A designer from Wellington, New Zealand has designed a smartphone app designed to track your cat’s movements. Zach Freiberg, creator of LoCATor was inspired to create the app when his mother’s cat went missing. The app uses a GPS-enabled, internet-linked collar to transmit the location of wandering felines to an online database, then back to their owners or any other interested party.
Zach says the cat is merely a tool, not a solution. “This might stop people letting their cats out or it might help [the Department of Conservation] to set up defences to protect wildlife – we’re playing with the idea that people would always want to help nature. It’s a small inconvenience but they would be helping the cause,” he said.
The app is able to alert users when a cat crosses a certain boundary. It could be an airport, or city line for example. In New Zealand cat owners spend $600-$800 per year on their cats which equates to a $1.2 Billion market. There are also other apps that have been created in New Zealand. One is called “Forager,” which sources wild food sources in New Zealand.
Hopefully cat apps can expand on LoCATor and create a truly unique and simple to use tracking device for cats.
