AI-Powered App Can Tell You How Your Cat Is Feeling

Are you sometimes unsure whether your cat is tired or plotting your assassination? You’re not alone because cats don’t show their emotions too well.

That’s why scientists came up with something called the Feline Grimace Scale, a method of assessing the occurrence or severity of pain experienced by cats according to objective scoring of facial expressions. Now, an Alberta-based animal health technology company called Sylvester.ai has paired the Feline Grimace Scale with an artificial intelligence algorithm to create an app that can tell you how your cat is feeling.

The app is called Tably, and you can download it directly from the App Store. To use it, you simply need to point your smartphone’s camera at your furry friend and wait for a short while for the app to analyze a variety of facial features, including eye-narrowing, muzzle tension, and how whiskers change, to determine how your cat is feeling.

According to Michelle Priest, Tably senior product manager, the app can reach an accuracy of up to 97 percent when provided a high-quality and full-face front image of the cat. That’s good enough not only for concerned cat owners but also for young veterinarians, who may not have the experience necessary to tell whether a cat is feeling pain.

Also Read: Microsoft Is Resurrecting Clippy With Its New 3D Emoji

The AI algorithm behind Tably was trained at the Wild Rose Cat Clinic of Calgary. “I love working with cats, have always grown up with cats,” said Dr. Liz Ruelle, DVM, DABVP Feline Specialist at the clinic. “For other colleagues, new grads, who maybe have not had quite so much experience, it can be very daunting to know — is your patient painful?”.

Tably is an excellent example of cutting-edge technology being used to positively impact the lives of those who don’t understand it themselves (although you never know with cats).