Anyone can use Ring’s AI-powered pet finder now
About two months ago, Ring rolled out an AI-powered tool that lets Ring owners band together to find a missing dog. Now, Ring says anyone with a finicky pet can ask for help using this feature, not just Ring users.
Accessible through the Neighbors sections of the Ring app, the Search Party for Dogs feature lets you report a missing dog (Ring has already said support for cats and other pets will come later). Such a report will launch a search party, which will trigger nearby Ring cameras to search for the lost pet.
Previously, only Ring users could launch Search Parties, but now Ring says even non-Ring owners can use the Ring app to report a missing dog.
“Before Search Party, the best you could do was drive around the neighborhood shouting your dog’s name in hopes of finding him,” Ring inventor Jamie Siminoff said in a press release. “Now pet owners can mobilize the entire community – and communities have the power to help – to find lost pets more effectively than ever. That’s why we think it’s so important to make this feature available to anyone sharing a lost dog post in Neighbors.”
Ring’s Search Party tool leverages AI to scan footage from nearby Ring cameras for evidence of a missing dog.
If your Ring camera detects a potential match (the feature only works with outdoor Ring cameras, not indoor Ring cameras), you’ll receive an alert with a photo of the dog and relevant video clips. If you think it’s a match, you can, if you wish, choose to share the videos with pet owners, or even contact them directly.
Ring’s Search Party feature has raised eyebrows because it’s enabled by default, like Ring’s much more controversial Community Requests feature, which allows law enforcement officials to request video clips from Ring users.
You can disable either search portion of community requests, and Ring notes that even if you keep the features enabled, you can still decide which videos, if any, you want to share. You can also ignore search and community request alerts altogether.
To remove the Search Party feature, simply open the Ring app, tap the Menu button, scroll down to the Community Control section, and tap Search Party > Find Lost Pets. You can then either disable this feature completely or prevent individual Ring cameras from participating in a Hunt Group.
This article is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best security cameras.
