NW teen taking tech world by storm with pet videochat treat dispenser

Does your dog freak out when you leave it home alone? A Northwest teen inventor has some up with a unique new way to comfort your pet while you’re away that’s taking the tech world by storm.

Brooke Martin, 14, of Spokane, stole the show at last week’s GeekWire Summit, winning the first-ever “Inventions We Love” challenge at the industry gathering with her invention iCPooch.

The idea is simple but genius. It’s a contraption that lets you video chat with your pet and dispense treats remotely, sort of like Skyping with snacks.

Martin says she came up with the concept after her family adopted a new Golden Retriever that had a serious case of separation anxiety.

“She would always get really upset whenever we left her at home. She seemed depressed and sometimes she would get destructive with the furniture,” Martin says.

“I really wanted a way to connect with her while we were gone and let her know that it was OK and calm her down during the day. I always video chat with my family and friends, so I figured why not my dog?”

With iCPooch, you stick a tablet or smart phone into the dispenser, and load it up with treats. Then you simply connect with it from anywhere, and start calling your pet.

Brooke says it doesn’t take long for dogs to respond surprisingly well.

“So I can tell my dog to sit, she’ll sit, to lay down, she absolutely knows what it does, that it delivers her a treat.”

The tech world is sitting up and taking notice. After developing a prototype in her garage, she was able to enlist a small cadre of software pros, designers and others to help come up with the finished product.

She’s since earned plenty of praise, including from T-Mobile CEO John Legere, who lamented having to follow her presentation at last week’s summit.

“Give me a break. iCPooch. I mean, kids, dogs. You [expletive] me. I was pissed right then. I was trying to call in sick. I was saying there is no freakin’ way I am going in after that genius,” said Legere. “She was fantastic.”

It’s far from Brooke’s first foray into business. She’s been selling Girl Scout cookies since she was 4 years old, and opened a lemonade stand when she was 5 to help raise money for a sick friend.

“I think that kind of helped me to get that fearless entrepreneurial spirit,” she says. “I’ve always been fascinated with business and being an entrepreneur.”

Many others are fascinated by the rising tech star. She’s appeared on national TV and been asked to speak at a number of national conferences, including Purina’s Better With Pets summit in New York next week.

She’s got big dreams and big plans. But for now, she’s just trying to keep up her 4.0 grade point average as a sophomore at North Central High School and all of her other activities while running a business full time.

“I’m just trying to get the word out about iCPooch and see where it takes us right now,” she says.

iCPooch is available on Brooke’s website and a number of retailers for $129 (you have to provide the tablet or smartphone.) She hopes to have it on store shelves for the holiday season.