CareCo
Creating an educational app for pet owners
Pet care instructions are often scattered, lengthy, and difficult to absorb, which can confuse owners and may lead to pet mistreatment.
Our team proposes a new app powered by Petco that incorporates AR, gamification, and AI technology to guide owners through pet care in a digestible and enjoyable manner.
Petco is a top American pet retailer that offers pet food, supplies, and live animals. It also hosts adoption events and provides services such as obedience training, grooming, pet insurance, vaccinations, and veterinary care.
By interviewing pet owners and a vet, we found that owners tend to learn along the way, instead of understanding everything in the beginning. They also feel tensed about expensive vet visits.
Lack of pet care knowledge affects not only animals, but also their owners and those around them.
“How can I teach my daughter about caring for pets?”
Mia is a stay at home mom taking care of her family. Her 10 year old daughter is begging her to give her a bunny as a Christmas present.Mia is unsure if her daughter will be responsible and doesn't want another care duty on her task list
“I want to provide the best life to my dog”
Josh is an architect who is living alone. His 11 year old dog, Momo, is diagnosed with Arthritis which is not curable. He treats his dog as an important family member and feels heartbroken when he sees her limping due to pain.
When my child ask me to buy her a bunny for Christmas
I want to make sure my kid can take care of it properly
So I can not fully taking care of the pet and my child can learn to be responsible
When my dog suddenly becomes inactive and loses its appetite
I want to identify possible reasons and know if I can do anything at home or need to take it to the vet
So I can ensure my dog lives the healthiest lifestyle and thrives.
Q
How might we make preparation and education fun and enjoyable for audiences of all ages?
A
A virtual pet caring game that incorporates AR technology for users to better understand and experience the process of pet caring
Q
How might we have information according to a pet’s health and their specific needs?
A
An AI chatbot to give a brief diagnosis of your pet to decide if your pet needs an in person visit or virtual appointment
To provide right environment for pet, measure space and expected cost
To experience the pet care before adoption
To quickly diagnosis pet’s condition.
It is sometimes hard to envision how much space a pet needs and how it may look in your house. With the help of AR, users could learn about the proper environment setup while having fun designing and visualizing it.
After that, they can quickly know the items to shop for, and the budget with our supplies list.
The best way to learn is through experience and practice. Interact directly with a virtual pet to learn about feeding, cleaning, and grooming. Users are rewarded with badges when they finish each section to keep them motivated.
Upon completion of the games, they will also be qualified to adopt animals through the app.
For current owners who are worried about their pet's health, the AI diagnosis chatbot will help to give a brief diagnosis based on the survey, photos, and even video the owner uploads.
Based on the pet's condition, the chatbot will guide the users through what they can do at home or help them to make an in-person or virtual vet appointment.
Primary
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Tertiary
From the friendly interface and new technology, we aim to provide accessible pet care for all.
Our empathy interview gave us the chance to learn from two different perspectives who both struggled with pet caring. We also tried and explored things we were unfamiliar with before, like 3D modeling and micro-interactions.
