Tardigotchi: A Real And Virtual Pet In One

Tardigotchi is a hybrid artwork designed by SWAMP and Tiago Rorke that combines two pets in one – a living organism called tardigrade and the other, a popular digital avatar called Tamagotchi. Both the creatures live inside a portable computing enclosure that houses the Tamagotchi in a LED screen and the tardigrade within a prepared slide. The Tamagotchi is a representation of the living organism and reflects some of its activities like eating.

Tardigotchi’s official site elaborates on it:

A Tardigotchi owner tends to a real and a virtual creature simultaneously. By pushing a button, the virtual pet is fed, which in turn will feed the tardigrade. Tardigotchi has a social web presence: sending an email to the virtual character triggers a heating lamp, relaying a momentary signal of warmth to the tardigrade, while prompting the pixelated tardigrade to recline and soak up animated sun rays.

Tardigotchi applies a salve to our yearnings for care and nurture through a unique design that symbiotically merges biological and artificial life within a single interface/enclosure. It also serves as a reminder for the special place humans have in communing with other animals, perhaps equally for artificial ones.

Watch a video about the project below:

Tardigotchi

[via We Make Money Not Art]