Remember Tamagotchi, the virtual pets from Japan that lived in a key fob and got sick and died if you neglected them? Now Philips wants to lock such electronic pets inside a special TV set (WO 02/32121).
The set comes with a built-in graphics generator and sound synthesiser that create a small, cute, talking animal in the corner of the screen. The TV also builds an electronic profile of the programmes you like to watch.
Most of the time, the pet lies sleeping, with only an occasional shuffle to show it is still “alive”. But if another channel starts…
