What do your cat’s different meows mean? Every cat owner has asked themselves this question at one point or another. It is on this premise that Javier Sanchez launched his app: Meow Talk!
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A beta version already available
Now you can have a long chat by the fire with your beloved feline! While the revolutionary app is still under development, a beta version is already available on iOS and Android.
But don't be too quick to imagine yourself having an in-depth discussion with your beloved pet. Meow Talk instead provides you with the ‘intentions’ expressed by your cat more than real translations. The application lists nine intentions which can help you understand the animal's mood, such as ‘I'm hungry’ or ‘I'm in pain.’
What does science say?
Ethologists, specialists in animal behaviour, are however more reserved about this kind of app. Moreover, Javier Sanchez himself concedes the difficulty of such a project:
Cats do not share words or communicate with each other. They never meow in the wild.
As Eva Morand, a behaviourist for cats, explains, this app is more gadget than scientific innovation:
Cats adapt a lot to their owners, so it seems complicated to me to translate without a context.
A point that Javier Sanchez has taken into consideration since his app asks the user to provide some information during the first recordings, in order to improve the interpretation of the meows later on.
The young engineer does not intend to stop there either, since if his app is successful, he plans to develop a necklace that could provide real-time translations. Is the future already here for our feline friends?
