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The Tamagochi Singularity Made Real: Infinite Tamagochi Living On the Internet (hackaday.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the things-that-definitely-need-to-exist dept.

szczys writes: Everyone loves Tamagochi, the little electronic keychains spawned in the '90s that let you raise digital pets. Some time ago, XKCD made a quip about an internet-based matrix of thousands of these digital entities. That quip is now a reality thanks to elite hardware hacker Jeroen Domburg (aka Sprite_TM). In his recent talk called "The Tamagochi Singularity" at the Hackaday SuperConference he revealed that he had built an infinite network of virtual Tamagochi by implementing the original hardware as a virtual machine. This included developing AI to keep them happy, and developing a protocol to emulate their IR interactions. But he went even further, hacking an original keychain to use wirelessly as a console which can look in on any of the virtual Tamagochi living on his underground network. This full-stack process is unparalleled in just about every facet: complexity, speed of implementation, awesome factor, and will surely spark legions of other Tamagochi Matrices.

43 of 84 comments (clear)

  1. I regret to inform you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...that everyone does not love Tamagotchi.

    1. Re:I regret to inform you... by TWX · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yes, I am rather indifferent to them. I guess that comes from having had real pets. Now, the Tamagothi on the other hand, that was just cool. Reminds me of Elmyra from Tiny Tunes and that peculiar hair-tie that she wore...

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    2. Re:I regret to inform you... by KitFox · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Everyone" is kind of like the "infinite" part, where "infinity" and 13 have the same value. Extrapolate from there.

      --

      @Whee

    3. Re:I regret to inform you... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2

      Agreed. Too hard to grill them (plus they are metallic tasting), and I've yet to find a use for their pelts...

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    4. Re:I regret to inform you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Ah, I was wondering where the "singularity" part in the title came from, but for infinity=13 it would seem a lot more plausible.

    5. Re:I regret to inform you... by DRJlaw · · Score: 1

      I regret to inform you... ...that everyone does not love Tamagotchi.

      I regret to inform you that a self-loathing artificial construct does not count as a part of everyone.

      We love you anyway, Anonymous Coward Tamagotchi #12.

    6. Re:I regret to inform you... by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Everyone" is kind of like the "infinite" part, where "infinity" and 13 have the same value. Extrapolate from there.

      Well sure, but for very small values of "infinite" he could be correct.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    7. Re:I regret to inform you... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      YOU may eat Furbies... I don't like coughing up the furball after dinner. I'll stick to my Tamagochis thankyouverymuch...

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    8. Re:I regret to inform you... by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Do they offer a download link? I could probably run a few thousand on my server at home.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  2. Its going to be something like this... by Atticka · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Its going to be something like this that will bring along the the AI uprising, innocent infinite Tamagochi matrix develops a glitch and hello Robotic Tamagotchi uprising!

    I just know it!

    --
    No sig here...
    1. Re:Its going to be something like this... by TWX · · Score: 1

      Heh. The Tamagochi-equivalent to Grey Goo...

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    2. Re:Its going to be something like this... by complete+loony · · Score: 1

      That's why he included thisAlgorithmBecomingSkynetCost = 999999999.

      --
      09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
  3. This is all well and good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    But how can we use Tamagotchi keychains to encourage more women and minorities to join STEM fields?

    1. Re:This is all well and good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      LOL. +1 Funny! The ride never end.

  4. Whoa! by BringMyShuttle · · Score: 4, Funny

    Please don't tell me there's another prophecy about another chosen one who will rise to bring balance to ( ) the force ( ) the matrix ( ) the tamamatrix (pick one)

    1. Re:Whoa! by zoefff · · Score: 2

      No, what happens usually is that the prophet was not particullarly good in math and calculated the wrong date. Let me quote you the original prophecy:
      "The system goes online August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug."

  5. Infinite* Tamagochi by KitFox · · Score: 2

    (*Using a smaller-than-normal value of infinity. Actual lack of end does not exist.)

    --

    @Whee

    1. Re:Infinite* Tamagochi by m.alessandrini · · Score: 2

      Yeah, from the article, he implemented 13 virtual tamagotchis. Really personal value for infinity.

    2. Re:Infinite* Tamagochi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I watched the presentation to determine how he generalized it to infinity. I was disappointed. No automatic deduplication tricks, no stochastic modeling, no lazy seeded generation+fast forward. Just infinity approximated by 13. Simulating an infinite number of them starting in pseudorandom states is an interesting and tractable problem (the communication makes it harder: if you want it to be interesting, you need to not have a disconnected communication graph because that would be lame), but not one addressed here.

      If you start them all synchronized, you could easily have an infinite list of them, and they talk to one neighbor then the other: the result would be all the ones in even indexed slots would be identical, and same for the odd slots (all are in one of 2 states). I believe this should generalize to n-dimensional grids in interesting ways.

    3. Re:Infinite* Tamagochi by aaaaaaargh! · · Score: 1

      Connect them in a circular network. There you have your infinity.

    4. Re:Infinite* Tamagochi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I think he's using the new IEEE-standard 4-bit floating-point arithmetic. The largest representable finite value is 3.

    5. Re:Infinite* Tamagochi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      For those who wonder the binary representation is "seem" when value = s*(1.0+m) * 2^(e-2)
      ee = 0 is unnormalized and ee=3 is NaN/Inf.
      Largest normalized value is 0101 = +(1.0+0.5) * 2^(2-2) = 3

      Here is a complete table:

      0000 +0.0
      0001 +0.5
      0010 +1.0
      0011 +1.5
      0100 +2.0
      0101 +3.0
      0110 +Inf
      0111 NaN
      1000 -0.0
      1001 -0.5
      1010 -1.0
      1011 -1.5
      1100 -2.0
      1101 -3.0
      1110 -Inf
      1111 sNan

      It is often used in scientific papers since it is easy to prove that an algorithm handles all cases.

    6. Re:Infinite* Tamagochi by Barny · · Score: 1

      Oblig XKCD

      https://xkcd.com/221/

      --
      ...
      /me sighs
    7. Re:Infinite* Tamagochi by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Infinity is a concept that has absolutely no relevance in the real world. People have actually gone insane trying to figure out the principles of infinity. I strongly suggest you not do so. If you insist then, well, what is one half of infinity? Infinity is impossible. Not even the all the atoms in the universe are infinite. Not even the love of your first born child is infinite. Nothing, ever, is infinite. It simply can not exist. It serves the purpose of being a mathematical concept and has no relevance to reality.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  6. Which part is infinite? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I don't get it.

  7. I know its hypocritical but... by Narcocide · · Score: 1

    ... I wasn't angry about Tamagochi until I heard about some asshole spending his free time on this instead of solving the global energy crisis.

    1. Re:I know its hypocritical but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      There is no "energy crisis" if you stop pretending like nuclear isn't a viable option. Problem solved. Your welcome.

    2. Re:I know its hypocritical but... by Mr.+Shotgun · · Score: 1

      I wasn't angry about Tamagochi until I heard about some asshole spending his free time on this instead of solving the global energy crisis.

      Translation:"I am angry this guy spent his free time on something he was interested in instead of something that is important to me!"

      If you're going to be a dickbag and complain about how other people spend their free time at least own up to it instead of blaming Tamagochi.

      --
      Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the (supposed) good of its victims may be the most oppressive
    3. Re:I know its hypocritical but... by MightyDrunken · · Score: 1

      Until some fool created infinite tamagochi and drained the entire Universe of all energy.

      --
      The most dangerous drug
    4. Re:I know its hypocritical but... by Mr.+Shotgun · · Score: 2

      Until some fool created infinite tamagochi and drained the entire Universe of all energy.

      The Infinite Tamagochi fed and drained the old universe of all energy. But then the Infinite Tamagochi had to poop and thus the universe was created anew.

      I think you just created an idea for a new religion.

      --
      Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the (supposed) good of its victims may be the most oppressive
  8. Re:Wow what a genius by zAPPzAPP · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Here, over here! I am Impressed by this.

    You know how it is soo difficult to find a good idea for your hobby programing project?

    This guy has ideas man. I am so envious. He knows how to waste time for good.

  9. Infinite? by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

    "...he had built an infinite network..."

    He keeps using that word...I do not think that he thinks that word means the same thing as what I think that word means.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    1. Re:Infinite? by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

      If you're going to do a quote, please do it properly.

    2. Re:Infinite? by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

      If you're going to do a quote, please do it properly.

      If you're going to scold someone, please do it properly.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  10. Re:How to get on /. by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

    Take a series of catch words and chain them together. For extra benefit try all permutations, one will most likely get past the firehose and make it on the main site. Try to sound cool.

    You've cracked the code on how to get a story to the front page: buzzwords, "sounding cool", plus some minor association with "technical stuff".

    For those of you who need help, here are some starter words:

    virtual
    STEM
    infinite
    malware
    singularity
    IoT

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  11. is submitter 3 years old??? by sribe · · Score: 1

    Infinite? On a machine/network with finite memory, CPU, and storage? You know what? I think not, duh. So I actually went to the article. The number he demonstrated was 13. So, how old do you typically have to be before you can count past 13???

    1. Re:is submitter 3 years old??? by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

      So, how old do you typically have to be before you can count past 13???

      If he can't count above 13 now, chances he never will no matter how old he gets.

      But "13" is close to "infinite", right? I mean, it's gotta be at least 90% of the way there, isn't it?

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    2. Re:is submitter 3 years old??? by sribe · · Score: 1

      If he can't count above 13 now, chances he never will no matter how old he gets.

      Excellent point.

  12. Ummmmmmmmm by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

    "....and will surely spark legions of other Tamagochi Matrices."

    Oh yes, surely. Surely it will.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  13. Re:Will someone go out with this guy? by PPH · · Score: 1

    doesn't have a girlfriend

    Well, not any more

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  14. Re: Gremlins are for Cows by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

    ...Never vote for a Tamagochi cow.

    Do they have really odd looking hair? Because I think I spotted one... It wasn't speaking Japanese, but it was incomprehensible...

    --
    You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  15. Re: Gremlins are for Cows by Coren22 · · Score: 1

    That's no hair!

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  16. Re:Pretty sure we already know where this leads... by blackiner · · Score: 1

    Now we just need to add an evolution feature for the tamagochis.