The Device & App
The Smart Collar Device
→ The smart collar is a non-commercial, NCSU developed device. It is designed to indicate the puppy’s physiological state (i.e. stressed vs. not stressed) and the stimulus the puppy is responding to in the environment.
→ In addition to utilizing basic electrical components (e.g. battery, CPU, memory, power button, etc.), the smart collar device collects environmental and physiological data using volume*, physical activity, ambient light, barometric pressure, and temperature & humidity sensors.
*It is important to note that the smart collar device is incapable of recording discrete sound/conversations and only collects the volume of ambient noises (e.g. the puppy is in a loud environment vs. the puppy is in a quiet environment).
The Smart Collar Phone Application
→ The smart collar phone application is a software platform consisting of five pages designed to facilitate puppy physiological and environmental data recording.
→ The information, collar connectivity and cloud upload status pages display the app software version, help the raiser connect the device to the app, and indicate the progress of data uploading to the cloud, respectively.
→ The status page displays some data from the smart collar (see picture below) and the optional activity log page allows the raiser to track some training and socialization events with their GEB puppy.
*It is important to note that the phone application also collects limited location data from the raiser’s phone for use in the research study. This project is governed by the NCSU Institutional Review Board and all data will be collected, transmitted, stored, and destroyed in a secure manner conforming to IRB standards.
Want to know more?
→ Please direct all additional questions about the device and app functionalities to the study coordinators.