This photo taken on April 1, 2023 shows a cat being groomed at the WCF International Cat Show in Hanoi.
In Tokyo, Japan, owners of cats, which are considered lucky in the country, invest a significant amount of money in their pets’ wellbeing. To address concerns about their cats’ pain, a tech firm and Nihon University’s College of Bioresource Sciences have collaborated to create an app called “Cat Pain Detector.” This app, trained on thousands of cat photos, can identify when cats are experiencing discomfort.
Since its launch, the “Cat Pain Detector” has gained 43,000 users, primarily in Japan but also in Europe and South America. The app is part of a growing trend in technology for pet owners seeking to ensure the well-being of their furry companions.
Carelogy, the tech firm behind the app, and Nihon University collected 6,000 cat photos to carefully study the positions of the cats’ ears, noses, whiskers, and eyelids. Using a scoring system developed by the University of Montreal, they were able to detect minute differences between healthy cats and those experiencing pain from difficult-to-detect illnesses.
The app developers then trained an AI detection system using this information, which has been further refined with around 600,000 photos uploaded by users. The app now boasts an accuracy level of over 90%, according to Go Sakioka, the head of Carelogy.
According to the Japan Pet Food Association, 60% of cat owners visit a veterinarian only once a year. Sakioka aims to make it easier for cat owners to determine whether their pets need veterinary care by providing an at-home tool like the “Cat Pain Detector.”
Although some veterinarians in Japan already use the app, Sakioka notes that the AI system still needs improvement before it becomes a standardized tool.
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Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
