Chikyuchi is an interactive art project by artists Vincent Ruijters and Ray LC that reimagines the 1990s virtual-pet toy as a reflection on climate change. Instead of feeding a cartoon animal, visitors care for a living rainforest rendered in pixel art on a low-power e-paper screen. Housed in a hand-turned wooden puck with brass buttons, each device runs a small creature through moods, hunger, illness and even death, tying the fate of the on-screen ecosystem to the player's attention. The work was published at ACM TEI 2022 and has been exhibited internationally, including at Science Gallery / MSU Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts and City University of Hong Kong.
JDT Engineering's Contribution
JDT Engineering developed the complete electronics and embedded system that brings the artwork to life, and produced a small batch of finished devices. The work covered:
- Custom PCB and schematic design built around an ESP32-S2 module driving a 1.54" e-paper display
- Firmware development for the animation engine, on-device sound playback, Wi-Fi/API synchronisation and battery management
- Mechanical integration of the electronics into the wooden enclosure through 3D CAD, including a laser-cut front plate
- Small-batch production of the finished units
- Post-delivery support, including calibration, debugging and software updates
The game concept, animation artwork, sound design and generative text were created by the artist team; JDT delivered the electronics and embedded-systems engineering that turned the concept into working, reproducible hardware.
Key Features
- ESP32-S2 microcontroller with Wi-Fi connectivity
- 1.54" e-paper display for a crisp, ultra-low-power, paper-like image
- Pixel-art animation engine with dozens of creature states (mood, feeding, illness, cleaning, growth)
- On-device sound effects
- Battery powered with power management for long standby
- Networked synchronisation of each pet's state
- Bespoke hand-finished wooden enclosure
Learn More
More about the artwork and its exhibitions is available at vincentruijters.com/Chikyuchi.
Watch
Video: Vincent Ruijters (via Vimeo)
Start a project
Build something like Chikyuchi - E-Paper Virtual Pet for Climate Art?
Bring us the goal, constraints and current state. We can help shape the next engineering step, from feasibility and prototypes through production.