FARI · Public field archive Feline Autonomy Research Institute
Issue 14 · Vol. 5 Established 2021 Updated 14 April 2026 Editor: M. Voronova
A small public archive

Field notes from homes where animals and domestic technology share the same rooms.

FARI is a volunteer-run archive. We collect ordinary household observations — the cat on the warm router, the timer that goes off before the kettle, the keyboard that gets walked on during a quiet call — and we publish anonymized summaries with enough detail to be useful and not enough to identify anyone.

The project started in late 2021 as a shared spreadsheet between two readers of an old behavioral journal. It is still mostly a spreadsheet, with better edges.

What the archive looks at

Attention and interruption

How animals show up around laptops, calls, keyboards, and the corners of shared rooms where work tends to happen. Most of these reports are unremarkable on their own; they get useful when readers see the same shape twice.

Device-mediated routines

How timers, speakers, cameras, and notifications quietly reshape feeding, play, rest, and the small adjustments owners make to keep the household running.

Ordinary household evidence

How a careful note differs from a story. We try to keep the reporting close to what was actually observed and let the comparisons happen at the desk, not in the first paragraph of a submission.

Public note. FARI does not diagnose animals or people, sell data, or run advertising. We accept written observations, occasional photographs of empty desks, and corrections; we publish anonymized field notes and method updates with identifying details removed. The full editorial policy is on the editorial notes page.
Read

Recent entries

Reviewed reports with time, setting, devices present, observer notes, and a confidence label. Updated when new context arrives.

Category catalog

The recurring shapes the desk groups reports under before they get published. Signals are descriptions, not claims of intent.

Submission manual

A short practical guide for recording a useful observation without putting the animal under stress or rearranging your home around the camera.

From the bulletin
  • Voice-assistant logs are now reviewed without raw exports

    After three submitters asked us to stop accepting raw assistant exports, the desk now reads a one-page written summary instead. Less private data on our side, fewer redactions later, no loss of useful context so far.

  • Spring follow-up reminder

    If you sent a winter report and the household routine has shifted with the longer daylight, we would like a brief follow-up note. Two lines is enough.