Cat lovers finally have the chance to understand what their pet is saying thanks to a smart collar that can interpret feline meows and translate it into human speech. Aptly named “Catterbox,” the collar supposedly has a digital sensor that detects meows, and uses a special program to decipher the meaning behind them.

Developed by London ad agency adam&eveDDB for Temptations cat treats, the invention comes preloaded with a dictionary of cat purrs, meows, and several other sounds to make the interpretation as accurate as possible. “We’re fascinated by cats, so we set out on a mission to get to know them better,” said Pete Simmons, global brand director of Temptations.

The promotion video for the device claims that Catterbox, the world’s first talking cat collar, is designed to help humans understand the meaning of meows. “Cats are often perceived as independent pets hard to get to know, so we set up the Temptations Lab to find innovative ways to inject more fun into a cat and owner’s relationship,” said Richard Brim, executive creative director of adam&eveDDB.

“We set out on a mission to get to know them better. By analyzing different cat noises, we’ve designed a digital sensor that detects a cat’s meow and uses a unique program to turn it into a human voice.”

By using the collar, owners can speak to their cats and expect a meaningful response — well, about as meaningful as a cat’s meows can get. The sassy responses are delivered in a British accent, in a voice of the owner’s choice, selected through a smartphone app paired with the collar. A few sample responses are demonstrated on the company’s YouTube channel – they are quite hilarious, but obviously not very convincing.

In all probability, Catterbox is just a tongue-in-cheek albeit very clever marketing gimmick. If you really want to learn the meaning of cat meows, you’d better keep an eye on “Meowsic” (short for “Melody in Human-Cat Communication”), a Swedish study carried out over the next five years.

托智能项圈的福，爱猫的人终于有机会听懂自己的宠物在说什么了。这款项圈可以把猫语翻译成人话，叫作“猫语匣子”可谓名副其实，里面装着一个探测猫叫的数字传感器，通过特殊程序破译叫声的意义。

猫语项圈是由伦敦adam&eveDDB

广告公司给猫零食品牌Temptations研发的，里面预置了猫语词典，包括呜呜叫、喵喵叫和其它一些声音，使翻译尽可能准确。Temptations公司全球品牌总监皮

特•西蒙斯说：“我们喜欢猫，所以努力更好地了解它们。”

这个小发明的宣传视频称猫语匣子是世界上第一款会说话的猫项圈，借助它，人们可以理解猫叫的意义。adam&eveDDB公司执行创意总监理查

德•布里姆说：“人们通常认为猫非常独立，很难懂，所以我们设立了Temptation实验室，探索新方法给猫和主人的互动注入更多乐趣。视频中还讲，“我们通过这项任务更好地了解它们。分析猫的不同叫声，设计出一个探测猫叫的数字传感器，用特别的程序把猫叫转化成人声。”

通过这款项圈，主人可以和猫对话，得到有意义的回应 — 当然，和猫语的意义相当。这种时髦的应答装置发出的声音是英式英语，主人可以通过与项圈连接的智能手机应用自己选择嗓音。这个公司的YouTube网页上列着几个应答的示例，非常搞笑，但显然并不令人信服。

猫语匣子十有八九只是个玩笑般的噱头，尽管市场营销做得非常巧妙。如果你真的想要了解猫语的意义，你最好关注一下Meowsic（“人猫对话旋律”的缩写），

这是瑞典的一项研究，五年之后才能出结果。

(Chinadaily.com.cn)

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    【时髦的】shímáo de sassy stylish, chic

    【开玩笑的】kāiwánxiào de tongue-in-cheek meant or expressed ironically or facetiously