New machine could help predict pets’ health issues

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Ukrainian tech company Petcube is developing an AI-powered learning machine to help people understand what their pets are trying to say, which can ultimately help predict health problems in the pets.

“We think that we will be able to give pets a voice to better understand them. We’re now trying to connect all pets to the Internet. And then, from their behavior, to learn about them better,” Petcube CEO Yaroslav Azhnyuk told Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post.

The company is best known for its WiFi connected pet monitors which allows owners to watch and interact with their pets through a mobile app, and is working on the long-term plan to study how pet behavior links to physical and mental health problems.

Petcube' current products allow pet owners to watch and interact with their pets remotely. /Gif via Petcube

"Right now, we make hardware and apps that allow you to watch, feed and play with your pets remotely," Azhnyuk said in an interview with CNBC. "But we can really advance our understanding of pets as well. We are starting to think about our potential to be helpful to research institutions, much like Google, Twitter or Facebook have become over the years."

To do so, the company is studying a huge amount of pet videos collected through the cameras on its gadgets sold to pet owners. The company also acquired Canadian startup PetBot to deepen its expertise in artificial intelligence (AI), and will incorporate PetBot’s development around AI into its future products, according to Azhnyuk via Kyiv Post.

Shortly after the acquisition, Petcube raised 10 million US dollars this month from Y Combinator, Almaz Capital and AVentures for the future technology and its network extension to South America.

Daniil Stolyarov, Investment Director at Almaz Capital, appeared to be rather “bullish” about the investment in the new pet care technology, according to CNBC, as he saw people spend more than ever on their pets – 3,500 US dollars per pet annually in the US.

And the pet care business is booming for sure. The world’s pet care industry is estimated to be worth 110 billion US dollars, and will increase to 128 billion US dollars by 2020 thanks to technology which allows human to interact with their pets over the Internet, according to market researcher Euromonitor.

Petcube is catching up with the trend. Besides the long-term AI innovation to get more pets on the Internet, the company will soon release Alexa-like devices which can be voice-controlled by pet owners.

(CGTN's Wang Xueying also contributed to the story.)