The idea may not be far off from reality and could have benefits.
“At the same time, digital kids offer unprecedented human-to-machine relations.”
The Next Tamagotchi?
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She calls the digital kids the ‘Tamagotchi generation’ in a nod to the handheld digital pet toys.
Parents of the digital kids would be able to interact with their offspring in virtual environments.
The children would have realistic-looking faces and bodies.
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Real kids will seek to cultivate friendships with their digital counterparts, and single children may seek virtual siblings.
“Childless parents and nostalgic grandparents may want to vicariously relive their childhood,” Sabnis said.
Kao is expecting his first child.
Kao said the technical challenge of creating a hyper-realistic baby wouldn’t be difficult to overcome.
Babies have perfect skin, so there’s less of a need to create subtle details when 3D modeling.
“And if I’m being perfectly honest, babies look kind of weird anyway.
Simulated babies also don’t need complex behavior AI systems.
They eat, poop, and sleep.
Not everyone is on board with the idea of raising small virtual humans.
They carry your legacy and shared memories on to their generation of children.”
