The Purrfect Pair: Unraveling the Magic of CATS & Robots Together

As the separation between tech and living organisms has grown more ambiguous, it’s worth noting what one multispecies artwork is doing to shed light on how cats and machines might complement, enhance and inspire one another into a more empathetic future world where robots play a growing role in all our lives, including our cats’.

A Leap into Multispecies Harmony

Central to the installation of the Cat Royale is the ambition to improve the life of the cat through robotic pluripotential play. The demo ran for 12 days while three cats – Ghostbuster, Clover and Pumpkin – learned to interact with a robotic arm equipped with a yo-yo, shaped like a giant cat paw. Two human supervisors carefully monitored the cats while building the possibility of a multispecies ecosystem.

The Impact on Our Four-Legged Friends

Though cats chasing Roombas has by now become a classic of viral internet culture, the relationship between animals and robots can be ambiguous. Adding robots to their environment isn’t always a good thing, for example because guide dogs encounter delivery robots, or because lawn mowing robots can put hedgehogs at risk of getting spiked on their blades. This defines the challenge of designing robots that genuinely improve pets’ lives, which was something the Cat Royale team wanted to get right.

Crafting an Enriching Environment

The installation itself, called Cat Royale, was no simple task to construct. A terrarium frame was built to contain the cats, and filled up with perches, walkways and other equipment as well as stations for feeding and litter boxes. The most intricate part was the Kino Gen3 lite robot arm that was fed videos of cats and trained to respond in a manner supportive, rather than overpowering, of the felines’ moves.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

It was funded by a combination of university and council grants, and devised as a project for computer scientists at the University of Nottingham to work with ‘scenologists’ and artists at Blast Theory, in collaboration with a local neuroscience lab, that centered around creating something that ‘could be not only fun for cats but also an entertaining interaction for human audiences across the world’. It was ‘an exercise in animal welfare … where [everything from the scale of the enclosure to the behaviours to which the robot will reward and punish the cats] has to be carefully thought through’.

The Science Behind the Fun

With a ‘happiness score’ that measured how much the cat was following it around, touching it, hitting it or lying on it, each encounter was ranked. Every second of every take was filmed with eight cameras, so a computer could analyse the footage in depth. Viewers were treated to some hilarious YouTube clips – and a collection of unique footage that showed how a cat responds to growing apart from another.

Exploring the Future of Feline Care

One might see working for Cat Royale purely as an isolated design exercise, an imagination-stretching failed crowdfund, lacking real-world implications – just another peculiar Kickstarter pitch to evidence our world growing weirder by the day. But the project poses rich, ethically layered questions about our attitudes toward technology’s potential to care for our pets, and its increasingly useful place in their lives. The Cat Royale project merely needs to articulate, with greater care, thought and concern, the talktrack that results from pitting ‘pet’ against ‘robot’, and instead demonstrate that the two have equal and real claim to be two words that rhyme.

About CAT

Since time immemorial, cats have captured our hearts and imaginations with their enigmatic behaviour and self-sufficiency, as we share a history with them spanning millennia. Domesticated from desert origins maybe 10,000 years ago, they are now cherished members of our homes, lifestyle and families. This Project illustrates just how advances in technology could bring immense future benefit to them – always keeping the well-being and happiness of cats at the heart of our innovation.

FAQs about Selling Your Cat with Gizmogo

How does selling my cat with Gizmogo work?

If you’re looking to sell that electronic device, Gizmogo can help you do that too. And, while they will not send you a live animal, many of the products sold on Gizmogo are the latest in pet technology.

What considerations should I take into account?

If you decide to bring technology into your cat’s life, plan it with an eye toward your cat’s personality, what she’ll enjoy, and rock-solid safety (always choose products that have been tested for use with pets).

How can I ensure the gadgets are safe for my cat?

Research gadgets with good reviews from pet owners, and ask your vet for his or her opinion. When selecting a heated bed, look for models with an ‘automatic shut-off’ feature, materials free from toxic elements and designs that can’t become choking hazards for your pet.

Can technology really improve my cat's life?

Indeed, yes. Technology can help to give your cat a mentally stimulating life, as well as physical exercise and emotional comfort. Some of these tech products deliver this through interactive toys or feeding solutions, while others allow you some monitoring through pet cameras.

Is there a future for cats and robots?

The potential ways that cats and technology can be poised to work together harmoniously seems limitless as we forge into the current and future of technology’s advancements. We should see an expansion in products and devices designed to coincide with and improve the lives of our cats while enhancing our relationships, making all of our lives more enriched and connected.