 |  New Realism in Virtual Pets
5 Aug 2004
Clear Crown Studios today unveiled the most realisticcomputerized pets to date, marking a key milestoneon the road to personalrobots
like NS-5 of I, Robot.
Audiences
have
beenwowed
bythe
realism
of
NS-5,
the
leadrobot
character
in
20thCentury
Foxsnew
film,
I,
Robot.Thanks
to
modern
special
effects,todaysaudiences
aregetting
a
glimpse
into
the
future
ofmachinesbuiltspecifically
to
relate
to
humans
on
ahumanlevel.Robots
like
NS-5may
not
become
a
realityanytime
soon,
but
the
march
of steadyprogress
toward
NS-5
canbeclearly
seen
in
a
number
of
todaysproducts,
like
SonysAIBO,
anentertainment
robot
designed
to
lookand
act
like
afriendlypuppy.Although
AIBOs
price
tag
mayindicatethatAIBO
is
still
ahead
of
its
time,
manyinexpensivesoftware-basedand
Internet-based
virtual
petshave
been
widelypopular
for
years.The
latest
version
ofBandais
popular
Tamagotchipets
are
on
trackto
exceed
onemillion units
sold
by
the
end
ofAugust,
just
fivemonthsafter
their
initial
release.Neopets,Inc.,provider
ofInternet-based
virtual
pets
called
neopets,
boastsover22million
members
who
visit
their
on-line
pets
atanastoundingrate
of
3
billion
page
views
per
month.
UbiSofts
Petzproduct
linehas
sold
millions
of
units
of
Catz,Dogz,
and
Oddballzsoftwarepets
since
its
original
launchin
1995.
Todays
announcementfromClear
Crown
Studios
marksa
new
milestone
in
the
advancementtowardtruly
life-likehigh-tech
companions
forhumans.Today,
ClearCrown
Studioshas
launched
anew
virtual
pet
product
calledSpriteLife,which
promisesto
be
the
most
realistic
virtual
petexperienceto
date.
SpriteLife
pets
include
3-dimensionaldogs,
cats,
and
afantasy
speciescalled
a
spriteling,
whosefeatures
were
inspired
bycats,
dogs,rabbits,
and
monkeys.Sprite
Life
pets
live
in
a
large,realistic3-dimensionalworld
of
snow-capped
mountains,
rollinghills,greenmeadows,
and
crystal-clear
lakes,
all
of
which
areopenforexploration
by
both
the
pets
and
their
owners.
Butbringingvirtualpets
into
the
third
dimension
is
not
theonly
milestoneClear
CrownStudios
has
reached.
Each
SpriteLife
pet
has
its
owngenetic
codeand
a
family
tree,
addinga
new
life-like
realism
tovirtual
pets.Pets
areborn
on
aspecific
date
and
inherit
traitsfromtheir
mothers
andfathers.Different
pets
have
avariety
ofdifferent
furcolors,
and
even
those
with
the
samecoloration
haveadifferent
shine
to
their
fur.
Some
pets
are
shortandsquat,
whileothers
are
tall
and
thin.
Some
are
larger,otherssmaller.
Pets
areunique
in
personality
as
well
asphysicalappearance.
Some
pets
aremore
active,
others
moredocile.
Some
aremoreindependent,
whileothers
are
moreaffectionate.
Theexperience
of
owning
a
Sprite
Lifepetclosely
resembles
that
ofowning
a
real-worldpet
like
a
catordog.
The
pet
ownergets
to
select
pets
from
the
currentlyavailablelitters.
Once
theowner
adopts
the
pet,
it
is
nolonger
availablefor
adoption
byanyone
else.
The
petsphysical
andemotionalwelfarebecomes
the
responsibility
ofthe
pet
owner,
who
mustprovide
foodand
love
for
the petsto
be happy.
At
some
point,
theowner
mayeven
wish
todonate
a sample
of
the
pets
DNA
for
breedingpurposes,sothat
future
pet
owners
may
enjoy
traitsinheritedfromafavorite
pet.
Clear
Crown
Studios
isbettingthat
realism
willbe
the
key
to
makingvirtual
petseven
morepopular
than
real-lifepets.
Its
inevitable
thatvirtualpets
will
outnumber
real-life
petssomeday,according
to
Chas.Cooper,
founder
of
Clear
CrownStudios.Just
lookat
the
trends
in
play:
People
need
petsnow
more
thanever,
aspeople
continue
to
liveincreasinglyindependent
lives.Theflip
side
of
independent
living
isloneliness
and
a
needforcompanionship.
At
the
same
time,our
busylives
make
ithard
tofind
the
time
to
properly
carefor a
dog,
cat,
bird,
orotherreal-life
pet.
As
computersand
technology
improve,
virtualpetswill
just
keep
gettingmore
and
more
realistic,
and
helpbringhappiness
to
thosewho
might
otherwise
never
know
thepleasureofcaring
for
apet.
Virtual
pets
will
not
replacereal-lifepets,
insistsMr.
Cooper,
who
is
avidlydedicated
to
his
real-lifedog
andparrot.
There
will
always
bereal-life
pets.
No
matterhowrealistic
we
make
our
Sprite
Lifepets,
its
not
going
toreplace
theunique
experienceofknowing
a
real-life
pet.
Atthe
same
time,
Iforeseemany
pet
owners
loving
their
SpriteLife
pets
almost
as
muchasthey
do
their
real-world
pets.Early
owners
of
Sprite
Lifepetsecho
Mr.
Cooperssentiments.
I
like
how
realisticSpriteLifeis,commentsRachel
Rudy,
oneofthe
earliest
SpriteLifepetowners.
Itiswonderful
thateach
pet
is
uniqueand
hasitsveryownpersonality.
Ithink
thegraphicsare
amazingandthesceneryisbeautiful.The
views
from
highhillsarebreath-takinganditmakes
youfeel
like
you
want
to
takeapicture
ofitwithyour
realcamera.
The
pets
actveryrealistic,too.The
pets
giveyou
achance
toown
apet
if
youcan"t
ownyour
own[real-lifepet]."Iloved
how
interactiveSpriteLifeis,
saysAnnalysiaGrant,
anotherearlyadopterofSpriteLife
pets.
It
allows
youtogetreallyup-closetothe
pets
and
I
foundmyselfgettingattachedtothemafter
onlya
short
time.
They
areverylovableandcute.Thescenery
was
gorgeous
and
Iliked
howIcouldfollow
thepetsaroundincludingswimming
afterthem.Ialso
find
it
nice
thatthepetshavestatus
barsenablingtheir
owner
to
knowwhat
theyneedandwhat
theyarethinking.
Iwasreally
impressedbythepersonalityeachpetdisplayed
as
well.""My
sonlovesSpriteLife,reportsAprilFulmer,
mother
of
three.
Heismy
hardesttopleaseor
ratherhardest
to
find
agame
thatkeepshiminvolved.
He
willgo
buyagame,
play
aweek
or
amonth,then
not
want
itanymore.
Sotohavehim
asking
toplayagain
is
astep
notmanyestablishedandpopulargameshavemanaged.
He
is
sittinghere[by
thecomputer]nowandevery
fewminutes
I
hear,
Are
youdoneyet?"Anotherearlyadopterof
Sprite
Lifepets,Lauren,commendsSprite
Lifeforitsrealism,saying,
Iloved
themountainsand
that
thegame
didn"tblockyouofffromclimbing
them.
Thisgame
was
sorealistic.Itwaslikebeing
in
ahidden
valley
withrealcreatures.HayleyBowen,anotherearlySprite
Life
petadopter,echoedMr.Cooperssentiment
thatvirtual
pets
have
aroletoplayinpeoples
hearts,
saying,
IlovedSpriteLife.
It"smorethan
just
agame.I
think
it
will
showkidshowmuchlovereal
pets
or
even
peopleneed.Sprite
Lifepetsarenowavailable
to
thegeneralpublic
for
thefirsttimebyInternetonlyathttp://www.spritelife.com.AboutClearCrownStudiosClearCrown
Studios
is
a
small,cozystudiolocatedinBurlingame,California,overlookingtheSanFrancisco
BayhalfwaybetweenSilicon
ValleyandSanFrancisco.Clear
CrownStudiosissolelydedicatedtoadvancing
the
worldofvirtualpets.Formoreinformation,visithttp://www.spritelife.com. |
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