No longer will you have to see what the cat dragged in. That’s because now there’s Flappie — a cat flap that uses artificial intelligence to recognize and stop your cat from carrying prey into the house. Cats kill up to 275 million birds, mice, and other small animals every year, with owners often finding the evidence in the house the next morning. Combining a high-definition night vision camera and a custom algorithm similar to facial recognition software, the device has a 90% accuracy rate, and that will improve as AI gets used to your cat. The Flappie will automatically unlock when the cat drops its catch. Owners can also set up an app to alert them when this happens and watch it live on their phone from anywhere. The cat flap remains locked until motion sensors detect that a cat has appeared, before scanning its microchip to ensure it’s at the right house. That triggers an infrared camera, installed just above the opening, to scan the cat’s face and, using AI, determine whether it’s carrying anything. The Flappie will sell for ￡310 ($394.87) in Europe beginning in the spring. There’s no word on when it will be available in the U.S.
