Tech & Biz

Cat Translation Device: Do You Really Want to Know?

by Jordan Yerman | September 14, 2007 at 06:50 am

1298 views | 15 Recommendations | 4 comments

What about cats from different parts of the world? Let's say I get one of these (highly unlikely, but still), and take it with me to, say, Paros, a Greek island known for its cat population. Would my North American Meowlingual be able to speek Greek-Cat?

What about the big cats? Are leopard/tiger/lion/ocelot/various versions of puma considered separate languages entirely, or dialects of Standard Cat?

The $75 Meowlingual Cat Translation Device comes in various colors and works fairly straightforwardly: just hold the cute cat-shaped gadget close to your purring pets head and wait for the audio translation. Among the stock phrases is "I can't stand it"... which might refer to the constant petting and stroking inflicted by overly attentive owners.

Ah, and there's already a dog-version...

The device will be priced at 8,800 yen (about $74), less than the 14,800 yen charged for Bowlingual.

Takara has sold about 300,000 of the dog-translation devices in the last six months and plans to launch a English-language version in the US in August.

Bowlingual claims to be able to interpret about 200 phrases or words - grouped in six different emotional categories: fun, frustration, menace, sorrow, demand and self-expression.

I advise against telling your cat that his/her translator was less expensive than that for a dog. It may curse at you and then suddenly leave the room for no apparent reason.

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Karen Hatter

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:34 on September 14th, 2007

What can I say, Jordan? I LOVE cats!

Jordan Yerman

at 10:34 on September 14th, 2007

The first thing I'd ask is, "Why do you get up and randomly leave the room in a hurry?" I mean, what's up with that? It's always confounded me...

Karen Hatter

at 11:29 on September 14th, 2007

Yeah, me too! And that thing where they come and sit in front of you and meow! You go give them some food and water. That wasn't it! Now, I feel like I'm in an old Lassie episode, questioning the cat! "What's the matter? What are you trying to tell me, Girl? You want me to follow you?"