Understanding animals can change how we treat them.
Technology can help make animal communication more visible and give people better information when deciding how to respond. Humans make decisions for animals every day: when to touch them, move them, train them, leave them alone, expose them to something new, seek professional help, or simply give them space. Those choices are better when we notice more of what the animal is communicating.
Same moment. A better question.
“He’s just being bad.”“What is he telling me?”A growl, freeze, head turn, retreat or alarm call can be information before it becomes a problem.
“She’ll get used to it.”“She’s asking for space.”Animals can’t explain discomfort in words. Reading body language gives us more chances to respect avoidance, uncertainty and requests for distance.
“Aww, he’s smiling!”“Let’s look closer.”Seeing ourselves in animals is natural and often harmless fun. FaunaVera pairs that warmth with closer attention to what the animal actually shows.
“She’s just quiet today.”“Could something hurt?”Pain, stress and fear often show up as small changes long before anything obvious. Noticing earlier means more time to call a vet, a trainer or a behaviorist.
“They’re just farm animals.”“They have plenty to say.”Pigs, cows, chickens and goats communicate just as richly as the animals on our sofas, but almost no one is taught to read them. Giving sanctuaries, rescues and caretakers the same tools is part of the point.
“AI should make us faster.”“AI can help us notice.”Technology usually promises to make human life more efficient. We are more interested in using it to expand what humans notice about other species.
Companion and farmed animals are chapter one.
FaunaVera launches with dogs, cats, horses, pigs, cows, goats, chickens, rabbits, sheep, donkeys, alpacas, llamas and ducks: species humans live with, care for, work alongside and make decisions for every day. They give us a practical place to begin, with rich behavioral research and enormous real-world relevance.
But they are only the beginning. We want to expand toward songbirds, aquatic animals, insects and wildlife—from dolphins and whales to corvids, bats, primates, rodents, amphibians and beyond. Each new species or group will need their own communication science, behavioral framework and careful validation.
See who we could listen to next
Understanding builds empathy.
When people see that an animal has a mind of their own, with preferences, feelings and a point of view, they tend to extend more moral concern to them.
The research shows how much perception matters. People who eat meat tend to play down the minds of the animals they eat, and simply thinking of an animal as food lowers how much people believe that animal can suffer.123 Learning that an unfamiliar animal is intelligent raises the moral concern people feel for them, although people push back on that conclusion when it applies to animals they already eat.4
That is the deeper reason FaunaVera exists. Most people will use it to understand their dog or their horse a little better. But every clip that shows an animal asking for space, greeting a friend or raising an alarm is a small piece of evidence that there is someone there. We believe that helping people see, and actually understand, what animals are communicating will make the world more empathetic for human and non-human animals alike.
- Loughnan, Haslam & Bastian (2010). The role of meat consumption in the denial of moral status and mind to meat animals. Appetite. Read
- Bastian, Loughnan, Haslam & Radke (2012). Don’t mind meat? The denial of mind to animals used for human consumption. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Read
- Bratanova, Loughnan & Bastian (2011). The effect of categorization as food on the perceived moral standing of animals. Appetite. Read
- Piazza & Loughnan (2016). When meat gets personal, animals’ minds matter less. Social Psychological and Personality Science. Read
A deeper read of each species.
Expanding across species is one direction. The other is understanding each animal more deeply than we can today.
- Direction 01
Signals nobody has written down yet
As species-specific data grows, new patterns can surface, go to experts for review and eventually join the evidence base.
- Direction 02
Beyond video and audio
Heart rate, movement sensors, scent and underwater sound could one day add context that cameras and microphones miss.
- Direction 03
From clips to the moment
Understanding that happens live, as behavior unfolds, not only after a video has been uploaded.