Hello my pet

Sony PlayStation 3 – EyePet

When I was 12, the one thing my friends and I wanted for Christmas more than anything was our very own Tamagotchi. Remember those? The little egg-shaped digital pets that you could care for by feeding and playing with, even cleaning up after their virtual droppings!

Well this Christmas, I am pretty confident that the kids will have their hearts set on a virtual pet of a different kind - Sony’s EyePet. Everyone’s been blogging about it, so I took Isabella, my five-year-old niece along to the release of the game in the Gold Class lounge of Sky City Cinemas to see for myself what all the fuss was about.

Firstly, let’s just get this out of the way. Your EyePet is hands down the cutest little creature that you will have ever laid eyes upon. Using the PlayStation Eye motion sensing camera, the game creates an augmented reality of the space in front of the screen. You are looking at an image of yourself and your surroundings, but with the addition of a little furry monkey-like creature. The premise of the game is quite simple. Interact with your EyePet by using physical gestures and even other objects in the room. Tickle him and he’ll giggle. Stroke him gently enough and he will doze right off to sleep. It’s highly addictive.



Of course, all of the kids in the room were having a ball interacting with the little guy, bathing it, bouncing it on a virtual trampoline, even using sounds like a clap to give it a fright. That’s not to say that the grown-ups weren’t too. I found myself reluctantly surrendering my place in front of the screen to give the kids a chance to play on a number of occasions. The game is comprised of many mini-games and tasks.

One of Isabella’s favourites quickly became an activity where you can draw a toy on paper such as a car or a plane and hold it on front of the camera for the game to see what you have created. What once was a sketchy line drawing is promptly transformed into a three-dimensional toy which you can control in the game and play chasing games with your pet.

Sony kindly accompanied the game release with an early viewing of their latest film, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. There were free ice-creams and popcorn aplenty, but sure enough, as soon as the movie finished, the cinema packed full of children headed straight back upstairs to get in a little more gaming before home time.



Although the ways one can interact with the EyePet are pretty amazing, I would imagine the cuteness factor might wear off after a while. But with that said, it is one of the most imaginative and user friendly examples of augmented reality that I’ve encountered yet.

If it is a sign of things to come, then I’m excited about what other interactive augmented reality experiences the near future might hold, especially those designed with us grown-ups in mind.

Alex de Freitas, 14 November 2009
Photos by Coralee de Freitas