The technology could also aid lost dog recovery.
"If your dog is missing, you can configure the collar from the Web site to notify you when other community member dogs have seen your dog," Fields said. "Also, you can configure the collar to flash a distress signal when it's reported lost."
Getting Together
The researchers hope to have retail model prototypes completed by the end of the summer. "We've had a number of requests to buy the product, even though we have not started manufacturing any devices yet," Fields said.
To Emily Pallamore, an assistant in MIT's Office of Government and Community Relations, the SNiF system would make dog walking more fun, both for herself and her Italian greyhound and her roommate's coonhound.
Pallamore lives in a dog-friendly part of Boston that has a big cemetery and an arboretum to walk dogs in.
"The dogs have their favorite dog acquaintances in our neighborhood, and I've got my own favorite dogs and owners, as well as a few of each I wouldn't mind avoiding," she said. "The SNiF collar would make it possible for the dogs to get together with their chums without my having to set up an inconvenient and possibly socially awkward play date."
Other dog owners are more skeptical.
"It seems unnecessary and artificial," said Adam Zagoria, a New York sports writer and owner of Jazz, an 11-year-old mutt. "I don't need a device to tell me what dogs my dog gets along with."
Labeling dogs as "good" and "bad" seems a little Orwellian, Zagoria said, noting that it is "as if Big Brother is watching you."
SNiF researchers say privacy considerations are a priority. The system does not allow for the monitoring of the dogs' exact positions. Instead it identifies pet "hot spots" around the city.
Icebreaker
Fields, of MIT, says the dog collar technology will enable people to increase social interaction with others.
"We looked for ways that people felt most comfortable interacting with strangers," Fields said. "Dog-walking came up as one of the most popular and stress-free ways of meeting new people."
SNiF, Fields said, "aims to harness these icebreaking characteristics and provide tools to grow these conversations into friends and contacts."
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