Hi-tech ball lets stay-at-home dogs contact owners

An internet connected ball could be paving the way for stay-at-home dogs to keep in touch with their owners.

The DogPhone device has been developed by the University of Glasgow and Aalto University in Finland.

When shaken in a certain way the ball can start up a video call and has been pioneered by animal-computer interaction researcher Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas and her Labrador Zack.

Dr Hirskyj-Douglas said: "What I wanted to do with DogPhone was find a way to turn Zack from a ‘usee’ of technology, where he has no choice or control over how he interacts with devices, into a ‘user’, where he could make active decisions about when, where, and how he placed a call.”

It is hoped the research could go some way to addressing separation anxiety in dogs. Dr Hirskyj-Douglas said that it was clear that on some occasions Zack displayed some of the behaviours he showed when they were together.