Tamagotchi effect

The Tamagotchi effect is the development of emotional attachment with machines, robots or software agents. It has been noticed that humans tend to attach emotionally to things which otherwise do not have any emotions. For example, there are instances when people feel emotional about using their car keys, or with virtual pets. It is more visible in fields which reflect some aspects of human behavior, especially levels of artificial intelligence and automated knowledge processing.

The Japanese toy, the Tamagotchi was released in 1996. As of 2010, more than 76 million Tamagotchis have been sold worldwide. This toy is an egg-shaped virtual pet. It is used by all ages. The user chooses an object, pet, or person to raise an egg to a creature. Another example of virtual pets is a virtual puppy game. In this game, the user takes the role of the mother or father to raise the puppy into an adult. The user feeds, bathes, and even plays with the virtual animal. The user gains an emotional attachment with the puppy which encourages the user to keep interacting with the pet and to be a good parent.

Researchers have tried to explain the Tamagotchi effect. Some answers for the effect are that a virtual pet offers a form of practice for a real pet. Another explanation is that people's lives are not fit for an animal, so having a virtual pet diminishes an abused animal. The virtual paradigm directs the effect towards it ability of customization and personalization that isn't offered by a real animal. Another criticism when the game first came out was the life expectancy of the pet if left unattended. If left unattended, the pet was going to die within half a day. This would cause owners to take their pet with them wherever they went and cause distractions in their daily lives. This caused many schools to ban the use of Tamagotchis. Researchers came up with the term, Tamagotchi-human cyborg. This refers to the feelings that if one's tamagotchi lived to be old and healthy, then it was a success. If one's Tamagotchi failed to live a successful life, then it was considered to be a failure. This would lead to individuals to be concerned with ethical lessons as they were treating their pets as the real thing.

The tamagotchi effect has no limitations on who or who can't encounter the effect. The effect is demonstrated by both children and elderly people. Forms of therapy have been used with virtual pets on elderly and mentally challenged children.

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