If you want to get inside of your pet's head, the tech hasn't arrived yet, but one company hopes to have it trending in the right direction.
Los Angeles-based FluentPet has developed a series of tiles it claims help four-legged companions communicate with their humans. Through training, they can learn to associate various tiles with words they've learned over time and then use their paws to press them.
The tech has been a hit on platforms like TikTok, where tons of "talking dog" videos have gone viral.
There are a wide range of options to select from when it comes to purchasing the tech. Test kits start out around $35 with the most expensive option, They Can Talk Kit, being priced around $230.
The company also recently launched FluentPet Connect, which integrates the tile button system into an app. This helps keep pet owners connected to their pets at all times. If a person isn't home, their pet could send an alert, similar to a text message.
The system is available for an additional $69.99 but is compatible with tiles that have already hit the market.
However, devices like FluentPet and the studies that have been done with their subjects do face skepticism from scientists. Clive Wynne, the founding director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University, explained that rather than language comprehension, the dogs are being conditioned.
“This is one of the most basic forms of learning in the animal kingdom," Wynne told the Washington Post. "The dog forms an association between an action and an outcome that it desires.”
Cheddar has been covering the biggest news of the week with some of the biggest names in the biz. In case you missed it, we've pulled together some of the highlights that will keep you informed as we get ready for the week ahead.
Stocks are closing lower on Wall Street, marking their third losing week in the last four. Banks, technology companies and industrials all helped pull major indexes lower Friday.
Kellogg's has reached a new tentative agreement with its 1,400 striking cereal plant workers that could bring an end to the strike that began Oct. 5.
U.S. health advisers are recommending that most Americans get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines instead of the Johnson & Johnson shot.
Technology companies led stocks lower on Wall Street Thursday as investors weighed the implications of higher interest rates as the Federal Reserve prepares to begin raising rates next year to fight inflation.
Former McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook has paid back more than $105 million in equity awards and cash to the burger giant after it learned that he had lied about the extent of his misconduct while he was its top executive.
The Federal Reserve has nixed the controversial word "transitory" to describe inflation in its latest policy statement. The change in language comes as the Fed plans to speed up its tapering of monthly asset purchases.
Stocks rose steadily on Wall Street Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it would accelerate its pullback of economic stimulus and would likely raise interest rates three times next year to tackle rising inflation.
Despite the hype and headlines earlier this year around meme stocks and Robinhood, the SEC and FINRA have made few concrete changes around retail investing.
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a hotly debated hearing regarding fiat-backed stablecoins on Tuesday that still led to a conclusion the space needed some form of regulation.
