Bounties attract serious brainpower to the challenge.
While this idea is an extremely simple solution to a common problem, I find it novel enough to post simply because it has not been done, and I am convinced that it would prove to be useful.
The problem:
Lost pet toys (especially dog toys). Pets often misplace or hide their toys while playing, causing owners to simply get new ones on a regular basis.
A survey of American pet owners in 2017 claimed that 4% of the pet owners they interviewed spends more than $250 on pet toys per month!
The solution:
Simply installing hardware in toys that allow you to track it via a geolocating app, or even just emit a sound for you to follow when looking for your pet's missing toy. As I said, there's not much novel about the solution, except for the fact that it has simply not been done yet.
There are a variety of smart toys available for pets (at astronomical prices), but none of them has any form of tracking system installed.
Installing trackers on things that are easily misplaced is not a new concept, we simply have not done it for pet toys.
Looking at how much pet owners are willing to spend on their pets, now more than ever, should be a good indication that pet owners would be willing to spend a bit more to cut down on monthly toy expenses and to ensure the safety of their pet's favourite toy.
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General comments
Shubhankar Kulkarni3 years ago
I found this - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mofinderx1/mofinderx1-a-helpful-and-reliable-emergency-tracking-device
The size of the sensor is 44*44*19 mm, so, I think it will fit in most dog toys. It can be used to track anything, they claim.
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Spook Louw3 years ago
Shubhankar Kulkarni That looks like it would work perfectly. The tracking technology definitely exists, it simply hasn't been combined with toys yet.
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Manel Lladó Santaeularia4 years ago
I like the idea but I see a crucial problem with it. Dogs are not exactly gentle with their toys, breaking them easily in some cases. How to make sure that the tracking system, whether geolocation or sound-based, keeps working after the toy has been thrown around and chewed on by a dog with enough bite force to break bones?
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Shubhankar Kulkarni4 years ago
I think the sound will work better than geolocation, given the small size of the toy and the crude resolution of the tracking device. Moreover, when multiple floors of the house need to be searched, geolocation might add to the confusion.
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Darko Savic4 years ago
Whistle key finders come to mind https://youtu.be/bipQVUBqduE
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