Although the level of media may be more advanced today, tracing back to my childhood memories, I think electronic devices have already been a familiar part of my life since then. When thinking back to my elementary school, my parents had feature phones (flip phones), games such as Wii, and other devices that allowed you to connect between different places. Among these, Tamagotchi, a handheld digital toy that was popular in Japan shaped one of my digital childhood memories.
Small pet on screen
Tamagotchi is an egg-shaped handheld electronic device with three buttons and a small screen that contains a virtual pet. The owner of the device must take care of the pet by feeding, playing, and cleaning in order to raise the pet to a mature level. The life cycle from an egg to an adult depends on how engaged the user is in caring, and determines the final outcome as an adult. The owner needs to ensure the pet’s well-being, preventing from the pet to virtually die. I remember how Tamagotchi was sold everywhere, and many of my friends had each of their own device and were raising their own cute little creature.
Since our pet needed frequent care in order to maintain its well-being, I always had the device in my hand. Like, everywhere. When the pet needed some kind of action by the owner, they would kindly remind us by making a sound too (https://youtu.be/77c5p4wZix8?si=YN4zC1HrmReODU0y). I couldn’t help but look into the screen over and over to make sure the pet is enjoying its life, and for me to be able to raise it to the character I wanted it to be. It also gave me an opportunity to connect with friends, visiting their virtual house to have our pets play. As a small young girl, I learned to be a “parent,” the importance of responsibility to feed, clean, play, empathizing the deeper you are interacted with the device.
What is surprising is that I did not even notice until looking up about Tamagotchi for writing this blog, to realize that this kind of social interaction with the device has a name ー Tamagotchi Effect. The term describes the bond between humans and non-living entities, the emotional connection people form with machines and other virtual entities that resembles creatures in the real world. It once became a hot topic among researchers and psychologists about the effect that Tamagotchi had on children. Besides the parental responsibility and empowered emotional development towards their own pet, these obsessions were sometimes said to be out of control. Parenting responsibility kept children from concentrating in their educational institution, where it brought schools to even ban bringing the Tamagotchi.
I found it very scary to realized that I already had anthropomorphic point of view as a small child. It may not have had the performance or personalized capabilities of today’s AI, but thinking that even back then, we already felt emotions toward digital technology, it made me feel that fundamentally, things haven’t changed much. It is important to keep in mind that we should use these devices as a tool for human capability, avoiding being drawn into the virtual world. Or else, someday we may really be pulled into the screen… :/
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N40fY9vyDeU
http://xn--garchive-kb4guk.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/052297gadget.html
Thank you for remindjng of this I had completely forgoten about the Impact Tamagotchi’s had on peoples lives. I did not have one but I had the same experience with games I had on my Ipod like Angela or Poo. You dont realise how emotionaly invested you get into these things until you’re much older. I think it’s also interesting that it uses the very essence of basic human needs and how you would interact with another human or pet to get hooked
Great article:)