A South Korean startup has developed an AI-based app that scans your dog's nose print and places it into a crowdsourced database that anyone can access to identify the owner of a lost dog.

It turns out a dog's noseprints are just as individual as a human's thumbprint, and the advantage of using it to identify a lost dog over a microchip is that no one has a microchip scanner in their house.

Anyone who has lost track of their cat or dog knows the fear experienced by the thought of never seeing them again. Collar tags and microchips can be ways for good samaritans to help reunite lost animals with their owners, but tags and collars can fall off, while microchips are not accessible for anyone who doesn't want to drive to the vet office.

The team at Yonsei University has honed their AI to a 99% accuracy, which they've now released for free through the Petnow app on marketplaces in South Korea, Spain, and the US.

Pet owners register their dog's nose print by taking a picture with their smartphone. Cat owners are in luck too, because the algorithm can ID cats by their whole face rather than just a nose.

Once the image is captured, it's stored in Petnow's database. Anyone, including those who may come across a lost animal, can take a picture of its nose or face and see if it matches with one on the app-providing an instant set of contact info for the owner.

Because it's not always easy to for a lost dog to sit still, the app deploys three kinds of AI to identify a noseprint even if the nose is moving about.

With a crowdsourced database as the foundation of the idea, Petnow's team needs as many people as possible to use the app, and for shelters, vet clinics, and other pet businesses to get the word out.

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