Interactive games designed especially for cats are being tested in shelters, with the aim of stimulating curiosity, well-being and mental health in felines . The screens display moving objects, such as insects and mice, with sounds and contrasting colors, encouraging cats to use their paws to try to capture them.
The project, developed by students from Inteli (Institute of Technology and Leadership), aims to stimulate
cats ‘ senses , reasoning and natural behaviors, such as hunting and exploration , especially in closed environments.
The game prototypes were taken to shelters to observe the animals’ reactions. The idea is to help keep cats mentally active, reduce boredom and improve the animals’ quality of life . Although they are still prototypes in the testing phase, the games are open source , allowing anyone to access, play and even contribute improvements.
Behaviors observed in the tests
According to Sergio Venancio, a professor at Inteli , the tests showed that the cats were interested in the movements on the screen, interacting actively for some periods. “At certain times, they used their paws to try to grab the elements. Our hypothesis was that if there was a reward after this action, they would learn that the effort would generate a benefit,” he explains.
Despite this, Venancio emphasizes that, during the 10 weeks of development , it was not possible to confirm whether the games actually activated instincts such as hunting and exploration. “The games were designed so that guardians could monitor the cats in continuous sessions, but more observation time would be necessary to assess whether there was an evolution in behaviors,” he states.
How were the games designed?
In general, digital technologies were designed for human use within their cognition and ergonomics, so from the beginning it was known that the risk that the project might not work if cats were not interested or unable to play.
“ Cats don’t seek points or symbolic rewards , so from the beginning we imagined that the rewards should be food. Furthermore, when we adapt a technology like a smartphone or tablet and its apps for animals like cats, we need to constantly observe whether the animals are interacting in accordance with what we think,” Venancio ponders.
However, he assesses the observation of the tests as positive. “I believe our biggest challenge was developing a technology within our laboratories and rooms without always having a cat available. However, we reached the end of 10 weeks with good evidence that the cats were interested and interacted with the games,” he concludes.
Other pet technologies
According to the professor, the pet market is expanding. It is now possible to find several products and services designed for animals, such as therapies, health plans, functional foods, home care, spas, and hotels.
In the technological field, Venancio explains that the market offers collars with GPS, interactive cameras, automatic feeders and drinkers, as well as veterinary telemedicine, genetic tests and even bark and meow translators that use AI (artificial intelligence).
“The gaming market can also be viable if we increasingly understand pets’ behaviors and interests. We can certainly expect technological innovations in this area,” he concludes.
Source: CNN
