Big Blue may be looking to get into the dog whisperer business, with the tech giant looking to build a drone that can act like dog-sitter and trainer when the owner is away.
According to a report from Fortune, the company filed a patent for the drone that can watch over pets.
The proposed drone could feed, train, and prevent dogs, cats, and other domesticated pets from damaging the house when the owner is away.
The drone would feature various sensors and tools such as a microphone to identify when an animal may be weeping or barking.
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It could also feature a temperature sensor to check whether Fido is getting too cold and a camera to track pets and see if they are walking into limited zone areas of the house, according to the report.
The camera would also help the drone monitor the animal for strange behaviors such as scratching at doors or excessive panting.
The drone could also play with the pet using internet-connected toys and issue a vocalised command in the owner’s voice if the pet misbehaves.
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The drone would also work with other Internet-connected household items, like pet feeders, thermostats, and pet doors.
Fortune quoted an IBM spokesperson as saying that the researchers involved with the patent application “saw an opportunity to leverage their knowledge about systems and drones and apply that to the pet industry, which is a multi-billion dollar market in the U.S. alone.”
The accelerating pace of drone adoption is pushing several companies to file for patents to carry out various tasks using the easy-to-fly, remote controlled platform.
Retail-giant Walmart has recently filed a patent which details the use of drones designed to move products inside stores.
According to the patent, an airborne drone will be dispatched to fetch an item located within a retail shopping facility and bring it back to the delivery area within the store.
Package delivery firm UPS has successfully tested its first autonomous commercial delivery drone.
