language.
Meng Xiaoyi, a Chinese tech startup, has revealed a new AI-powered pet translator. This, the company claims, can allow you to understand what your pet is saying. That is, it can turn barks, meows, and other signals into human speech. The company says the collar-like device, worn around a pet’s neck, can recognise vocalisations, emotions and behavioural language with an accuracy rate approaching 95 per cent.
Though keep in mind that these are claims made by the company, and at the time of writing, there are no third-party verifications available.
A pet speaking in English?
Now, this device may sound interesting, and perhaps a solution that you may have wanted ever since you adopted your golden retriever. But how does it work?
In a video shared by the startup on YouTube, you can see different cats and dogs wearing this collar. In one scene, a cat looks upwards and meows, which the collar translates to “I wanna play.” Another scene shows a dog barking, with the collar then saying, “I’m hungry.”
However, this is not a one-way street. Meng Xiaoyi claims that you can also use the translator to talk to your pet. That is, no more “pspsps.” You can say something like, “Easy, stay calm,” and the collar will convey the message in barks or meows.
How does it actually work?
To make this happen, Meng Xiaoyi claims that this AI collar uses microphones, motion sensors and AI to read body language and vocalisations. The translator is built on Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen AI model – that is said to have been trained on millions of pet vocal samples. This, the company says, helps the device identify sounds, emotions and behaviour with high accuracy.
The collar is said to have weight of 27 grams, with the human having a small device that seems to connect wirelessly to the collar. The company says that this can into human phrases with up to 95 per cent accuracy across over 20 emotions.
As per Meng Xiaoyi, it has already received over 10,000 preorders for this collar at a starting price of 799 yuan (roughly Rs 11,000). This device officially goes on sale on May 30.
However, not everyone was convinced by the demo video. On X, some users have questioned whether this can actually work.
One person wrote, “I love how they claim 95% accuracy and people don’t question it as if there’s a certified board of pets that speak English and confirmed the accuracy.”
Another user added, “Pet didn’t say that, AI said it. A good opportunity for AI to tell more lies lmao”
Though some pet lovers didn’t agree with the idea for different reasons. One user wrote, “Don’t need a collar for Archie to tell me what he wants. Love and food. Mostly food.” While another person stated, “I know what my cat is saying thank you.”
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