Patent ID: 9226477
Filing Date: 2016-01-05
CPC Classification: A01K,H04N

Claim Text:
1. A method for communicating and interacting with a pet, comprising: providing a system for communicating with a pet from a user communication device, the system including: a treat dispenser comprising a bin for storing multiple treats, a treat release actuator, an audio input device configured to receive communication command signals, and a first processor configured to recognize and actuate the treat dispenser based on the communication command signals via programmable command recognition logic; a treat dispensing area having a pet detection mechanism for detecting when the pet has taken a treat; a personal computing device comprising a second processor for sending and receiving communication command signals via command recognition logic, wherein the second processor sends and receives communication signals between the treat dispenser and the communication device; and a speaker; training the pet to answer a call from a user by causing the treat dispenser to: play an audio signal; cause one of the treats to be delivered from the treat dispenser to the pet; and stop the play of the audio signal; training the pet to respond to spoken commands of a user when played via the speaker by, when the user is in the room with the training dispenser: playing audio of a spoken command via the speaker in time proximity to when the user utters the spoken command so that the pet hears and associates the spoken command played by the speaker and the spoken command uttered by user; and causing one of the treats to be delivered from the treat dispenser to the pet; and communicating with the pet by: calling the pet by playing an audio signal; playing from the speaker of the system the spoken command uttered by the user; playing, via a video conferencing program executing on the personal computing device, at least one of audio or video of the user of the communication device; transmitting, via the video conferencing program executing on the personal computing device, at least one of audio or video of the pet to the communication device; receiving at the system a communication command; recognizing, via the command recognition logic, the communication command; and in response to the communication command, causing one of the treats to be delivered from the treat dispenser to the pet.