In this workshop, we will identify and personify our own daily needs, particularly those that we often neglect. We will then develop ideas for virtual pets as an act of self care. Styled after popular 90s toys such as Tamagotchi and Digimon, our pets will be an aesthetic embodiment of our obligations to ourselves. I will share my own journey of how I have used technology to confront and overcome OCD.

We will use Aseprite to draw our pixel pets, so please download in advance or feel free to design your pet on paper! This workshop is for beginners who want to make an interactive project, learn a bit about behavior programming, or simply have a deep nostalgia for virtual pets. If there’s interest, I will lead an additional workshop for us to bring these pets to life, using Arduino, buttons, and a display.