Imagine having a device that tracks your pet's daily activity and location in case it gets lost, monitors its sleep patterns, and even detects early signs of health issues. This technology has already been created and is available. In this article, we will dive into the world of pet wearable technology, explaining how these devices work and reviewing their benefits. We will also introduce you to Dinbeat, a healthcare wearable technology for monitoring our beloved pet’s wellness in real-time.
The rise of pet wearable technology
The global market for wearable pet tech was worth USD 2.7 billion in 2023, and experts predict that by 2030, it could reach about USD 7.98 billion. This growth is due to the increasing number of people who have pets and their awareness regarding the well-being of their pets.
Wearable pet tech is an emerging concept. It involves developing a device that can be worn by pets and confers the ability to track different health parameters. Such devices come in different forms (mainly necklaces or harnesses), each with special sensors embedded to provide specific health information about your pet.
Some of these devices can operate continuously, sensing and sending data from your pet to your phone in real-time, understanding the pets’ needs and potential health issues, and improving communication between pets and their owners.
How do pet wearable technologies work?
Pet wearable technology is designed to be worn by pets anytime, anywhere, allowing pet owners to track their pet's health status. What makes this technology unique are the embedded sensors. Each sensor will play a specific role in identifying different aspects of your pet correlated to their daily activity and health. Some sensor examples are accelerometers, heart rate, temperature, and positioning (GPS) sensors.
All pet data coming from the sensors is packed (encoded) and transmitted wirelessly to another device, such as a phone or computer, using
electromagnetic waves like Bluetooth or WiFi. Upon reaching the phone or
computer, these devices are equipped with antennas to catch these
electromagnetic waves and unpack (decode) the data for reading and storage.
Once a pet’s data is read and analyzed by the phone or computer, this information is analyzed by special software within your device and then presented to pet owners in an easy-to-understand format. The entire process happens in real-time without stopping.
The more sensors embedded in the wearable pet device, the more you can learn about your pet.
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Benefits of using pet wearable technology
Using wearable pet tech to track a pet's physical activity
and health conditions offers numerous benefits in different scenarios, whether you are accompanying your pets, leaving them alone at home, or in the
unfortunate case that they get lost.
- Early detection of potential health issues. Detecting if your beloved pet is in good health sometimes becomes complicated. The most common way to detect health issues is when pets start behaving differently than usual. Using pet wearable technology, you establish direct communication with your beloved pets’ bodies, allowing you to monitor their fundamental vital signs such as heart rate, temperature, activity levels, and more. This allows us to take action on potential pet health issues at an early stage.
- Activity tracking system. It allows you to monitor your pets’ daily activity and exercise. Based on this information, you could implement certain routines or even diets (also followed by the indications of a veterinarian).
- Mood insights and well-being. Your beloved pets can feel completely different when they are with you than when alone at home. By having a wearable pet tech, you can continuously monitor their well-being by tracking their daily physical routine, including movement, breath rate, and heart rate. This information is analyzed by algorithms within the software, providing insight into the pet's likely mood.
- Location tracking status. Some pet tech wearables come with Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor technology, which allows pet owners to localize their pets in case they get lost.
- Medical alerts. Some wearable pet technologies have integrated a special algorithm as a Medical Alert System (just the same as the human devices), which can analyze the data coming from the device and send a medical alert to the pet’s owner immediately in case it detects a health anomaly.
Dinbeat: advanced health monitoring for pets
Dinbeat is an example of pet wearable technology. Established in 2016 and headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, this pioneer company introduced the first multiparametric harness designed specifically for pets, Dinbeat UNO.
Although there are pet tech products that can measure one or two health parameters in your pets, Dinbeat UNO goes beyond basic activity tracking. With multiple sensor technology integrated into the Dinbeat UNO harness, pet owners can monitor multiple conditions in real-time, such as electrocardiogram, heart rate, temperature, position, activity, and respiration rate. Their harness is designed to be lightweight, adjustable, and can be used for prolonged periods.
This wearable pet device allows pet owners to access critical health data instantly, simplifying and speeding up diagnostics and taking immediate action if necessary.
Who can benefit from Dinbeat?
Many people can benefit from this. First, pet owners can better check and understand their pets’ health and daily activity. This device is also made to benefit veterinarians, who can monitor remotely 24/7 the pets’ health parameters, whether the pets are hospitalized or receiving treatment at home, recovering from surgery or illness (telemedicine).
Dinbeat UNO: How does it work?
Utilizing Dinbeat UNO is relatively simple:
- The device is attached to the pet’s harness, securing its position to be comfortable for the pet.
- Turning on the device, its sensor technology will immediately be activated to monitor the pet's different health parameters.
- The device collects and stores the data in a memory integrated into the system.
- The data is also transmitted wirelessly to either a smartphone or computer by Bluetooth (in case the pet owner is close to the pet) or by Wi-Fi (in case the pet owner is far away).
- Once the data is sent to the pet owner's device, a special app analyzes the data by utilizing algorithms. It also summarizes and simplifies the information obtained to be readable easily by the owner.
- If the algorithm detects any anomalies in the pet's health conditions, it immediately sends an alert to the pet owner, notifying them about these potential health issues and urging them to take quick action.
- This information can also be provided to a veterinarian to monitor and evaluate the pet's health over time.
Innovative pet wearables insurance
Insurance for wearable pet tech is becoming a reality. A clear example is Tractive, the UK's foremost pet wearables company. Tractive recently introduced a groundbreaking insurance product through the Ignite Broker Platform, marking a significant milestone in wearable pet technology. This new insurance smoothly works with Tractive's advanced pet wearables, offering pet owners thorough coverage and peace of mind.
The future of pet technology
It is incredible how pet technology has evolved during the last decades, becoming cheaper, more precise, and smaller. Pet healthcare monitoring systems can now be decentralized from animal hospitals, miniaturizing nonportable equipment into wearable smart pet devices. This allows the possibility of tracking the health conditions of users (in this case, pets) anywhere 24/7 and taking immediate action if needed.
Nowadays, it is possible to find wearable pet technology on the market that measures either a single condition (such as Holter monitors for pets, which measure the electrical activity of the heart) or multiple conditions (like the Dinbeat UNO device).
Don’t be surprised if artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are integrated into these pet wearable devices in the near future. These algorithms will analyze the data collected from the sensors and provide personalized recommendations based on each pet's unique health conditions.
Even more surprising is the rise of another technology that could outdo wearable technology: implantable devices. This implantable tech is already in research, being able to develop the same sensors into a smaller capsule biocompatible with pets’ bodies.
Conclusion about wearable pet tech
Wearable pet technology has emerged as a revolutionary solution, bringing peace of mind to pet owners. We can monitor them either at home or remotely, tracking different health parameters in real-time and consulting with a veterinarian in case needed. Dinbeat technology is a clear example of this. Now, we have an incredible gadget that allows us to understand more about our furry friends and, therefore, take care of them as well as they deserve.
FAQ
Are wearable pet devices waterproof?
Some brands have developed their wearable pet devices to be waterproof. However, this will depend on the materials used for the fabrication and encapsulation of the device. Please check the specifications of each device to make sure you are buying the wearable pet device that suits your needs best.
Are wearable pet devices safe to use for pets (battery, electricity, etc.)?
Electronic devices could be dangerous or safe depending mainly on the power used (voltage and current) and the isolation material they are built from. Pet technology has low power requirements (low voltages and low current), which makes it safe to be used as wearable technology for any user, which in this case is pets.
Which pets can use the Dinbeat UNO harness device?
This harness works for dogs and cats of all breeds. There are five different harnesses for different pet sizes.
How long does Dinbeat UNO battery last?
It has an embedded rechargeable battery that typically lasts 150 hours in real-time mode (up to six days) and 200 hours in Holter mode (up to eight days) with a full single charge.
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Pet wearable devices can monitor activity and health parameters in real-time.
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Pet tech special features rely mainly on the sensor technology embedded in them.
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Heart rate, breath rate, temperature, and physical activity, among others, are some of the parameters we can detect in our pet with wearable pet tech.
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Dinbeat: a wearable harness that can detect continuously multiple health conditions in pets.
6 resources
- IEEE Xplore. A subcutaneously injectable implant for multimodal physiological monitoring in animals.
- Animals. Testing the accuracy of wearable technology to assess sleep behaviour in domestic dogs: a prospective tool for animal welfare assessment in kennels.
- Dinbeats. Dinbeat UNO.
- GlobalPETS. South Korea's drive to revolutionize pet tech.
- Grand View Research. Pet wearable market size and trends.
- Insurance Times. Pet wearables firm launches product in partnership with Ignite and Covea.
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