Are fleas, barking, and picking up poop putting you off adopting a dog? Israeli startup Digital Pets Company might have a solution for you. The Digital Pets Company is launching artificial intelligence (AI)-driven 3D digital dogs.
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Combining AI, extended reality (XR) and blockchain technologies, the company is attempting to create an emotional relationship with a virtual being. Each digital dog is unique in its appearance and personality, powered by the startup's proprietary PetOS technology.
The company's mission is to create interactions that mimic real-life relationships between people and dogs. Users can name their digital pets, train them, and play with other people and their digital dogs.
Itay Hasid, co-founder and CEO of The Digital Pets Company, explains that "In the coming decade, we will see more and more virtual spaces where people will spend time and create new interactions.
"These spaces will be very empty and lonely without suitable content, which connects people and establishes substantial social relations. Dogs, which are man's best friends, make us happier and help us connect with new people. I believe that artificial intelligence, animation, and multisensory communications that combine voice, sight, and touch, will make it possible to create true relationships, exactly like in the physical world, and fulfill social and emotional needs," says Hasid, who co-founded the venture in July 2021 with Maciej Miarecki and Amit Yogev.
All the digital dogs, along with their visual and personality traits, are secured as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain. Each NFT will belong to one digital wallet owned by a specific user. The NFTs will be stored as ERC-721 tokens and hosted on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). Each NFT is connected through the proprietary PetOS to an actual Digital Dog.
Digital Dogs will be used across different virtual environments in the metaverse via the company's proprietary SDK. The Digital Pets Company will sell NFTs that will allow digital dog owners to get to know their dogs and train them through one-on-one digital interactions. The owners will use tokens which will help train the digital dogs by providing positive incentives, much like real-life dogs. The startup will develop social interaction in digital playgrounds where people and dogs will be able to socialize.
For potential digital pet parents, the company has made a demo available that features Laika, which is says is the first-ever digital dog.
The Digital Pets Company has raised pre-seed funding from Outlier Ventures, Hawk Digital, MaxStealth and the angel investor Dr. Rafi Gidron, co-founder of Chromatis, which was sold to Lucent for around $4.8 billion in 2000, in one of the biggest exits in the history of Israel.
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