‘Every dog ​​has a unique nose’: South Korea tests ‘noseprint’ ID for national pet registry

A South Korean company has developed a biometric recognition tool that can identify dogs based on their nose prints.

Once pet owners register their dog’s nose pattern and general information in an app called “Anipuppy,” the information can be retrieved simply by scanning the dog’s nose print.

“It’s a 3D biometric algorithm based on AI (artificial intelligence) and deep learning that we’ve now built into smartphones so you can take pictures of the nose patterns and use it to identify each animal,” said Sujin Choi, director of iSciLab Corporation.

With the new technology, which the company says is 99.9 percent accurate, people finding lost dogs can communicate quickly and directly with their owners.

Make dog registration easier

It is currently mandatory in South Korea to register pets with a microchip or external ID. However, the country has not seen an increase in registrations since the introduction of the pet registration system in 2007.

Only 38 percent of the country’s 6 million domestic dogs were registered, according to a 2020 report by South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Animal rights experts say pet owners are hesitant, concerned about the cumbersome process and potential health issues of microchip implants.

That’s where the Nose ID solution comes in – it’s non-intrusive and much quicker to manage than inserting a chip.

iSciLab has been working with the South Korean government since 2019 to develop and test its nose ID technology for commercialization.

The project is scheduled to be completed by 2024 so that it can become an official dog identification and registration method for the country’s database.

The company expects around 14 euros per dog.

In the future, the technology could also be used to identify other animals such as cats, cows and deer.

iSciLab’s biometric recognition technology is currently patented in South Korea, but also in the United States, Europe, Canada and Japan.

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