If you haven't been keeping up with the vast and fascinating world of
electronic and interactive pets which has been steadily expanding over the
past decade or so, you may be wondering what all this is about. This page
explains what we do, and how you could gain from letting an electronic pet
into your life.
 What
exactly is an Electronic Pet?
We have pets for
education, entertainment, relaxation, music playing, illumination, cuddling,
and geeking it up. Some of our pets act as electronic devices such as
speakers, night-lights and talking plush animals. These are known as
Electronic Pets. Interactive Pets are also electronic of course, but to be
classed as interactive, they must do certain things. Let's take a quick look at the
dictionary.
Pet (noun)
1. A domesticated or tamed animal
that's kept as a companion and cared for affectionately for amusement or
companionship.
2. Something
particularly cherished or indulged.
Interactive [in-ter-ak-tiv] (adjective):
A two-way system of communications allowing a
continuous exchange of information between a device and the person using it,
so that the device can respond to the user's activity.
So what does that mean in
English? Well, an interactive pet directly responds to you and/or its
environment. This could mean it purrs when you rub its back, it hears loud
sounds, it falls asleep when the light goes down, it can tell when you tip
it over, you can "feed" it, or maybe it even chats to others of its kind.
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 What we do here at
Electronic Pet Shop.
Electronic Pet Shop
is a worldwide-accessible UK-based store that works to bring you
all the best electronic and interactive animals. We aim to provide a wide range of pets to suit all needs, whether you're a
technology junkie looking for a fully robotic guinea pig, or
you just need a little furry companion to brighten up your desk. And it's not just the traditional domestic animals you can adopt from us
- check out the Exotic Pets section for a walk on the wild side, the Nursery
for plant life, and the Side Alley for pets far from conventional.
You can opt to receive a
Personalised Adoption Package with
any animal purchased from Electronic Pet Shop. This includes a Certificate
of Adoption, fact sheet, keyring and collectable pin badge. To
find out how to get this, click
here.
As well as stocking the latest in technology
and newest pets, we pride ourselves in being able to bring you some of
the earlier animals, all top quality with quirky charm, many of which are
hard to get hold of now. For more about our service and how to go about buying an animal, check out
the "Adoption
Services"
page.
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Why the world needs
Electronic Pets.
Pets have long been
known to enrich the quality of life for adults and children alike,
bringing joy to day-to-day life and providing a loyal companion. However, it
is not always practical for everyone to keep a live animal.
-
Responsibility for Children
Children go through stages - one day it's Pokemon, the next they want a
guinea pig. The worry for many parents is that this is just a phase, and
the novelty will soon wear off and it's Mum or Dad left to muck out. A pet
is a big responsibility for anyone; they depend on you daily for the whole
of their lives. For these occasions, an interactive pet may be the ideal
solution. This can be presented to the child as an alternative to a real
animal, or something to "practice" with, and may be enough to satiate the
need for a live animal. Electronic pets
can be left to their own devices for days or even weeks, for the child to
come back to later, and do not need constant care. Another outcome may be
that the child shows great dedication to the electronic pet, in which case
the time may be right for Mum or Dad to buy them a real animal too!
-
Feather
and Fur Allergies
An estimated 30% of people in the UK will suffer from
at least one allergy in their lives, and one of the most common allergies is
pet fur and feathers. The main allergens, which come from pets' hair and
skin glands, are very fine, allowing them to float easily and remain
airborne. The Electronic Pet Shop stock a variety of furry pets, with all the
cuddle factor of a real animal, but the benefits of synthetic fur.
-
Difficult
Landlords and Space Limits
Many
people living in rented flats and apartments are faced daily with landlords
or landladies who seem to have taken a leaf out of the grumpy book. One of
the most popular rules they enforce is "strictly no pets". An Electronic Pet
solves it all - no more hiding hamster in the washing machine or locking
kitty in the bathroom when landlady comes a-knocking. Also council houses
and other small dwellings may not have the space to accommodate a pet,
particularly an active one. With the Electronic Pet Shop, you'll be able to
be a little more adventurous than one goldfish!
-
Office
Mascots and Gift Ideas
Anthropomorphism is the ability to attribute human characteristics to
non-humans and objects, and people have a tendency to this without even
realising! You'd be surprised at how easy it is, with just a tiny sprinkle
of imagination, to bring an electronic pet to life. Many of them are already
extremely life-like, and this provides endless fun and shenanigans in office
and family environments. Why not adopt a pet for a colleague to keep on
their desk, or for a friend or family member? We have a range of themed pets
with universal appeal, and the personalised Adoption Package that comes with
each pet makes it an even more special and thoughtful gift.
So if yourself or someone
you know is keen on getting an animal companion, an Electronic Pet could be the ideal solution. They won't get
ill if you have to store them away in a cupboard for a while, and the vet
bills are much lower! They're also great if you want a pet but you're worried about all the ethical reasons against it. Electronic Pet Shop - It's pets... without the poop!
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How Electronic Pets
came to be, & what the future holds.
Electronic pets have been around for well over a decade now, with the more
highly interactive ones coming onto the toy market just under ten years ago.
Although there have been electronic animals ever since someone thought of
putting toys and electricity together (remember the light-up Gloworm
of the 80s?), the term "Electronic Pet" or "Interactive Pet" really came
into the public's consciousness with the birth of the Tamagotchi and
the Furby, in the late nineties. Although Tamagotchi is really
just a small console with an LCD screen depicting a picture of a "pet" to be
looked after, known as a "Virtual Pet", its immense popularity opened up a
gap for the flood of interactive animals and creatures in years to come.
Furby, made by
Hasbro, sold millions and was the hot toy for several years in a row,
proving the nation's insatiable need for interactive furry playthings.
Furby is an animatronic pet with a big personality, and hundreds of
words and movements. And it was only the beginning. In the years following,
Hasbro released Shelby, Poo-Chi and Meow-Chi to name
but a few, Poo-Chi and Meow-Chi being some of the first
robotic-style animals, with simple but charming features and expressive LCD
eyes. Since then, many more robotic animals have been released, including
Teksta and Teksta Kitty, and the robotics have got more complex and
life-like each time.
It's not all about the
robots though - in 2002, Hasbro launched the first in its hugely popular
range of Furreal Friends, realistic furry animals using similar
animatronic technology to Furby to simulate lifelike movements, as well as
making cute animal sounds. In more recent years with the rise of the iPod,
the Electronic Pet world has been geared towards speakers and MP3 player
accessories, with the i-Dog and his friends at the forefront. i-Dog
is an interactive pet who can be played with on his own as a stand-alone
pet, or he can be used in conjunction with an MP3 player or other audio
device.
This brings us right up to
today, where complex fully interactive robots thousands of times more
powerful than those that landed on the moon all those years ago, are
actually feasible as household pets. Ugobe is launching Pleo,
an interactive dinosaur, possibly the most advanced and lifelike robotic pet
accessible to the average family, and this is just the tip of the iceberg of
what's to come. The future possibilities are endless, as far as the
imagination will stretch. The world of Electronic Pets is an exciting one
that is just beginning, and the Electronic Pet Shop will be there at the
forefront all along the way.
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Glossary of
Interactive Pets and Technical Stuff.
Check out out
Electronic Pet Glossary for information and definitions about all the jargon and things that don't seem to make any sense!
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 Want to
drop us a line?
If you have any
questions about us or what we do, please go to the "Contact
Us" page to see all the ways you can get in touch, or just
email us at:
contact@electronicpetshop.com.
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