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CES 2014: Voyce is a Health-Tracking Smart Collar for Dogs

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Wearables are a major category at CES this year and while most of the available products have focused on humans, one company, i4C Innovations, is aiming its newest tracking device at a different consumer group -- dogs. Voyce is a health and activity tracking collar designed to be worn by dogs.

Voyce uses a 3-axis accelerometer to track a dog's active and resting periods and a built-in radio frequency technology measures both heart and respiratory rates.

voyce.jpg
Introducing breakthrough wearable technology that bridges the communication gap between dogs, their owners, and the people who love them. Our three-part approach of Discover, Learn, and Share gives unprecedented insight into your dog's health and wellbeing, information and tools for you and your dog to grow together, and ways to share with your veterinarian and social networks.
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The data gathered by Voyce is uploaded to and analyzed by an accompanying mobile app, which gives an detailed overview of pet health that can be shared on social networks and with veterinarians. The app tracks trends over time, allowing owners to keep an eye on vital signs and other health indicators to detect potential problems early on.

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According to the company, Voyce data can be a valuable tool for pet owners. For example, the activity tracking portion of the band can let owners know if there are early warning signs of arthritis based on lower levels of movement, while the heart rate monitor can notify owners of conditions like chronic pain. The device also tracks the calories that a dog burns each day, allowing for adjustments in feeding.

Voyce accommodates neck sizes ranging from 12 to 32 inches and weighs less than six ounces. It has an estimated battery life of one week and it requires Internet access and Wi-Fi to sync with a mobile device or computer.

Voyce is expected to be released in the summer of 2014 for approximately $300.

Article Link: CES 2014: Voyce is a Health-Tracking Smart Collar for Dogs
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/08/voyce-smart-collar/
P

proline

macrumors 6502a
Nov 18, 2012
630
1
Nothing could be of greater importance than knowing how many breaths my dog took today. A truly wise use of resources. Well done!
 
S

sammaffei

macrumors member
Nov 16, 2011
64
16
Yeah…

My coonhound would have that thing destroyed inside of a half hour.

Anyway, it's one thing to obsess about your own health (even though you're going to die anyway and in a way you probably don't expect). It's another to project your obsession onto your poor animal. Dogs don't dwell on dying. That's why they are generally happy.
 
Iconoclysm

Iconoclysm

macrumors 68040
May 13, 2010
3,121
2,545
Washington, DC
anomie said:
People buying pets are disgusting.
Thee already are enough pets (especially after Xmas) who need a home.

The collar... Well, the rich always want new gadgets..
Click to expand...

I bought a pet, I also donate thousands a year to helping homeless pets. Am I disgusting? Some people cannot trust shelter animals around children and other pets, let alone that maybe nothing in what the person is looking for exists in a shelter animal.
 
Nunyabinez

Nunyabinez

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2010
1,758
2,230
Provo, UT
I wonder if this would fit on my neck. I would like it to tell me if I'm getting arthritis and how many calories I'm burning. ;)

If they made a spiked version I would totally wear it.
 
kd5jos

kd5jos

macrumors 6502
Oct 28, 2007
432
144
Denver, CO
What?!?!?!

anomie said:
People buying pets are disgusting.
Thee already are enough pets (especially after Xmas) who need a home.

The collar... Well, the rich always want new gadgets..
Click to expand...

Really? You mean I did something disgusting when I paid $200 per dog I got at the local rescue shelter (didn't want to separate siblings). Then I repeated the process and got some cats. I must be the most vile person on earth for preventing the rescue shelter from having to destroy the dogs and cats. Glad you were here to clear things up.
 
citi

citi

macrumors 65816
May 2, 2006
1,363
508
Simi Valley, CA
kd5jos said:
Really? You mean I did something disgusting when I paid $200 per dog I got at the local rescue shelter (didn't want to separate siblings). Then I repeated the process and got some cats. I must be the most vile person on earth for preventing the rescue shelter from having to destroy the dogs and cats. Glad you were here to clear things up.
Click to expand...

Shelters are way different. The OP was talking about retail shops. Although I bought my first boston terrier at retail and my boxer at a rescue. They are best friends. I also adopted a cat from an accidental litter. To each their own. I'll probably never buy retail again but I'm not an animal zealot like some. What do people think happens to those retail dogs that don't get sold? The same love should go to those animals too. You can't blame them if they were born in a puppy farm.
 
8

835153

Guest
Aug 5, 2013
116
1
A much better product would be a pet tracking collar. If your pet goes missing, whip out your iphone and the Find my Pet app will show where they are. The data allowance required by the collar could be tied to your phone account. No need to have it using data all the time though, have the collar in a sleep mode that checks very infrequently for a request from your phone. Once the request is received the collar can then stay active to keep a live track of your pet. Once you locate the pet you can put the collar back in sleep mode again. The collar could be solar or kinetically powered.

Probably just given away a million dollar idea here lol.
 
D

DanH01

macrumors newbie
Mar 19, 2008
3
0
The "Up" side is that if the collar breaks, your dog ends up talking funny...

THUMB_alpha-beta-dog-up-movie.jpg
 
I

iKane

macrumors member
Apr 29, 2013
30
14
pubwvj said:
The epitome of absurdity. How to part fools from their gold. Definitely for people with way too much money and time.
Click to expand...

Heaven forbid people with disposable income spend it how they wish. I can't think of anything worse than spending money on something to improve an animal's wellbein- oh.

I spend whatever I can to keep my pets happy, that's part of actually loving your animals. People probably thought flea treatments were a luxury at one point in history.
 
Four oF NINE

Four oF NINE

macrumors 68000
Sep 28, 2011
1,931
896
Hell's Kitchen
This is interesting, but I'd be more interested if it included a "Find My Dog" application as mentioned above, or to be truly awesome, a barking to english translator.
 
T

tinstaafl

macrumors newbie
Oct 16, 2012
2
0
stuartluff said:
A much better product would be a pet tracking collar. If your pet goes missing, whip out your iphone and the Find my Pet app will show where they are. The data allowance required by the collar could be tied to your phone account. No need to have it using data all the time though, have the collar in a sleep mode that checks very infrequently for a request from your phone. Once the request is received the collar can then stay active to keep a live track of your pet. Once you locate the pet you can put the collar back in sleep mode again. The collar could be solar or kinetically powered.

Probably just given away a million dollar idea here lol.
Click to expand...

Erm, don't worry you didn't give anything away :)

I've had exactly what you describe for a few years and it works very well. Google retrieva tracking and see what you nearly invented!

tinstaafl
 
D

deeddawg

macrumors G5
Jun 14, 2010
12,245
6,393
US
anomie said:
People buying pets are disgusting.
Thee already are enough pets (especially after Xmas) who need a home.
Click to expand...

The OP's statement doesn't imply it costs $300 to get a new dog; his statement is why pay $300 when you can get a new dog for less.

So why do you assume the $300 is paid to a breeder?

BTW, the cost here to adopt from the county animal shelter is $110. Then add the vet visit and other costs and you're well on your way towards $300. When we adopted a dog from a local rescue group, we paid even more since we had to cover both their cost to adopt from the shelter plus vet bills since the dog had been sick.
 
8

835153

Guest
Aug 5, 2013
116
1
tinstaafl said:
Erm, don't worry you didn't give anything away :)

I've had exactly what you describe for a few years and it works very well. Google retrieva tracking and see what you nearly invented!

tinstaafl
Click to expand...

I'm always nearly inventing stuff :D
 
Ecoh

Ecoh

macrumors 6502a
Oct 30, 2009
653
26
USA
I can see this being useful for service dogs, search and rescue dogs. These types of dogs will work until they drop. It is very important that these dogs are kept in excellent health and not worked to the point of exhaustion. This would be a way of tracking their health and knowing just how much they can handle in a given situation.
 
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