According to a recent Forbes survey, 78% of current pet owners acquired pets during the COVID-19 pandemic. This makes a ton of sense, given lockdowns and, on a related note, the need for companionship during uncertain and divisively turbulent times.
With this wave of new pets in homes also came stampedes of purchases; in general, of course, but also specific spending on pets. That seems to have held steady for the most part, since Forbes also reported that 66% of pet owners have said they’ve spent more money than usual on their four-footed, finned, or winged loved ones in roughly the last six months.
Why? Primarily, it seems, to compensate with them often being away from home (in tandem with pandemic restrictions having been lifted). One could also say that their sustained increases in spending come from two tangential sources; a.) living through COVID was exceptionally rough, and having a pet created close-knit bonds that still require that level of nurturing today, and b.) with recent booms in at-home work tech and the proliferation of smart home devices, it tracks that more pet-centric products would hit both brick-and-mortar stores and digital shelves alike for us with pets to acquire. (i.e., to boost our senses of love and security at home with them)
(And yes, I said “for us” because my wife and I have two cat-kids of our own; granted, we rescued them well before the pandemic, but we’ve grown even more attached to them in recent years.)
So, we’ve collectively had (and are still experiencing) rising demands for pet care, plus a digital avalanche of devices (specifically smart IoT, or Internet of Things, devices) that are up for grabs.
This has led companies like SpotCam – a Taiwan-based cloud video monitoring services and solutions provider – announcing new products like the SpotCam Mibo cloud AI pet camera.
With Mibo, as SpotCam describes, “never miss another lovely moment of your pets.” In terms of Mibo’s stand-out features:
- 360-degree Viewing with Pet Tracking with automatic pan and tilt functionalities so you can follow your pet in real time (i.e. fluid horizontal and vertical motions)
- 2K Video Quality (even while panning and tilting, as opposed to when Mibo is only stationary)
- Wi-Fi and Ethernet Connectivity are both supported (Ethernet RJ45) for easy setup and syncing
- Instant Alerts (indicating detected motion and audio of both humans and pets in view); these can be received via email or on SpotCam’s mobile app
- Two-Way Audio with a built-in microphone so users and their families are able to speak to one another through Mibo, when necessary. (It may even catch barks and purrs from furry loved ones.)
- Cross-Platform Viewing for viewing both live and playback video on mobile or PC
- SpotCam Security via video streaming and storage protection with SSL encryption
SpotCam Mibo accessories include a wall-mounting kit, a deer ears camera headband that can be affixed to it for a nice cosmetic touch, and a flexible cable stand and a magnetic base.
As optionals for Mibo, SpotCam also offers its Pet Care AI Service for more in-depth pet sound detection and environmental triggers, a “virtual fence” that will notify users as to when an out-of-fence danger zone has been crossed, and even a pet video diary that automatically creates an album (with time-lapsed videos).
As a proud cat-dad, SpotCam Mibo seems quite ideal for my household. Of course, it may not necessarily be the device for everyone. So, if you’d like to learn more about SpotCam overall (e.g. their offerings outside of Mibo, including video doorbell solutions, baby cameras, cameras made for business environments and additional cloud services, read here.
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
