For those of us who have furry companions, it’s a difficult pill to swallow when their health isn’t up to sniff, or snuff, rather. When we humans are in a bad way, we have a range of options to help us feel better, from medicines to procedures that vary from minor to highly invasive. Dogs and other pets, however, don’t always have those same options — especially when it comes to eyesight. While laser-based eye surgery for dogs does exist, finding a clinic that performs canine LASIK can be challenging. Even if you do find one, it often comes with a hefty price tag. For owners of vision-impaired pups, traditional solutions such as halo frames and Elizabethan cones — similar to those used to prevent dogs from biting themselves post-surgery — offer practical alternatives to help dogs avoid painful collisions with furniture and other hazards. However, these devices often lack the full coverage and comfort needed to provide a fulfilling life for our canine companions. Courtesy of iStock.com/VladimirGerasimov. Kunde, a fluffy four-legged native of Houston was having a similar problem when he lost his vision due to advanced glaucoma. Fortunately, a team of engineering students at Rice University took on the challenge of creating a system that would allow Kunde to safely navigate his surroundings. The team members, who have dubbed themselves “Kunde’s Friends,” created a vest that uses haptic feedback powered by a stereoscopic camera system to provide real-time spatial awareness without restricting his movement or play. The lightweight vest was fitted with linear resonant actuator motors, commonly used in smart devices, that vibrate to alert the dog when obstacles are nearby. Then, a set of stereoscopic cameras mounted near the dog’s head captured real-time depth information, processed by a custom-designed printed circuit board and a stereoscopic vision-processing computer module. Similar to a car’s backup sensor, the vest offers haptic feedback at various degrees of intensity, depending on how close Kunde is to a potential obstacle, thus enabling him to move freely about the world without the need for human intervention. Every part of the system — the vest, cameras, custom-fabricated electronic housing, and waterproofing components — is relatively affordable, with a total cost of under $150, according to Kunde’s Friends. This work could have a significantly greater impact than just helping Kunde — the dog days of restricted movement due to blindness may soon be over for pets, and possibly even for humans, thanks to the potential for cross-species applications in rehabilitation technology and therapeutic devices. The vest hasn’t quite made it to this stage, though, because it’s still undergoing testing with Kunde. Nevertheless, the team is optimistic that the vest will eventually lead to a significant reduction in canine collisions, with the final prototype offering a range of up to 8 m and a battery life of ~2 h. If this technology is successful, it is safe to say that many pet owners, and their dogs, could be howling at the moon with excitement for a chance to live a better life.