Reeya
The Delphi Version
Back in the Nineties, virtual creatures were all the rage: Countless kids were tending to tamagotchis every day, computer magazines presented applications like Fin Fin and the MOPy fish swam across our screens.
Around the turn of the millenium I took my first steps into the world of programming, using PASCAL and Delphi. After about two school years I knew enough to craft my own virtual pet in my spare time.
Originally, Reeya was just a placeholder - a quickly doodled mix of dog and pony with which I could test my ideas. I had planned to replace her with cool 3D rendered images of a different animal later, for example a spider. But the more time I spent with this scribble, the more it grew onto me. So, until I finished school, I created more and more animations with exactly this creature.
The Plushie
Then university began, and I had less and less time and motivation for private programming projects. I made plans to port Reeya to a different programming language, but never got around to it.
So the project was put on ice while I was slowly but steadily heading towards a burn-out. 2016 I got to the point where I needed professional help to cope with the daily grind. One of the strategies I learned for this was to use sensory perceptions for escaping the spiraling thoughts and finding my way back to the here and now. With that, I knew that I wanted to take a little plushie to my office.
And who would be better suited for this job than Reeya? After all she was one of the main reasons why I wanted to study this subject in the first place. And I used to love sewing plushies in the past, so I picked up needle, thread and grey velvet and got to work. Now a cuddly little Reeya accompanies me to university every day and reminds me why I am there.
The Unity Version
In the meantime I have started re-creating her program using the Unity game engine. In this version she's hopping through a forest landscape in 3D - but still as a gray-red stick figure.
The program is still at the very beginning, and I'm still experimenting with the approach I want to use for her artificial intelligence.
Also, I will probably focus on virtual reality in the long run. It is fascinating to stand directly next to her and walk through her world together!
This video here shows one of my first attempts at transferring the desctop application's controls to virtual reality. As you can see, not everything went according to plan... but Reeya was already to discover all these flowers.
I hope that I will find more time to develop this version further, now that my doctoral thesis is finished.