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Does anyone remember Tamagotchi from their childhood? Launched in the late 90s, the beloved digital pets captured the hearts of many for its adorable designs and fun interactiveness. Fast forward to 2023, Tamagotchis are seeing a resurgence in popularity thanks to its nostalgia and Y2K aesthetic.
Putting a spin on the classic Tamagotchi is graphic designer and creative director Emma Orhun, who combined the Apple Watch and Tamagotchi to birth the “Tamawatchi”.
According to Emma, the idea for the Tamawatchi came to be thanks to the help of her friend and Instagram software designer Calum Patrick alongside Seb of Voidfill Studio.
“Idea birthed in NYC in march w the help of @calumpat. Met up with @voidfillstudio for the first time ever that day && asked him if I could do surgery on my Tamagotchi @ his lab, where they were filming a TV show at the time (?? might have been a fever dream acc idk),” writes Emma on Instagram.
‘When I got home from NYC I found the cheapest && most legit Apple Watch I could find on marketplace && bought it. It was too small. Who knew they had different sizes! Some were too big, some were too small. Collected data by bringing the empty Tamagotchi shell 2 everyone I knew who had an Apple Watch to test which ones would work. Found the one I needed && then got that one off marketplace. Then, basically, what u do is take out the Tamagotchi electronics, dremel down the inside of the plastic body to clear it out, && secure the new life, the Apple Watch, inside the body.”
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Emma says that she is interested in working officially with Apple and Bandai Namco Entertainment, the company behind Tamagotchi, to make the Tamawatchi a real product.
“This isn’t fully functional, it is a prototype. would luuuv 2 see this get turned into something beyond a prototype. Maybe then I’d use an Apple Watch.”
