Alato

Last week we swapped the office for the forest for the first check-in on our rat detection research project with Kaipātiki Project

So far: lots of mud, lots of data, and thankfully a few rats doing exactly what we need them to do.

We’re comparing trail camera footage with acoustic recordings to see what patterns show up and whether we can pick up rat activity through sound.

There are already a few interesting things emerging from the first batch of data, so next up is running our AI across the recordings and digging into it properly.

Still early days, but nice to see the project ticking along and a decent excuse to get out of the office.

Ever stood in a room with no echo?

Last week we took the SoundScout into the anechoic chamber at the University of Auckland - Waipapa Taumata Rau quite possibly the quietest place in the country. Every wall, the ceiling and the floor are covered in giant foam wedges and you walk across a wire mesh grid suspended above them.

The silence is genuinely strange. Clap your hands and nothing comes back. Talk to the person standing next to you and your voice just... stops. Give it a minute and you start hearing your own heartbeat (apparently)... Most people can't wait to get out.

We spent the day in there.

This was our final round of testing before launch. We were testing the new mic array for the SoundScout, how sensitive it is, how clean the signal is, and how well it picks up sound coming from different directions.

To do that properly, we built a turntable rig so the SoundScout could spin a full 360° while we played tones through it, from the low end all the way up to 100 kHz, far beyond anything you or I can hear. That gives us polar plots: essentially a map of what the mic hears, and from which direction.

This kind of testing is what helps us build a product that will record high quality audio in all types of environments and not just in the lab.

Keep an eye out for the results as we get closer to launch!

A great day out of the office last week 🦇🌿

We were lucky enough to be invited along to AFS’s High-Risk Bat Management Training, joining a room full of professionals working across a range of ecological specialties.

The morning was focused on the broader picture of high-risk bat management, which goes well beyond acoustic monitoring. It was great to see where acoustic data and tools like ours fit into the wider ecological assessment and management process.

We also had the chance to walk everyone through Alato Lab, talk through some acoustic monitoring best practice, and discuss how better analysis of recordings can support practical decision-making.

And then, as a bonus, we got out into the field to look at some of the habitat up close for bat management.

A big thanks to Marc and Mike from Advanced Field Skills for inviting us along. It was a great opportunity to learn, share what we're working on, and see first-hand how our technology fits into the much bigger picture of bat management.

Always good to get out from behind the computer and into the bush. 🦇

Swapping bats for rats for the next few months... 🐀

Last week we kicked off a 7-month project with Neil and the team at Kaipātiki Project to find out what rats actually sound like when they’re established, what happens when pest control kicks in, and what happens when they start to come back.

We’re putting out a mix of our new SoundScout acoustic monitors, trail cameras and tracking tunnel data to see what’s happening above and below the surface.

Why?

Because if we can understand what rat activity actually sounds like in the wild, we can start building better ways of detecting them.

Lots to learn. Lots of recordings to collect. Probably a lot of rats. 🐀

Stoked to be doing research like this in Aotearoa, and huge thanks to Kaipatiki Project team for helping make it happen.

Stay tuned for more rat content. 👀

POV: you’re doing unpaid campaign work for a bird who will never reply to your emails.

No salary. No career progression. Just vibes, bird politics and the crushing knowledge that your candidate will never acknowledge your existence.

But seriously, Bird of the Year is a great way to get behind our native species and give them the attention they deserve. If you’ve got a favourite bird, back them and get involved. 🐦🇳🇿

Become a Campaign Manager and back your bird: https://forestandbird.org.nz/boty2026

On Friday, Innovation Franklin officially opened their new Innovation Hub, bringing a travelling lab packed with cool Kiwi technology to schools and communities across Franklin.

The goal is simple: inspire the next generation of doers, thinkers and tinkerers by giving them the chance to see, touch and play with technology they might not otherwise get to experience.

We’re pretty stoked that Alato gets to be part of it. We’re showcasing a little glimpse into the world of environmental technology and wildlife monitoring, including prototypes of our new SoundScout recorder, which uses onboard AI to detect NZ bats, birds and pests in real time.

We can’t claim a full-spectrum ultrasonic recorder is quite as cool as a robot dog… but we tried. 😂

As a company, we’re passionate about supporting NZ conservation through our products, research projects and conservation programmes. Maybe we can add inspiring the next generation of conservationists, scientists and engineers to that list too.

A huge thanks to Innovation Franklin, AUT - Auckland University of Technology and all the other organisations and sponsors who have helped bring this together. We can’t wait to see what the next generation makes of it! 🚀

Last week we emerged from the shadows for the National Pekapeka Hui, and man, what a time. We’re still buzzing 😉 from a massive few days of bat-talk.

Huge thanks to the legends at Finding Franklin Bats and Auckland Councilfor pulling it all together. It’s not easy wrangling a bunch of people who spend their lives staring at trees in the dark, but you guys absolutely nailed it.

We had a great time with our two talks on bioacoustics tech and running a workshop, basically just an excuse for us to geek out about acoustics with anyone who’d listen.

The highlight, though, was definitely giving away some gear to three very deserving winners:

Pest Free Howick Ward
Catlins Bat Project
Otaua School

We can't wait to see (and hear) what you guys find!

If you're looking to get your hands on some AR5s, get in touch with [email protected] and don't forget, you can try out Alato Lab (our bat AI tool) for free to see what’s actually hiding in your audio files.
Already looking forward to the next one! 🦇✨

Try Alato Lab https://shorturl.at/Wv90e

Giveaway alert! 🤩

We’re giving away 5 AR5 acoustic monitors complete with SD cards and batteries at the National Pekapeka Hui

Want in? Come visit us at our stand to enter the draw – it’s that simple. Don’t miss your chance to get your hands on the gear and see our tech in action!

We’ll also be running a workshop and talking about the future of bioacoustic monitoring – so plenty of reason to drop by

Ben Paris - NZ Batman
Finding Franklin Bats

New Zealand has two bat species left. Two.

The long-tailed and short-tailed bat are some of our most ancient and vulnerable natives, and for years, the biggest barrier to protecting them wasn't the will to monitor, it was the sheer volume of data that nobody had time to analyse.

We built Alato Lab to change that. An AI trained on 50,000+ real New Zealand field recordings, purpose-built to process what would take a team weeks, in half a day.

This is what conservation looks like when technology actually serves the people doing the mahi.

We wrote about how we built it, and why it matters.

Read the full story

https://bit.ly/4kOsydI

We’re excited to be sponsoring the National Pekapeka Hui in Franklin next month 🦇

Finding Franklin Bats is hosting the Hui from 25–27 March at Rereteewhioi Marae in Waiuku. Registrations are now open and we’ll be there in person. If you’re working with bats, or want to, it’s going to be a great few days to get along to.

We’ll be running a hands-on workshop with our gear and chatting about where bioacoustic monitoring technology is going next.

Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/national-pekpeka-hui-2026

See you there 👋

National Pekapeka Hui 2026 This year Finding Franklin Bats will be hosting the tri-annual Pekapeka Hui, come along to hear the latest around bat conservation and protection.