I just got an idea for an app that would have a sort of virtual pet/avatar that lives on your smartphone and corresponds with fellow avatars that live on your friend's smartphones. Ideally, it would somehow serve civilization in some way so more thought will have to go into this...
I guess it's not unlike a virtual nanobaby--recall the 90's when digital trinkets powered by CR2032 batteries were all the rage--except that it could have gigaflops to play with, and maybe this could be a good thing?
I can't see how virtual pets could really solve many challenges in our society but maybe if it helps to fund research that can bring us closer to the singularity/intelligent compute, then perhaps it's a frivolity that we can tolerate for a buck or so on our iTunes account.
Even though I just invented it with my MIND, I'm already convinced that the potential developer wouldn't have a Blackberry 10 version of the app. Also, how can it help us pass the Turing Test? I would love some feedback!
