Dog Biometric Identification
A nonprofit research program
Research Purpose
While some technologies exist that can scan a dog at close range and determine probable breeds, no technology exists that can identify a dog at a distance or in motion. Further, current tracking technologies, such as GPS and microchips, require close proximity to the animal to identify it. By using biometric scanning, we can identify individual animals from a safe distance. Biometric data can also be used to determine a dog's breed, disposition, and state of health.
Research Goals
This program aims to develop a real-time full motion detection system that can identify each unique dog from a reasonable distance and assess a dog's current status (safe to approach, hurt, etc.).
Research Background
The existing methods of identifying and tracking dogs are inadequate. They are limited to working under difficult to achieve criteria and have few fail-safes. Further, none are able to identify a dog's health history, disposition or status. They link solely to the contact information of the owner or a home location.
Microchip:
The chip does not track a dog.
The dog must have a working chip, which cannot be confirmed without scan.
You have to register your dog with the microchip company.
Contact information must be kept up-to-date.
If your dog went missing...
Someone has to catch them and bring them to a vet office or shelter that has a working scanner available to be scanned.
The chip has to be working.
If an owner has not paid or registered for the service at the time a dog is lost, service cannot then be activated and used effectively.
Tracking Collar:
Your dog must be wearing tracker at all times.
You must remember to keep it in full battery. Battery will run out no matter what.
A dog or human can easily remove, damage or lose the device.
It requires access to a satellite signal, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth depending on the protocol being used.
It is not able to send a dog's exact location. Only a general area is given provided there is signal.
Methodology and Approach
We propose a ML/AI based solution for real-time full motion detection. It can capture essential biometric features that are unique to each dog from images or videos of a dog. It will generate a unique and universal dog biometric id for your dog.
Whenever exposed to an image or video, our program can scan the media and detect whether a dog exists in the environment and identify the dog in real-time. It can also determine if anything is "unorthodox" about the dog's movement, posture, or expression to determine its temperament and approachability.
Potential Contributions
Our biometric framework can become the preeminent dog identification solution. It can also be used in veterinary medicine to determine pain and comfort levels for an animal or identify subtle changes in an animal behavior in real time.
Further, a centralized dog biometric database can be created to be used by Humane Societies and the vet care system to share IDs and medical records to provide and provide better healthcare services collaboratively.