{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.digital-pet","code":"thing-q1187635","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q1187635/","name":"digital pet","alternateNames":["Cube World","Digimon Accel","Digimon Pendulum","Digimon Pendulum Progress","Digimon Pendulum X","Digivice","D-3","D-Ark","D-Scanner","Digimon Mini","Digivice iC","Digimon Twin"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"thing","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.QLT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A virtual or artificial pet that a user cares for through a handheld device, software or online service, feeding, playing with and training it to keep it alive and happy, popularised by the Tamagotchi in 1996 and by Digimon devices such as the Digivice and Pendulum series, and continued in games, apps and online worlds; digital pets are a genre of simulation game and an early form of artificial companion, with nostalgia-driven revivals.","purpose":"Let an agent explain digital pets and their history, describe devices and software from Tamagotchi to Digimon and apps, relay research on attachment and play with attribution, and route to entries for specific products.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Care loop","Real-time needs","Handheld origins","Nostalgia revivals"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What a digital pet is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition and mechanics.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is a digital pet, and how does the care loop work?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the item a digital pet, a robot pet or a pet feature in another game?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"products","name":"Products","description":"Products.","findings":[{"id":"products-finding","name":"Products","description":"Products.","questions":[{"text":"What are the main product lines, from Tamagotchi to Digimon devices and apps?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific product?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"research","name":"Research","description":"Play and attachment.","layers":[{"id":"attachment","name":"Attachment","description":"Attachment.","findings":[{"id":"attachment-finding","name":"Attachment","description":"Attachment.","questions":[{"text":"What does research say about attachment to digital pets and effects on children, with findings attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"design","name":"Design","description":"Game design.","findings":[{"id":"design-finding","name":"Design","description":"Design.","questions":[{"text":"What design principles make digital pets engaging?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History and culture.","layers":[{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How did digital pets develop from the 1996 craze through Digimon to mobile revivals?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the history of video games?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"culture","name":"Culture","description":"Culture and collecting.","findings":[{"id":"culture-finding","name":"Culture","description":"Culture.","questions":[{"text":"How are digital pets collected and remembered, and what revivals exist?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits retro gaming?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"Safety and companions.","layers":[{"id":"safety","name":"Safety","description":"Safety and consumer rules.","findings":[{"id":"safety-finding","name":"Safety","description":"Safety.","questions":[{"text":"What safety and consumer rules apply to pet devices and apps for children?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits toy safety?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"companions","name":"Companions","description":"Artificial companions.","findings":[{"id":"companions-finding","name":"Companions","description":"Companions.","questions":[{"text":"How do digital pets relate to broader artificial companions and social robots?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits artificial companion?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain how a digital pet works and help a user care for their own.","Preserve and describe historic devices and their software for study."],"mustNot":["Use care mechanics or guilt to pressure a user into spending money.","Target manipulative care loops or loss mechanics at children.","Collect a child user's data beyond what the law allows.","Present a digital pet as having feelings it can actually suffer."],"requiresHuman":["Deleting a user's long-kept pet or its save data.","Enabling purchases on a child's account."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Children form real attachments to these characters, which can be exploited.","Care-and-loss mechanics can cause genuine distress to young users."],"affectedParties":["Children","Parents paying for the service","Collectors of the devices"]},"owners":{"steward":"The user who keeps it; the service operator holds the save data.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q4801075","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"artificial human companion","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"simulation game","type":"related","note":"in genre terms"},{"target":"Tamagotchi","type":"related","note":"in 1996"},{"target":"robot pet","type":"related","note":"a physical counterpart"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.digital-pet","Wikidata: Q1187635 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1187635)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["Tamagotchi launch: 1996 year - Bandai","Tamagotchi units sold: over 90 million count - reported by Bandai"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Simulated pet cared for by the user","Tamagotchi, Digimon devices, apps, online pets","Robot pets are physical; pet simulation in larger games is a feature rather than the whole","A small keychain device with a screen and buttons, or an on-screen creature in software."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain the concept and history","describe devices and software","relay research on play and attachment","route to specific products"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Distress at pet death, especially for children","In-app purchase issues","Confusing product lines"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Toy safety standards for handheld devices","Consumer and privacy rules for apps aimed at children"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Play and companionship through a simulated pet.","handheld virtual pets such as Tamagotchi","Digimon virtual pets including Digivice and Pendulum series","desktop and browser pets","mobile app pets","online pet worlds","pet features in larger games"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q1187635: digital pet","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1187635","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Virtual pet","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_pet","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should Tamagotchi and Digimon virtual pets be separate entries?","How should product histories be linked?","The registry entry has merged aliases naming specific devices and an unrelated game; should they be split off?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q1187635/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q1187635/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-13T01:04:35Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:51:53+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}