Four-legged companions also need some distraction, and a company in the UK is leading the way with the first video games for dogs.
Company Joypaw Making video games centered around human companions can have more benefits than just helping to distract animals. According to the company, the goal is to create interactive games that help animals maintain their mental health.
Zoeba’s idea was to create a screen with interactive games and adapted to be used by dogs’ noses, which had to select different actions on it. The model is still in the prototype stage, but the idea would be to create a mechanism that can be used for different games.
When the dog performs a positive action within the game, he is rewarded with a small treat. In addition to the touchscreen, a collar with motion sensors is still under development, which can be used to link actions in different games.
Dersim Avtar got the idea for the company when he and his wife kept hearing games while looking for ways to entertain their dog. The idea of video games for animals came a little later, and there are indications that these activities can help their mental health.
The idea of the game is to start with something simple, which will attract the animals’ attention, before evolving into something more advanced and elaborate, but with more rewards.
The project is still in the early stages of development, but aims to create a kind of “game console” for four-legged friends, and eventually for more animals – for now, only dogs are the focus.
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