Sleepypod’s New Crash Test Cat Is No Dummy [Video]

Mary Simpson
by Mary Simpson
Where can’t the GoPro go? CLEO, Sleepypod’s new crash test cat, offers a pet’s point of view recording, capturing a kitty’s movement during a car accident.


With video camera manufacturers such as GoPro allowing us to capture our pets’ every movement from a dog’s eye perspective, it only made sense that those savvy organizations who develop pet safety devices would find a way to adapt this same technology to figure out how to build a better product.


Related: Subaru And CPS Team Up For Next Round Of Pet Safety Product Crash Testing


Enter Sleepypod, a Pasadena-based company who is currently gathering safety data for the development of pet travel products including carriers and safety restraints. They’ve just introduced CLEO, their “crash test cat” who gives up all of her mock nine lives in the pursuit of a better automobile safety restraint for cats. The fake feline joins fraudster “canines” MAX and DUKE as they record video footage of crash tests from a pet’s point of view. Using this footage, Sleepypod designers can identify how pets move during a car crash and develop products and restraints that can help minimize the impact and subsequent injuries.


Related: New Study Shows That Many Pet Car Seat Safety Restraints Are Ineffective


Sleepypod’s lead product designer and co-founder Michael Leung says: “This is a step forward for pet safety in cars because until now we have only been able to observe the effects of car crashes as onlookers.”


Watch CLEO’s crash test footage at below – it really enforces the importance of safety restraints for pets when riding in a vehicle.

Mary Simpson
Mary Simpson

Sharing space with three seriously judgy Schnoodles and two felines who prefer to be left alone. #LivingMyBestLife

More by Mary Simpson

Next