Hi, this is Yike from the industrial design department of
Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts.
Today, I'm going to present our late-breaking work
in the topic of “Building Interactive Connection
between Human and Deaf Cat”.
According to Professor George Strain，
the good news is as long as human support
food, water and take care of their deaf cats,
there will be no big problem.
But！What if the owners can't treat these unusual cats
in a good way, or even abandon them because they are deaf?
The main reason of abandon is simply "dislike"
Every time our pet responds to our calls,
we feel emotionally satisfied.
But deaf cat is different from normal cat,
and the owners may have some negative concerns
According to interviews with some deaf cats' owners，
there are 3 main issues
The cats would be frightened by the touch,
especially when the touch is out of their visual range.
Cats who are born with deafness cannot understand
our talks, and they can't give any appropriate feedback.
The lack of communication in a long term
may cause anxiety in both cats and humans.
These inspired our design decisions such as
Avoid physical clues like vibration
motivate the keepers to believe their cat
can be emotional reached and connected
make virtual communication feedbacks for owners
There are three items I'm going to introduce today.
a mobile device
a collar with a small sphere device
and a food feeding machine.
The concepts of our design are based on 2 daily situation.
Find the cat and Feed the cat
Let's begin with Find the cat
While the deaf cat can't hear our voice call
and they can be easily scared by any sudden touch.
so we designed a virtual calling system
The keeper can find their cat by touch mobile device,
and the cat’s collar will make a sound
to notice the keeper where the cat is.
On the other hand,
if the keeper wishes to notice the deaf cat
that they are going to play with them,
they can use “Let's Play”.
it works like “Find My Cat”，
but with additional light signal
In this part of design,
we focus on owner's feeling of emotional comfort.
However the virtual feedback may help the owner feels better,
but how about the cat?
Back to our research,
It points out that sociality as part of domestication
relied on concentrations of food supplied by man.
So the key point for cat to build relationship with us,
is FOOD!
The food machine has a built-in Camera,
Arduino UNO, and other related units.
When camera detected the cat has
approached the feeding area,
it will start recording and sending a notification
to the owner's mobile device
The food storage gate will be opened
and release about 5 grams cat snacks.
During this time the keeper can prepare
a real meal for the cat.
As this procedure repeating in their daily life,
the cat may realize they can have meals from
their keeper's attention.
To test out the function, structure, and interactive
mechanism of the product ideas,
we have set up an initial feasibility test.
There are two cats and
their owners were involved,
this test is an informal experiment，
because the cats lived in their original environment,
and they can quit in any time,
if the cat doesn't come along with it.
In a period of two weeks,
The keepers were asked to observe the cats' reactions,
record cats' activities,
as well as their own thoughts or feelings.
In Cat 1's case,
the keeper found their emotional bond
has become stronger, and the feeding machine
offered more chances for her to participate
in the cat's mealtime.
However, In Cat 2's case,
the calling program on the mobile device
is more helpful for the keeper.
There are few questions
need to be studied in the future
will the flashing light be harmful to cats' eyes?
Will the sound annoy the cat?
Does this idea work for other deaf cats?
After all,
this design is more about motivate people,
if all the owners may share good relationship
with deaf cats and support them,
the probability of a cat being abandoned will be very small.