Photo by Joipaw
Canine Cognitive Game Design Project
Joipaw is a smart activity platform designed to keep dogs mentally and physically active. By combining interactive touch-based puzzles that can be played solo or together with humans, with a wireless treat dispenser that encourages light movement, Joipaw provides stimulating daily workouts to support dogs long-term well-being and enhance human-dog relationships.
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Mental stimulation is just as important as physical exercise for dogs; much like humans they need to use both their muscles and their brains to lead a healthy life. However, an estimated 74% of all dogs show signs of poor mental health, which are linked to a lack of mental stimulation (UK Guide Dogs survey, 2024). Joipaw puzzles are designed to offer dogs cognitively challenging interactive games, and inviting them to move every time to get their treats.
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Joipaw offers a variety of games, from simple tapping games to more complex challenges to push dogs' cognitive abilities, that can be tailored to different skill levels. The games can be played by the dog on their own, or together with their human caregiver via a smartphone as a wireless controller. The system employs positive reinforcement to enable dogs to learn how to interact with the games, by delivering healthy treats every time they successfully solve a challenge.
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Caregivers can track canine players' progress and scores remotely through a companion app, so they can remotely adjust the players' activities based on the data.
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The ACI Lab's lead Clara Mancini has joined Joipaw's co-founders Dersim Avdra and Marco Jenny as scientific advisor to help the company design games specifically designed for dogs' sensory and cognitive capacities, and satisfaction.
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To learn more about Joipaw, visit the product's website.