Elleda Wilson: In One Ear: By a nose
May 6—When a dog gets lost, in many cases he or she can be reunited with their owner if the dog was microchipped or tagged with the owner's information. But what about dogs that haven't been chipped, don't have, or lose, their tags? An extra form of identification would certainly help.
Well, the IAMS pet food company has come up with a new technology, NOSEiD, a biometric ID app that identifies the dog by their nose, NewAtlas.com reports. It works because each dog's nose is unique.
You can download the free iOS or Android app, then use your phone to take a close-up photo of your dog's nose and add a description. Both are uploaded to a cloud server that is available to all of the app's users.
If a dog goes missing, the owner sends an alert to the cloud. Then, if someone sees a dog that resembles that pet's posted description, they can scan the dog's nose, find out who the owner is, and contact them with the dog's location.
So far, this technology is only available in Nashville, Tennessee, where it is being tested. Once you install the app, though, it will let you know when the service is available in your area.
