A digital pet, also known as a virtual pet, is a type of artificial human companion. They are usually kept for companionship or enjoyment. People may keep a digital pet in lieu of a real pet. Artificial human companions have been proposed as one means of assisting the elderly in maintaining an acceptable standard of life. ... It has been suggested that Residential pets be merged into this article or section. ...

Digital pets are distinct in that they have no concrete physical form other than the hardware they run on. Interaction with virtual pets may or may not be goal oriented. If it is, then the user must keep it alive as long as possible and often help it to grow into higher forms. Keeping the pet alive and growing often requires 'feeding', grooming and playing with the pet. If the interaction is not goal oriented, the user can explore the character of the pet and enjoy the feeling of building a relationship with it. Often these games use realistic visual effects or interaction to make the pet appear alive and give a sense of reality to users.

Genera of the digital pets

Gadget-based digital pets

Virtual pets such as Tamagotchi and Giga Pets, are sold on a self-contained, palm-sized computer. In the case of the Tamagotchi, a small screen has an image of the pet, while buttons on the case let the user perform different tasks, such as feeding, playing with, or washing the pet. Dissatisfied pets can emit beeps and sometimes "die". This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Giga Pets are a series of virtual pets. ...

Digimon was originally sold on a gadget similar to Tamagotchi's, but connected to other Digimon gadgets in order for the pets to fight. Digimon , short for デジタルモンスター dejitaru monsutā, Digital Monster) is a popular Japanese series of media and merchandise, including anime, manga, toys, video games, trading card games and other media. ...

Sonic Adventure 2 for the Sega Dreamcast had virtual pets, called Chao, which could be either used in game or transferred to the Visual Memory Unit, which enabled a transformation from game-based to gadget-based. “SA2” redirects here. ... The Dreamcast , code-named Dural, Dricas and Katana during development) is Segas fifth and final video game console and the successor to the Sega Saturn. ... A Sega VMU. The VMU (short for Visual Memory Unit, not Virtual Memory Unit) is the memory card for the Sega Dreamcast. ...

Webpage-based digital pets

Virtual petsites such as Neopets or Mara Pets Games are usually free to play and accessible to all who sign up. They can be accessed through web browsers and often include a virtual community, such as the planet Neopia in Neopets. In these worlds, you can play games to earn virtual money; which is usually spent on items and food for your pets. // A virtual pet site or VPS is a website where people can adopt virtual pets, buy items, play games, earn virtual money, explore lands and take care of individual pets. ... Neopets (originally NeoPets) is a virtual pet website launched by Adam Powell and Donna Williams on November 15, 1999. ... An example of a Web browser (Mozilla Firefox) A web browser is a software application that enables a user to display and interact with text, images, videos, music and other information typically located on a Web page at a website on the World Wide Web or a local area network. ...

Some sites adopt out pets to put on your webhellopage and use for roleplaying in chat rooms. They often require the adoptee to have a page ready for their pet. Sometimes they have a setup for breeding one's pets and then adopting them out. A chat room or chatroom is a term used primarily by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. ...

Other sites that adopt out pets to put on a webpage are centered around writing for and breeding said pets to create newer, often 'showier' creatures. Members are often encouraged to create their own species of draconic creatures, to adopt from other members, and to breed the various species together. Unlike with some adoption agencies for webpage based cyberpets, where the owner of the species is the only one that can breed said species, the Nexus encourages all of its members to share and interbreed their species together, and the resulting offspring are usually adopted out to story-based or stats page-based web-pages.

Some games also allow users to breed a pet for combat against other players.

Game- or application- based digital pets

See also: life simulation game

Other virtual pets come in software run on PCs or video game consoles. Since the computing power is more powerful than with webpage or gadget based digital pets, these are usually able to achieve a higher level of visual effects and interactivity. Games like Nintendogs render realistic figures of dogs. Life simulator games, or life simulators, are simulation games in which the player lives or controls an (or several) artificial lives. ... Nintendogs is a pet simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. ...

Example game or application based digital pets: the creatures in Black and White, Nintendogs, Petz, Catz, Dogz (in Gameboy Advance and DS), Pokémon (especially newer generation games) and Pets in Sims 2: Pets. Black & White redirects here. ... Nintendogs is a pet simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. ... Some of the many breeds. ... The official Pokémon logo. ...

History

PF Magic released the first virtual pets in 1995 with Dogz^[1], followed by Catz in the spring of 1996, eventually becoming a franchise known as Petz. PF Magic was a computer game developer for virtual pet games, bought out in 1998. ... Petz is a game where the player looks after virtual pets. ... Petz is a game where the player looks after virtual pets. ... Some of the many breeds. ...

Digital pets were a massive fad in Japan, and to a lesser extent in the United States and United Kingdom during the late 1990s. There have been significant improvements of digital pets since Tamagotchi's success when it was released in 1996, from dot-images (such as Tamagotchi) to rendered and animated 3D games (such as Nintendogs). Today, there are also "Digital Pets" which have physical robotic bodies, known as Ludobots or Entertainment robots. For other uses, see FAD (disambiguation). ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A ludobot is a type of artificial human companion: a play and entertainment robot, from Latin ludo (play) and bot (robot). ... // An entertainment robot is, as the name indicates, a robot that is not made for utilitarian use, as in production or domestic services, but for the sole subjective pleasure -an emotion, something machines, even the smartest computers, are not capable to have- of the human it serves, usually the owner...

The idea of an animal companion composed of technology rather than flesh has also inspired a lot of fiction, such as the anime Digimon (itself a contraction of "Digital Monster"). For other uses, see Fiction (disambiguation). ... “Animé” redirects here. ... Digimon , short for デジタルモンスター dejitaru monsutā, Digital Monster) is a popular Japanese series of media and merchandise, including anime, manga, toys, video games, trading card games and other media. ...

There are many websites out there that will assist with questions you may have about Digital Pets and their history, such as Virtual Pet Forums

Common features of digital pets

There are many common features between different digital pets, some of them are used to give a sense of reality to the user (such as pet's responds to "touch"), and some for enhancing playability (such as training).

Communicating with digital pets

With advanced video-gaming technology, most modern digital pets do not show a message box or icon to display the pet's internal variable, health state or emotion like earlier generations (such as Tamagotchi). Instead, users can only understand the pet by interpreting their actions, body language, facial expressions, etc. This helps keep a pet's behavior seem natural, rather than calculated, and fosters a feeling of a relationship between user and digital pet. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Look up icon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In computer science and mathematics, a variable (IPA pronunciation: ) (sometimes called a pronumeral) is a symbolic representation denoting a quantity or expression. ... For other uses, see Body language (disambiguation). ... A facial expression results from one or more motions or positions of the muscles of the face. ...

Sense of reality

To give a sense of reality to users, most digital pets have certain level of autonomy and unpredictability. The user can interact with the pet and this process of personalizing can make the pet more unique. Personalizing increases the feeling of responsibility for the pet to the user. ^{[2] [3]} For example, if a Tamagotchi is unattended for long enough, it will "die". Look up autonomy, autonomous in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Interactivity

To increase user's personal attachment to the pet, the pet interacts with the user. Interactivity can be classified into two categories: Short-term and long-term.

Short-term interactivity includes direct interaction or action to reaction from the pet. Example: "touch" a pet with mouse cursor and the pet will give a direct response to the "touching".

Long-term interactivity includes action that affect pet's growth, behavior or life span. Example like training the pet may have good effect on pet's health. Long-term interactivity is quite important for a sense of reality as the user would think that he has some lasting influence on the pet.

Two kinds of interactivity are often combined. Such as playing with a pet (short-term interactivity) may make the pet more optimistic (long-term interactivity).

Example of common features

1. Responds to calling
2. Responds to touching
3. Training the pet
4. Supplies or toys for the pet
5. Dressing up the pet
6. Competition or trial amongst pets
7. Meeting other pets
8. Complaining when it needs care

Ethical Concerns

Digital pets and children

While users can do whatever they want with their digital pets nowadays, it may encourage young users to form bad habits. It is arguable that a relationship with a digital pet cannot compare with a real relationship with an animal, because a real relationship teaches children that their desires can't always come first. Another forsible argument is that the digital pet can successfully substitute a real one for children who cannot care for a real pet, such as those who suffer from allergies. In psychology, habituation is an example of non-associative learning in which there is a progressive diminution of behavioral response probability with repetition of a stimulus. ... Italic text This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article needs cleanup. ...

Digital pets over real pets

Some people suggest that digital pets are preferable for a number of reasons. Having a digital pet in place of a real pet ensures real pets don't have to suffer, and it is arguably training before adopting a real pet. PETA has suggested that robotic animals can help people recognize that they are not up to the commitment of caring for a real animal.^[4] Training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relates to specific useful skills. ... Peta can refer to: Peta (prefix), a prefix meaning times 1015 in the International System of Units People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an animal-rights organization People Eating Tasty Animals, a parody of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Peta, Greece, a town in the prefecture... Look up commitment in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Impact of virtual reality on digital pet

Some people suggest that the simulated experience of digital pet lacks the constraints of the real world ^[5] that allows us to apply substantive ethics. The virtual environment failed to simulate real social consequences. For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ...

Another problem about digital pet is the "virtual slavery". A robotic pet could be made in the shape of a human, a problem raised by the fiction Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a 1968 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. ... Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) was an American writer, mostly known for his works of science fiction. ...

Relationship with digital pet

There is research concerning the relationship between digital pets and their owners, and their impact on the emotions of people. For example, Furby affects the way people think about their identity, and many children think that Furby is alive in a "Furby kind of way" in Sherry Turkle's research. ^[6] For other uses, see Emotion (disambiguation). ... One of the many second generation variations of Classic (1998) Furby A Furby (plural: Furbys, as claimed by Tiger. ... Sherry Turkle (born 1948) is a clinical psychologist and a professor of Science, Technology and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ...

See also

• Chao (Sonic the Hedgehog)
• Entertainment robots
• Furby
• Nabaztag
• Life simulation game
• Pet rock
• Pleo
• Nappers Never Sleep (Fillmore! episode)
• Digital pet games such as:
  • Hajinc
  • Creatures
  • El-Fish
  • Horseland
  • Gigapets
  • GoPets
  • Insaniquarium
  • Monster Rancher
  • MOPy fish
  • Neopets
  • Nintendogs
  • Oddballz
  • Petz
  • Tamagotchi
  • Webkinz
  • Digimon
  • vmigo

This article is about the video game species. ... // An entertainment robot is, as the name indicates, a robot that is not made for utilitarian use, as in production or domestic services, but for the sole subjective pleasure -an emotion, something machines, even the smartest computers, are not capable to have- of the human it serves, usually the owner... One of the many second generation variations of Classic (1998) Furby A Furby (plural: Furbys, as claimed by Tiger. ... Nabaztag The 100 Rabbit Opera at the 2006 NextFest in New York Nabaztag (Armenian for rabbit նապաստակ) is a Wi-Fi enabled rabbit, invented by Olivier Mével and Rafi Haladjian, and manufactured by Violet[1]. Nabaztag is a smart object comparable to those manufactured by Ambient Devices; it can connect... Life simulator games, or life simulators, are simulation games in which the player lives or controls an (or several) artificial lives. ... Pet Rocks were a 1970s fad conceived in Los Gatos, California by an advertising executive Gary Dahl. ... UGOBE OS LOGO Pleo is a robotic dinosaur, made for all ages, designed to emulate the appearance and behavior of a week-old baby Camarasaurus. ... Nappers Never Sleep is the 7th episode of the first season of Fillmore!. Duappy, a virtual pet - the virtual pet kept alive the longest - has been stolen, and it is up to Fillmore and Ingrid to find Xs pride and joy before a reporter comes to X to do... Screenshot of Creatures 3 Creatures is an artificial life (alife) computer program series, created in the mid-1990s by English computer scientist Steve Grand whilst working for the Cambridge computer games developer Millennium Interactive. ... El-Fish is a fish and fish-tank simulator developed by Russian game developer AnimaTek, with Maxis providing development advice. ... HorseLand is an online virtual pet game where players create and raise horses and dogs. ... Remaking of a Tamagotchi screen The Tamagotchi (たまごっち Tamagotchi) is a handheld virtual pet created by Aki Maita and sold by Bandai. ... GoPets is a virtual pet site that involves raising a customized three dimensional pet downloaded onto a users computer. ... Insaniquarium is a computer game in which players strive to keep virtual fish alive, collect coins and other precious objects, and gather upgrades, all while defending their peaceful fishtank against vicious fish-eating aliens. ... This article is about the Monster Rancher series. ... The MOPy fish is a free cyberpet, released in October 1997 by Global Beach which had been downloaded more than 10 million times as of the year 2000. ... Neopets (originally NeoPets) is a virtual pet website launched by Adam Powell and Donna Williams on November 15, 1999. ... Nintendogs is a pet simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. ... Oddballz is a virtual pet game created by PF Magic in 1996 as a wacky alternative to their Dogz and Catz titles. ... Some of the many breeds. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Various Webkinz animals Webkinz are stuffed animals that were originally released by the Ganz gift company in 2005. ... Digimon , short for デジタルモンスター dejitaru monsutā, Digital Monster) is a popular Japanese series of media and merchandise, including anime, manga, toys, video games, trading card games and other media. ... vMigo is handheld video game released in 2006 by Jakks Pacific. ...

References