Pyrico, a student startup from UNIST, has established an international standard for pet identification technology based on nose prints. This simple nose print recognition technology has opened the way to register and authenticate pets anywhere in the world.

UNIST (President Lee Yong-hoon) announced that the 'Multi-biometric-based Pet Individual Identification Technology Standard' developed by Pyrico was provisionally adopted as an international standard at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) meeting held at KINTEX in Ilsan on the 8th.

This standard, which has been pre-adopted (consent), is scheduled to be formally adopted as an international standard after gathering opinions from member countries for the next four weeks. Since April 2020, Pyrico has been developing an international standard for paw print-based pet identification technology in collaboration with Dr. Jae-Sung Kim of the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA).

With the establishment of international standards to evaluate the reliability of the technology, amendments to the law recognizing nose print-based identification as a method for pet registration are expected to gain momentum. The current Enforcement Decree of the Animal Protection Act does not recognize nose print-based identification as a method of pet registration. If the decree is amended, the pet registration process can be simplified by using methods such as taking and inputting nose photos, instead of the existing method of implanting chips. This is expected to improve the pet registration rate, which currently stands at a low level in the 50% range. The low pet registration rate has also been identified as a stumbling block to the activation of pet insurance, a national agenda item.

Kim Tae-heon, CEO of Pyrico, stated, “I feel a sense of pride in Korea playing a leading role in establishing the world’s first international standard for pet paw print identification technology,” adding, “Using this opportunity as a stepping stone, we will actively pursue overseas expansion so that advanced pet-owning nations can adopt our technology.”

Pyrico is a company that provides biometric-based pet registration solutions, such as paw prints and irises. With the adoption of this standard, Pyrico has secured a firm advantage in obtaining related intellectual property rights. In the second half of this year, the company plans to launch a pilot project to issue "dog ID cards" using paw print recognition technology, following designation as a regulatory sandbox demonstration special case.