From sports to gaming to fashion, metaverse content exists that appeals to users with various interests and hobbies. Now, BBDO New York and Pedigree are bringing dogs to the metaverse with Fosterverse. Fosterverse is a new location in the Decentraland metaverse where users can foster virtual dogs in their digital homes.
Through Adopta-a-pet.com, consumers can choose a real-life dog and receive a virtual version of it to foster in the metaverse. Other Decentraland users can interact with the virtual foster dog and learn its name, adoption status and breed. The user can then adopt the 3D avatar’s real-world counterpart via the Adopt-a-pet website.
“Not everyone can foster a dog at home,” states Pedigree on its website. “That’s why we’ve created the PEDIGREE® FOSTERVERSE™ – an initiative that enables you to foster a dog on your Decentraland plot by uploading interactive avatars of real rescue dogs.”
Adopt a virtual dog
With the Fosterverse Pedigree and BBDO New York the hope is to increase the rate of dog adoptions. More animals are ending up in shelters than pre-pandemic, with only 53 percent of shelter dogs being adopted. Perhaps only a small fraction of metaverse users who interact with the virtual canines will actually adopt one. However, that’s still a win for the many animals in need of homes and the shelters that struggle to care for them.
Fosterverse isn’t Pedigree’s first tech initiative to bolster dog adoptions. Last year the company launched Rescue Doodles, an Ai that views children’s drawings of dogs and searches for dogs awaiting adoption nearby that best match the picture.
Pets in the metaverse
While Fosterverse aims to help real-life dogs, other options exist for adopting metaverse pets. Neopets, a popular online game in the early 2000s where users adopted 2D fantasy pets, entered the metaverse last year. Additionally, for those who prefer a feline companion, the Petaverse Network is introducing interoperable metaverse pet cats.
Jack Brassell is a freelance journalist and aspiring novelist. Jack is a self-proclaimed nerd with a lifelong passion for storytelling. As an author, Jack writes mostly horror and young adult fantasy. Also an avid gamer, she works as the lead news editor at Hardcore Droid. When she isn't writing or playing games, she can often be found binge-watching Parks & Rec or The Office, proudly considering herself to be a cross between Leslie Knope and Pam Beasley.
