A Senior Art Project
By Mai Dinh
About
One day, an asteroid (safely) entered Earth's atmosphere, carrying a highly sensitive and genetically unstable alien life form called Chuus. For some reason, these Chuus gravitate towards humans and you are one of them! Assist in Chuu research by raising and caring for Chuus. Work with friends and other Chuus in discovering new Chuus! Careful though, how you and others care for your newfound pet will affect your pet throughout its lifetime. Will you create a gentle creature or a vicious beast?
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Chuu!: Virtual Pet is a mobile game and social media application for Android and was developed as Mai Dinh's undergraduate senior project.
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Chuus depend on you to take care of them! Feed your pet to keep it alive and interact with them often to make them feel loved. However, if you so choose, teach your Chuu some tough love by scolding and disciplining them. Your pet will react accordingly to notify you of its feelings! Every little interaction will affect your pet's development, but each Chuu is a little different from the next!
Nature vs Nurture
Collect & Raise
Chuus come in a variety of breeds due to their sensitivity and genetic instability! Depending on how you treat your Chuu, they will evolve into different breeds across its three main life stages. With over twenty different breeds to explore, your relationship with your pet will slowly reveal the mysterious world of Chuus! However, to even have an adult Chuu in the first place, you have to keep your pet alive!
Gaming, Community,
Culture
Befriend fellow Chuu owners to help each other raise your pets! Have your friend babysit your Chuu or arrange play dates over a wireless network. Social interaction also contribute to Chuu development, so team up with your friends to discover new Chuu breeds!
Chuu!: Virtual Pet is heavily inspired by the handheld digital pet, Tamagotchi, and the augmented reality mobile game, Pokemon GO! Both games left a cultural impact in recent memory, basing their gameplay on the mechanics of nurture and collecting. Chuu!: Virtual Pet takes those features a step further, playing with the consequences of real-time care taking in an age of mobile devices.
Inspirations
GAMEPLAY
ARTIST STATEMENT & PROFILE
At the University of California, San Diego, graduating ICAM 160 students are tasked with developing and exhibiting a senior project at the end of the academic year. Interested in the intersection between gaming and culture, Mai developed Chuu!: Virtual Pet as a homage to and an exploration of cultural gaming phenomenons. Development of Chuu!:Virtual Pet began in the Fall of 2016 and continued until the Spring of 2017.Mai Dinh presented and demoed her game on June 13th, 2017.
The Journey
Mai Dinh is a graduating senior of the Visual Arts Department at the University of California, San Diego. Mai's interest in the arts and technology drew her into the field of game development, a field she considers an up and coming art form. Aside from Chuu!, Mai has worked on other student projects such as UNFOLD, Dr. Eric's Psychedelic Wonderland, Torcada, Mahou, and Cool Ways to Recycle.
About the Artist
