Fujitsu collar monitor proves that all dogs go to the cloud
Sure, you're having a grand old time in the cloud, but what fun is it, really, if you can't bring your pets along? Fujitsu today announced a new collar-mounted device designed to monitor your dog's activity level. This one does more than just filling up a Twitter stream, however, aimed at actually providing helpful health monitoring, including activity, external temperature and the like to a cloud-based health service set to launch later this year. According to Fujitsu, the device is small and lightweight, with minimal power consumption, assuring that your canine can wear it at all times, so you can monitor your pet's activity while you're away. Not much in the way of availability at present, but you can find a bit more info in the PR after the break.
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Fujitsu Uses ICT to Support Pet Health
Tokyo, May 14, 2012 - Fujitsu today announced development of a special device that can be attached to a dog's collar to monitor their level of activity and other data. Starting in the second half of 2012, the company will begin offering a new cloud service to provide pet health management support using sensor data collected from the device.
In recent years, owners have been taking greater interest in maintaining the health of their pets as they have come to be recognized as members of the family. While pets are living longer lives, they also increasingly face the same kinds of lifestyle diseases as humans, including obesity and diabetes. To prevent illnesses in pets, it is important that their daily activities be monitored, as is the case for humans.
In order to help dog owners manage the health of their pets using ICT, Fujitsu has leveraged its sensing technologies for humans gained in the development of the company's mobile phones and other technologies, and has adapted them for a device that can monitor a dog's activity levels. This new product will be employed in a cloud service that provides pet owners with assistance in managing the health of pets. Going forward, Fujitsu plans to provide this technology and service as a way to offer added peace of mind for pet owners who take the health of their pets seriously.
The new service will be exhibited at Fujitsu Forum 2012, to be held on Thursday, May 17 and Friday, May 18 at the Tokyo International Forum in Japan.
Features of the Pet Health Management ServiceDog wearing special device
Special activity monitoring device worn on collar continuously logs dog's activityThe newly developed monitoring device is compact, lightweight and requires very little power. As a result, it can be worn by the dog 24/7 and continuously record all of its activities. Even for owners who cannot keep a constant eye on their pets, by monitoring and recording the number of steps they take, as well as signs of shivering and external temperature information, the new device enables owners to stay informed about the dog's regular activity levels, making it easy to detect any changes in their pet's health.
Device activity logs can be easily viewed on a smartphone and uploaded to the cloudSensor data is stored on the device for a fixed period of time, and accumulated data can be transferred using a special application and FeliCa technology, a popular smart card system in Japan. Reading the data is simply a matter of bringing the device near a smartphone or personal computer. The data can also be uploaded to a special cloud service where it can be archived for long-term storage.
Cloud service assists dog owners with simplified pet health managementData uploaded to the cloud can be viewed on a special pet owner web page, while transitions over time can be displayed as graphs, making them easier to understand and facilitating the instant detection of any changes in a pet's health. The service is designed to make it easier for pet owners to manage the daily health of their pets.
