This high-tech camera vest gives your pooch a shot at social media stardom

When Facebook growth starts to seriously level out, Mark Zuckerberg may want to consider opening the service to dogs. A new camera vest from Saatchi & Saatchi Madrid certainly makes it possible, as the kit not only helps mutts take photos, but automatically posts them to the social networking site, too.

Related: See here for GoPro’s latest accessory for your dog

The utterly absurd Posting Tail is a high-tech vest that incorporates a camera, a sensor (attached to the dog’s tail), a 3G Wi-Fi dongle, a GPS device, and a Raspberry Pi computer.

So how does it work exactly? Well, when your dog’s happy, it wags its tail in a particular way, apparently. When the furry appendage starts waving about, an algorithm processes the sensor’s data to work out whether it’s a “regular” tail wag or a “happy” one. If it’s happy, the front-facing camera on the dog’s back will snap a picture and immediately upload it to Facebook.

The GPS data will enable you to learn, over time, precisely where your dog is happiest (in case you hadn’t been able to work it out by yourself).

“This way, the dog’s tail turns into a big data generator, so we can give him more happy moments,” the promo video says.

The Posting Tail seems like a lot to wear for the functionality offered. It reminds us a bit of Nikon’s experimental and more minimalist dog-mounted camera that also a snapped a photo every time the animal got excited, though it used a heart monitor rather than a tail sensor to determine when to trigger the shutter.

The vest is a prototype developed in collaboration with dog food brand Pedigree, however, the company is offering dog owners the chance to try the fully functioning device via an online contest.

From activity trackers and GPS monitors to video cameras and absurd “disco jackets,” pet wearables are a growing business, and while there’s no word on if there are plans to commercialize the Pedigree vest, it’s likely there are plenty of dog-owning Facebook junkies out there who’d happily strap the Posting Tail to their pooch in a bid to turn it into a social media star.