Smart Home and IoT Devices Evolve to Include Our Pets

Guest Post by Tracy Lee

How one company is leading the charge to revolutionize and bring heart to the smart home.

If you are one of the 80 million households who own a pet in the United States, you have probably heard of Pet-Tech products which are growing in popularity. These days you can do everything from feed your pet to track your pet’s daily steps (and so much more) from your smartphone.

The Petzi Treat Cam is one of these pet tech products. The Petzi is a pet treat cam that enables owners not only to talk to and see their pets from afar but takes it to the next level by allowing the owner to dispense treats on demand with the simple push of a button.

Since its initial product rollout in August of this year, Petzi has been gaining traction in media and featured in the New York Times, TechCrunch, USA Today, Cult of Mac, WSJ, as well as talked about by Victoria Beckham, Randi Zuckerberg and recently featured on Tyra Banks’ “The FABLife” show.

The secret here is what the future holds for the connected pet. Petzila, the parent company of the Petzi Treat Cam recognizes the potential. The backbone and underlying technology that Petzi is built on is impressive, and they have strategic, albeit ambitious plans to disrupt the industry by becoming the cloud-based digital platform for all things pet. From what I was told under non-disclosure they just may be onto something.

“We see the Petzi Treat Cam as just the beginning. It’s a flagship connected/IoT product that inserts us within the pet/owner relationship in a meaningful and mutually rewarding way. From there we have a roadmap of IoT and smart home products and services that are meant to create an expansive ecosystem,” says David Clark, CEO of Petzila. “Our mission as a company extends much further than just products and services but to the creation of a digital platform specific to Pet driven by real time pet specific data to enable each of us to be better and more informed pet parents.”

Bringing Emotion to the Smart Home [SM: An emotional reason to connect to your Smart Home]

The smart home industry is centered around devices interfacing with one another in your home.  Most of these devices are designed to serve a utilitarian purpose. They can turn the lights on or adjust the temperature, but what makes a house a home? The people and pets that live there. This is where Petzi differentiates itself – Petzi gives you a reason to connect to your smart home in a way that you never have before.

“At our core, we’re a human digital platform company that happens to feature a heartfelt joyful unique strategy focused on our pets.” Simon Milner, CTO of Petzila adds.

“With Petzi, you’re checking in on what makes your house a home, your Pet, you’re relieving that separation anxiety that we, and they, so often feel while we’re away, at work, running daily errands, at dinner, etc. As our lives become more hectic, why not extend our connected lives to the love and smile that our pets deliver without hesitation and do it in a mutually rewarding way?” asks Petzi CEO David Clark.

Game Changing Technology

“We have the most compelling smart home product on the market,” explained Petzila CEO David Clark.  “The technology we have developed is sophisticated in a scientifically-backed pet-friendly way. Moreover, our users use our product on average 3.2 times per day in a way that they wouldn’t normally with any other smart home product.”

So, what makes the Petzi team so confident about their potential to change the way we embrace IoT devices? It’s what’s under the hood, and yet-to-be released features that get this team excited.

By introducing an actual and first emotional tie to the smart home, Petzi hopes to be able to supply an ongoing ecosystem of products and services that are engaging, data driven and mutually rewarding that “could” potentially lead to that killer app that gives us all a reason to connect with our smart home. Imagine checking in on your pet, turning on the lights, adjusting the temperature, and letting your dog sitter in, all from the same app.

In chasing this vision, the company has a long-term strategy to roll out additional cloud based and physical complimentary products and services that will offer additional unique revenue opportunities. In addition, they are also working with industry leaders such as Big Heart Pet Brands, Marvell and Kwilt to name a few.  Eventually, it’s their hope that as the Petzi Treat Cam gains popularity that Petzi may be perfectly positioned to be the centerpiece of every connected home. Time will tell.

 

Featured Image by Cryptoludology.com