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Nov 28, 2022 - Technology

Video games for dogs aim to help aging canine brains

[]Stephen TotiloStephen Totilo

  * Stephen Totilo, author of Axios Gaming

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Dog plays whack-a-mole type video game by pointing with its snout.

Image: Courtesy of Joipaw 

A U.K.-based startup called Joipaw is serious about making video
games for dogs.

Why it matters: What might sound like a joke is actually a project
that could have health benefits for dogs' brains.

What's happening: Joipaw's games, which are still being prototyped,
run on a custom saliva-resistant touch-screen console that the canine
competitors play with their snouts.

  * Games include a whack-a-mole challenge and a test to see if the
    doggie gamer can pick which side of an image contains more
    bubbles.
  * When the dogs succeed, the console dispenses treats.
  * A motion-sensitive tracker on the dog's collar may also allow for
    additional control of some games.

Between the lines: Joipaw co-founder Dersim Avdar is a lifelong gamer
and initially pondered the dog game concept as a way to keep his and
his wife's mixed-breed dog Kawet occupied when their particularly
active pet wanted more attention than they could give.

  * Avdar soon realized the idea might have deeper potential to aid
    dogs' health.
  * He read a 2017 study from several European researchers that
    tested simple touch-screen games on nearly 300 dogs (and 20
    wolves) and found potential cognitive benefits for dogs with
    aging brains.
  * "I'm taking the torch that these researchers lit and bringing it
    further," Avdar tells Axios.
  * He notes that Joipaw's games are not meant to be a replacement
    for spending time with your dog.

Game design for dogs: Avdar's dog games start off more simply than
human games do, and it takes more coaxing to get dogs to start
playing.

  * While the earliest stages of the whack-a-mole game display a
    single critter, getting the dog's attention takes putting peanut
    butter on the screen.
  * In tests with nearly two dozen dogs, "the most difficult step"
    has been getting dogs to start playing without peanut butter on
    the screen, Avdar says, but, when they do, it's "the magic moment
    where you see the light in their eyes."
  * After that, the idea is a mental workout for the dog, a potential
    half-hour challenge that can also tire a hard-thinking dog.

Help for dogs: Research into touch-screen brain games for dogs is
young but "very promising," says Clara Mancini, a professor of
animal-computer interaction at The Open University in the U.K. and
science adviser to Joipaw.

  * She believes video games can offer benefits that other puzzle dog
    toys can't, because they can be designed to become progressively
    more difficult.

  * There is hope the tech can help dogs suffering from dementia or
    enrich those who are less active because they are in shelters,
    but she says more study is needed.

The big picture: Joipaw fits within the larger field of
animal-computer interaction and the creation of tech that can benefit
animals and help people understand them.

  * In this framework, Mancini says, most existing technology is
    understood as things that humans made to out-compete other
    species.
  * "The idea is to try and develop technology that starts to reduce
    the gap between humans and animals rather than increase it,"
    Mancini says.

What's next: Avdar doesn't have a timeframe for Joipaw's release and
is working out a pricing model for both the device and a subscription
that'll dole out games.

  * He hopes to offer a wide range of games, including one about
    avoiding a hedgehog's spikes that is designed for a dog to play
    against a human.
  * He also plans to offer Joipaw owners a leaderboard (owners of
    dogs who tested the project kept asking him how their pups
    stacked up to other canines).
  * A global scoreboard could stoke more competition, he realizes: "I
    can totally imagine dog esports."

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