At CES 2024, the annual Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas, a Japanese startup called "One By One Music" stood out among numerous others with its innovative solution to alleviate separation anxiety in dogs.
The company, founded by Sho Hatakeyama, has garnered attention for its unique approach to addressing a growing concern among pet owners worldwide.
Speaking to Interesting Engineering at CES 2024, a company representative said that the number of dog owners exponentially increased during the pandemic when everyone was forced to stay home and needed company.
However, as the pandemic restrictions lifted and people were recalled to their workplaces, their dogs were left alone at home. Typically, dogs do not take well to long periods of loneliness, leading to signs of nervousness and sometimes even depression and anxiety. "Dogs get separation anxiety," said the representative with a sad smile.
"Our music is for them."
Sho Hatakeyama and his team worked with a composer, researched music, identified the most soothing melodies and tempos for dogs, and then trained an AI model to generate music specifically calming dogs.
Through two years of experiments, One By One Music worked with Katsuji Uetake, a Professor of Veterinary Medicine at Azabu University, Japan, and scientifically measured cortisol levels in the saliva of dogs to validate their product. They determined that listening to the specially crafted music reduced anxiety-related behaviors in dogs by an impressive 84 percent.
Speaking to WanQol, a Japanese website for dog lovers, Hatakeyama highlighted his passion for dogs and entrepreneurship, which drove him to create One By One Music despite having a background in space-related studies.
"I have always loved animals and had a Pomeranian called Pal when I was a child," Hatakeyama said. "After the remote work period ended and I went back to working in the office, I started keeping my dog at home. Being home alone for my dog was really stressful, and he didn't seem to be doing well."
"So I looked into it and found out that there is an increasing number of dogs with separation anxiety disorder. I wondered if there was a way to reduce the stress caused by anxiety and decided to do something about it."
"Save Pets with Music"
One By One Music is offering its product as three subscription plans— an individual plan at ~ $7 (980 Japanese Yen) per month, a corporate plan for ~ $20.5 (2980 Japanese Yen) per month, or a free special protection plan exclusive for animal welfare facilities, shelters, and foster families. The company said that a portion of its revenue is donated to animal welfare and is currently offering a free trial.
Originally published on Interesting Engineering : Original article