Watch: A phone app is letting cat lovers raise cats (almost) in real life, using augmented reality
A virtual pet for those who can’t get one in real life.
If Tamagotchi, the world’s first and favourite virtual pet device, existed in real life, this new smartphone application would be it. Meow! ARCat is a phone app that uses augmented reality to let users adopt and raise their own virtual cats.
Of course the pet doesn’t exist in real life, but for people whose landlords, allergies or lifestyle don’t allow them to adopt a real cat, it’s as close as you can get. Because not only can you interact virtually with your cat, but your cat can also interact with the real surroundings around you.
The adorable cat only exists on the phone screen, so you can’t cuddle with it, but you can do pretty much everything else. Which means you can take it out to your local park, train it to do new tricks, feed it, dress it up, play with it and so much more. It even responds to your voice and if you call it by name. If you still don’t understand exactly how it works, perhaps the demos in the videos above and below will give you an idea.
The fantasy feline was developed by startup InnoVision.