Category: rovr

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Raise Your Virtual Dog with RoVR

Lots of you will remember the craze for Tamagotchi pets back in the 90s, or will remember playing Nintendogs on the Nintendo DS. Ridgeline Labs are tapping into that to create RoVR, a virtual reality (VR) pet simulator that is seeking crowdfunding.

RoVR allows users to raise a virtual dog within a VR environment, allowing users to play with, feed, pet and customise their pooch. The developers at Ridgeline Labs are hoping to introduce sophisticated machine learning algorithms to create an AI for the VR dog that can learn how to behave depending on the player’s actions, so the virtual pet will change its behaviour depending on how much care and attention it receives, and the dog can even be taught how to do tricks.

Ridgeline Labs are seeking $30,000 (USD) in funding. Reward tiers range from $5 for a simple thank you note in the credits of the videogame, to the early bird $20 special which will net a backer a copy of the finished title along with a digital copy of the soundtrack and HD PC wallpaper. The standard non-early bird cost for that tier is $25. The tiers go right up to $5,000, which will get the backer the chance to create their own VR dog, an invite to the RoVR launch party, a ‘Creator’ notation in the credits, the chance to design a special dog costume, becomes an NPC in the RoVR world, and ten t-shirts, plushies, stickers, copies of the title and early beta access.

Stretch goals include the addition on multiplayer, an augmented reality (AR) companion app, and the addition of more dogs, and even the chance to add in cats at the highest stretch goal.

The Kickstarter campaign is due to end on 15th September, 2017. If successful, the developers hope to begin shipping rewards to backers in March, 2018. Further information can be found on the Kickstarter page.

VRFocus will continue to report on RoVR and other VR Kickstarter projects.

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RoVR Is A VR Pet Simulator About You And An Adorable Little Dog

RoVR Is A VR Pet Simulator About You And An Adorable Little Dog

Update (8/15/17): The Kickstarter page for RoVR with a goal of $30,000 and deadline of 9/15/17 is now live! We’ve also updated the top of this article with the announcement trailer as well.

Original (7/27/17): I am the proud owner of a magnificent Pembroke Welsh Corgi. If you follow me on Twitter, you probably knew that already. I never really had pets growing up because I was (and still am) horribly allergic to cats and used to be just as allergic to dogs. Luckily, the latter affliction has passed and now I enjoy the companionship of Earth’s greatest animal every single day. But not everyone can be that lucky, which is where RoVR comes into play.

RoVR is a VR pet simulator much in the same vein as Nintendogs on the Nintendo DS, Hey You, Pikachu! back on the Nintendo 64, or even the old pocket-sized Tamagotchi devices that every 90s kid had at some point. Like this Buzz Lightyear-themed one I used to carry around with me everywhere that I went.

This little VR doggo, RoVR, that you can see in action up above is created by Ridgeline Labs (a company that’s part of the MIT Accelerator Play Labs) but is not to be confused with the Wizdish ROVR locomotion device of the same, although slightly different, name.

“In our game, players can play with, raise, and build an emotionally significant connection with a VR dog,” writes Henry Zhou, CEO of Ridgeline Labs, in an email to UploadVR. “Players can do many things in RoVR such as feeding, playing with, going on walks with, and competing in competitions with their VR dog – things that players could expect to do if they owned a real dog!”

To be fair, this isn’t the first VR pet game we’ve seen. There is of course Konrad the Kitten, Fantasy Pets, and My Own Pet, among others. But RoVR certainly seems to be the most feature-rich, polished, and charming of the bunch that we’ve seen. But I could be biased since the little pupper resembles a corgi. That’s the real key to my heart.