What it does
"Petto is a modular, smart pet companion system designed for solitary workers and their pet dogs.
Your inspiration
I was inspired by my sister's real experience with her puppy. She adopted a two-month-old Samoyed when she first entered her workforce, but was very anxious about her pet's emotional state because she worked alone for long periods of time. She is worried about her pet's lack of companionship at home alone and that it will disturb the neighbors by barking out of anxiety. This contradiction between love and powerlessness made me think: can design provide a solution of "emotional presence"?
How it works
The petto consists of three modules: 1. Intelligent interactive module: Through whack-a-mole interactive snack pop-ups, voice calls and recorded accompaniment, pet is guided to maintain positive attention and distract anxiety when alone. 2. Monitoring and behavior recognition module: embedded camera and microphone, combined with sound recognition and behavior analysis technology, monitor pet behavior (such as barking, running), and judge its anxiety level, and push it to the owner. 3. App-side synchronization module: The owner can remotely view the real-time picture, send voices, set automatic interaction plans, and remotely pacify at critical moments. All hardware is made of safety materials, the power supply uses a low-voltage safety module, and it is equipped with a detachable and washable toy ball assembly to ensure the safety of pets. At the same time, the system has automatic wake-up and sleep modes to save energy consumption.
Design process
At the beginning of the design, I interviewed pet owners in the workplace to understand their real feelings about the problem of "pet solitude" and the shortcomings of existing products. • Some owners express reliance on camera surveillance, but feedback is "lack of interactivity" • Someone tried feeding the feeder but found that the pet was still anxious and inactive Based on this, I built the first version of the low-fidelity prototype, through initial testing with my sister and her puppy, observing how the pet reacted in different situations, and gradually optimizing the toy ball popping mechanism and sound interaction frequency. After that, three groups of pet owners were invited to conduct functional tests, and the details (such as voice intonation selection, interaction time setting, App UI clarity, etc.) were continuously adjusted according to their feedback, forming the current high-fidelity model.
How it is different
The uniqueness of Petto is that it is not a single monitor or feeder, but a modular, intelligent companion system with two-way emotional support for people and pets. Unlike most products that only focus on "pet solitude behavior control", PETTO incorporates "owner emotion" and "pet emotion" into the design system to achieve a true human-pet empathy experience. It is also one of the few solutions that integrates interactive toys, behavior recognition, remote comfort, and visual companionship. Petto emphasizes a design strategy of "gentleness and precision", adapting to the rhythm of daily life while satisfying the psychological expectation of "peace of mind".
Future plans
"petto has completed the development of the hardware model and app prototype and has received positive feedback through early testing.
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