Das Tardigotchi ist dem Mitte der 90er populären Tamagotchi nachempfunden, mit dem Unterschied, dass hier ein virtuelles und ein reales Lebewesen zusammen wohnen – wobei mich ich die Vorstellung etwas deprimiert, dass irgendwo da draußen ein einsames
(via we make money not art)"Tardigotchi is an artwork featuring two pets: a living organism and an alife avatar. These two disparate beings find themselves the unlikely denizens of a portable computing enclosure. The main body for this enclosure is a brass sphere, housing the alife avatar in an LED screen and the tardigrade within a prepared slide. A tardigrade is a common microorganism measuring half a millimeter in length. The alife avatar is a caricature of this tardigrade, its behaviour is partially autonomous, but it also reflects a considerable amount of expression directly from the tardigrade’s activities (like eating) ... 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 ... It also serves as a reminder for the special place humans have in communing with other animals, perhaps equally for artificial ones ..." Tardigotschi (inkl. Tardigotschi-Video, das leider erst ab Minute 3:30 halbwegs interessant wird)
