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How do you keep your pets from eating each other’s food?

Answer: By using a feeding bowl that can tell them apart.

Anyone who has more than one pet is likely familiar with the struggle of keeping them from eating each other’s food. From elaborate feeding schedules to keeping bowls in separate parts of the house, humans have tried just about everything to make sure their pets eat only what they’re supposed to. Maybe it’s time we let artificial intelligence give it a try.

Volta is an Italian company that specializes in putting artificial intelligence into ordinary products. Their pet bowl, Mookkie, comes equipped with a wide-angle camera and facial recognition technology. When a pet approaches, it scans their face and dispenses the appropriate food in the correct amount for that individual pet. An accompanying smartphone app monitors usage by each pet and alerts the human when the bowl needs to be refilled, ensuring freshness.

“Mookkie offers a prime example of how it is possible to re-invent practically every object we know — even the simplest — by placing artificial intelligence at the heart of product design and engineering,” said Volta CEO Silvio Revelli.



Kate is a senior copy editor in Northern California. She holds a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in professional writing from the University of California, Davis.