Thinking of adopting a virtual desktop pet? Which pet would you like to have? This Techspirited article tells you what virtual desktop pets are and where to find them.
In this age of technology, we are a part of two worlds at the same time. One is the real world we live in, while the other one is virtual. One is the world we run from, while the other is the world we run to! Bored with a mundane routine or stressed with the worries of the real world, we often use the Internet as our means of recreation; as the means to bust that stress and forget all our worries. We make friends online, we play games, we adopt pets; it’s almost like living a different life.
If you love pets, have always wanted to adopt one, but time or space constraints have not allowed you to, virtual desktop pets or e-pets is what you should think about. So what if you have not been able to own a pet in real life? You can always adopt a virtual one. Wouldn’t it be great to have a pet on your desktop? Choose the animal you like, care for him, groom him, train him, play with him; it’s almost like taking care of a real pet at home. Fulfill your wish to own a pet by adopting a virtual one. Virtual desktop pets and their adoption is what we tell you about in the following sections of this Techspirited article.
Virtual desktop pets are available as free downloads on a number of websites. Some virtual pet adoption sites require you to register as users in order to be a virtual pet owner. Some allow you to download a particular software, on installing which, you can have a pet on your desktop. From cats and dogs, to birds and even dinosaurs, the options are many. You can even have cute and cuddly bears, elephants, hamsters, earthworms, or fish as your pets. In short, you can choose the animal you like. Some virtual pet providers even have strange or funny creatures and cartoon characters that can be adopted as pets.
Virtual pets are created using software programming and animation. They are made to look close to real. They are programmed to respond to mouse activities and keyboard inputs. These cute pets ‘sit’ on your desktop screen and react to cursor movements. They may be programmed to produce sound as a response to certain activities on the screen. Imagine a virtual cat mewing when you click on its nose, or a virtual pet hamster jumping, the moment you open any folder on your desktop! Cute that is.
Wondering what you can do with virtual desktop pets? Well, you can do everything that you would with real ones. You can feed your desktop pet, bathe him, take him for a ‘virtual’ walk, groom him, and train him to respond to your commands. Most pets are interactive; they respond to you, react to your actions, and entertain you by making sounds or talking to you. As they are only virtual, there is very little or no maintenance required. They stay on your desktop, once downloaded. So each time you want to access your pet, you don’t need to go online. You don’t even need a browser; the pet is right there on your computer screen. Interestingly, you can even see the pet grow. Now that takes the experience closer to that of having a real pet; don’t you think so?
According to some, virtual pets are an excellent alternative to real ones, as they do not occupy much (real) space, do not require real food, and do not need to be exercised or taken out. Thus, time and money are saved. But the truth remains, that cyber pets cannot compensate for the real ones. There is no real substitute for the unconditional love of a real pet.
Just a thought: Will there be a day when real pets will have to access the web to find virtual owners?