UNIST Startup Company Pairico Develops Smart Pet Dog Registration Technology
Chuncheon City Pilot Project to Register 500 Dogs with Biometric Identification by Next Year
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] You no longer need to carry a resident registration card like a person. The dog's nose wrinkles and facial recognition bio-information themselves can be considered a ‘pet registration card.’ The method of pet dog registration is ahead of the resident registration system applied to humans.
If you have just adopted a new pet dog, how will you register your pet?
Dog owners often face conflicts over whether to implant an internal microchip in the pet's body according to the Animal Protection Act or to choose an external pendant like a necklace.
Implanting inside the body raises concerns, while pendants carry the risk of loss.
A startup has emerged to ‘smartly’ solve these concerns for those about to register their pets. ‘Pairico’ has implemented easy and convenient pet registration using animals' facial information.
Pairico, a student startup from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), is developing a biometric-based pet registration solution.
It is a technology that distinguishes and registers pets by integrating biometric information such as the pet's nose wrinkles (nose prints) and facial features.
Pairico recently participated in Chuncheon City's ‘Biometric-based Pet Registration Pilot Project.’ They are pushing forward with the demonstration of their self-developed solution.
Until August 2022, the new pet registration method will be practically applied to 500 pet dogs in Chuncheon city.
This project involves various organizations including Chuncheon City, Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) Gangwon Information Security Support Center, Korea Biometric Identification Committee (KBID), Pairico, pet facial recognition companies, and pet cooperatives.
Inauguration Ceremony of the Pilot Project Team for Bio-Recognition Based Animal Registration in Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do.
During the project period, comprehensive tasks such as building a database based on nose prints and facial information, establishing a performance evaluation system for the new solution, and developing a system to search for abandoned or lost dogs will be promoted.
Pairico CEO Kim Tae-heon said, “The pilot project is significant as it recognizes Pairico's technological capability and growth potential in the biometric field,” adding, “It is the result of steadily building expertise and standardization capabilities related to pet biometrics.”
Pairico is a pet tech startup that started at UNIST in September 2018.
CEO Kim Tae-heon, who was researching human iris recognition technology during graduate school, conceived the idea of iris recognition for pets after adopting a dog.
Through continuous refinement and advancement of their business idea, Pairico completed the ‘multi-biometric-based pet individual identification solution’ using nose prints and facial information.
Pairico has been recognized for its technological capabilities by being consecutively selected for projects such as the Digital New Deal, Daedeok Research and Development Special Zone R&BD, Ministry of SMEs and Startups TIPS program, and Korea Intellectual Property Strategy Development Institute IP R&D project.
They are also working on domestic and international standardization of biometric technology. In April 2020, Pairico proposed a new standard task to the International Telecommunication Union's security research group and received approval, leading the development of international standards.
The Chuncheon City pilot project was realized after receiving excellent evaluations in the ‘Challenge Korea’ contest hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in the second half of 2020.
Pairico participated in the contest with the theme ‘Prevention of abandonment of pet dogs and cats or activation of the animal registration system’ and received the highest evaluation, winning the Minister’s Award. Subsequently, they were selected for follow-up projects and began the actual demonstration project.
CEO Kim Tae-heon said, “We are receiving much interest from many pet dog owners as we develop services based on continuous technological development efforts and user experience data.”
He expressed his ambition, saying, “We want to successfully carry out this pilot project and have pet biometric solutions officially recognized as a pet registration method.”
Pairico has launched and is operating the pet biometric solution-based application ‘Peter Pet.’
Users can conveniently register their pet's biometric information anytime and anywhere using smartphones, and currently, biometric information for more than 3,000 pet dogs has been registered.
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