I was recently house-sitting for a family member where I was in charge of looking after three dogs. While going over house rules, the topic of pet safety came up — and what started as a conversation over microchipping ended up in a conversation about artificial intelligence and its uses in monitoring pets' whereabouts and well-being.
I hadn't thought much about how (and if) AI would be implemented in pet tech. But then again, why wouldn't it? It's seemingly being implemented everywhere else. This led me to track down Petnow, an AI-powered tech company that uses a biometric scan of dogs' and cats' noses to keep them identified and safe.
Named "Best of Innovation" at the 2022 CES Innovation Awards, the AI-powered platform was founded in 2018 by Jesse Joonho Lim with the intent of being a replacement for existing pet identification methods — like microchips, tags and collars.
According to Petnow, it developed an AI platform that automatically captures your dog's biometric information by scanning it with your phone camera, using nose prints for dogs and more of the face for cats. The company has said its deep-learning model extracts biometric information for identification of an individual pet.
Currently free of charge for its users, Petnow's available in 16 countries, most recently launching in Australia and New Zealand. The company says the app has a 99.9% accuracy rate for pet identification and verification.
Petnow also creates and sends alerts to neighbors when a pet goes missing and features PetWay, a community-driven function on the app to help members reunite with lost pets.
How to use Petnow to create a biometric ID for your pet
Step 1: You'll need to set up a profile for your dog or cat in the app. Information required includes five untouched photos of the animal's entire body, plus its name, breed, sex and date of birth.
Step 2: Once your animal's profile is made, choose to start the noseprint scanning process. (You will need access to your animal to complete this step.) In a well-lit area, move your phone slightly back and forth across — about a foot away — from your pet's nose and the AI scan will start generating. (There's also a Tips section at the top right part of the screen if you're having trouble.)
Step 3: Once your nose print scan is complete, your pet's biometric info will be registered to your pet's created profile and verification will be issued containing your pet's identity. You can also apply to issue a nose print ID with your pet's personal registration number.
Then you're ready to use the app in the real world. You can report your missing pet or report a sighting of a missing pet via photo or biometric nose print scan in Petnow's app. (It's not labeled as PetWay like it is on the website.)
Within the app, you can also access Petnow Tips, a blog catered to common questions or concerns about dogs and cats, an FAQ section that shares more about how AI works to optimize the pet identification process and an incredibly vague notice that your data is safe, though no explanation about how that's done.
Should you use Petnow to protect your pets?
While the company was founded in 2018, the app didn't launch until 2023. Likely because it's still so new, I couldn't find case studies or testimonials on whether Petnow is an effective replacement for other pet ID tech, like microchips.
Following the business model of more recent pet-tech CES Innovation Award winners, I would feel more comfortable with Petnow if it offered a membership plan — at least then, profits could go to building out the technology and platform.
Given the lack of data on Petnow, it's hard to know how truly effective it is. I don't fully grasp how a quick photo scan of my pet's nose keeps them safe… while protecting pet owners' privacy.
Final thoughts: Petnow feels like an AI-powered cat- and dog-focused Nextdoor app that needs maturing to combat what reads as a well-intentioned but underdeveloped solution for pet owners around the world. If you do decide to use it, I wouldn't recommend skipping microchipping just yet.