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Humane Society launches website where visitors can "play" with cats
As Mookie the cat waits to be adopted, she has some new playmates: robotic toys.
The Oregon Humane Society launched a website Thursday that lets viewers with a broadband connection "play" with shelter cats using a computer.
Visitors to the iPet Companion site -- the world's second -- find a live video feed and controls for three toys, two with feathers and one with a ball. Visitors enter a queue for two-minute turns at the controls.
On Thursday, people at the Northeast Portland shelter gathered around the glass-walled lobby playroom as Mookie and a dozen or so other cats chased and pounced on the twitching toys.
"I think it's brilliant," said Russ Draper of Beaverton, a shelter volunteer who was visiting with his wife, Gael.
Bringing animals to the Internet isn't a new concept -- the Humane Society has used webcams for years -- but iPet Companion is the first to let viewers interact with the cats, spokeswoman Barbara Baugnon said.
"We have so many people coming to our website every day," Baugnon said. "They get so much enjoyment out of it, and we just want to continue to share that pleasure."
Shelter officials also hope website visitors might spot a cat they'd like to adopt or click on a list of available pets.
(Requirements: Internet Explorer is required to control the robotic toys, but Mac and other browser users can view video.)
"It's another way for people to engage with the cats," Baugnon said.
Shelter officials got the equipment, developed by Boise-based Apriori Control, after spotting it on the Idaho Humane Socity's website. They contacted Apriori owner Scott Harris in June, and he donated the roughly $6,000 system to gain publicity and work out bugs. He originally designed it for people to control paintball-shooting robots and now hopes to sell it to shelters.
"One of the biggest challenges I've had is convincing people it's real, it's real time and you can control it from the other end of the world," Harris said. During early testing of the paintball concept, he said, people would stay on the site for hours.
The cats are impressed, too.
"When they see a little toy moving around, they don't care if it's a hand or a robot," Baugnon said. "They'll still chase it around."
As Mookie the cat waits to be adopted, she has some new playmates: robotic toys.
The Oregon Humane Society launched a website Thursday that lets viewers with a broadband connection "play" with shelter cats using a computer.
Visitors to the iPet Companion site -- the world's second -- find a live video feed and controls for three toys, two with feathers and one with a ball. Visitors enter a queue for two-minute turns at the controls.
On Thursday, people at the Northeast Portland shelter gathered around the glass-walled lobby playroom as Mookie and a dozen or so other cats chased and pounced on the twitching toys.
"I think it's brilliant," said Russ Draper of Beaverton, a shelter volunteer who was visiting with his wife, Gael.
Bringing animals to the Internet isn't a new concept -- the Humane Society has used webcams for years -- but iPet Companion is the first to let viewers interact with the cats, spokeswoman Barbara Baugnon said.
"We have so many people coming to our website every day," Baugnon said. "They get so much enjoyment out of it, and we just want to continue to share that pleasure."
Shelter officials also hope website visitors might spot a cat they'd like to adopt or click on a list of available pets.
(Requirements: Internet Explorer is required to control the robotic toys, but Mac and other browser users can view video.)
"It's another way for people to engage with the cats," Baugnon said.
Shelter officials got the equipment, developed by Boise-based Apriori Control, after spotting it on the Idaho Humane Socity's website. They contacted Apriori owner Scott Harris in June, and he donated the roughly $6,000 system to gain publicity and work out bugs. He originally designed it for people to control paintball-shooting robots and now hopes to sell it to shelters.
"One of the biggest challenges I've had is convincing people it's real, it's real time and you can control it from the other end of the world," Harris said. During early testing of the paintball concept, he said, people would stay on the site for hours.
The cats are impressed, too.
"When they see a little toy moving around, they don't care if it's a hand or a robot," Baugnon said. "They'll still chase it around."
