Solving ESG Problem:
Pet Metaverse <Adorable Pet>
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Contributor
SKCC Supporters
Team Leader: Grace Eunjin Kim
Bachelor of Design CHOI SEUNG HOON, SONG NA YOON, AHN JINSIL, JANG HYUNSEO
MFA KIM EUNJIN
PH.D. KIM WOO RI
Thesis paper was published in Korean HCI association.
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Project Period
Sept. 2022 ~ Dec 2022
Presented at KAIST, prestigious engineering school of Korea on Dec, 2022
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TOOL
Roblox, Adobe Creatives, Microsoft Office
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SKILLS
Agile Workflows, UX Research. Personas
Concept Development, Critical Design, User Research,
In-depth Interview, Affinity Diagram
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Project Overview
The purpose of this research is to solve ESG issues in Korean society, particularly social problems caused by pets, by implementing Metaverse design through design thinking. In 2019, the epidemic (COVID-19) caused a rapid change in the social structure. The concept of Metaverse, which had existed for a long time but had gone unnoticed, was expanded. This Metaverse movement was led by Silicon Valley, a sacred place for IT technology, proving that the Metaverse is more than just a trend and is becoming a universal medium for social exchange. This research will (1) validate hypotheses using design methodology, (2) gain insights from case analysis, and (3) define user experiences, visual elements, functions, and business models based on analysis. As a result of the research, functions are broadly classified into four categories: education, mental and physical health care, medical function, and community bonding. It is expected that this implementation will solve social problems associated with pets in real life.
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Define Problem
The number of pet-rearing households in Korea is increasing significantly due to factors such as low birth rate, aging society, increase in single-person households, change of lifestyle that emphasize quality of life and happiness, diversification of values, and development of science and technology. The survey result tells one out of four households raise the pets in Korea. In a current society led by the MZ generation(20s and 30s) who are interested in animal rights, are thinking those animals as members of the "family”.
Various social problems have been raised due to the sudden change in domestic social system and the poor perception of people. The most well-known pet issues in Korea are animal abuse and pet abandonment.
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Lack of spaces to raise animals in the city area
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Requires heavy responsibility to an animal owner. South Korea were ranked fifth among OECD countries with long working hours. No time to care the pets
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Economic Problems: Hospital bills, pet insurance, toys, food, and other etc. Raising a pet is like a raising a child.
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Health and Hygiene Issues: some people are allergic to animals
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Public facilities corroded by dogs' acidic urine
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30% of the environmental factors of global warming are made by pet meat manufacturing
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Environmental damage caused by plastic toy manufacturing
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carbon dioxide problems caused by 5.1 million tons of bowel movement every year.
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Hypothesis and approach
Our hypothesis was to solve the problems with approaches listed below.
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Delivering emotional fulfillment for people of all ages who are socially isolated. It helps foster responsibility, altruism, and ethical behavior as well as emotional communication for various people, such as lonely elderly people who have independent children, growing children who need to develop emotional communication skills, and victims suffering from bullying or school violence. It also creates a necessary social community by living in the same common interests within the pet community in the metaverse.
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The virtual E-learning system can serve as an excellent instructor for prospective pet breeders and prospective pet managers on behalf of government public institutions. In European countries, adoption is sent through a six-month socialization process through a breeder when adopting a dog, but in Korea, such a process does not exist yet. This Metaverse will be a system that can train good pet breeders and pet managers.
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It can act as a healer for Animal-loss syndrome by implementing dead pets on the Metaverse. It is estimated that an average of 570,000 pets die annually in Korea, and according to the survey results, half of the pet owners who experienced the death of their pets suffered from the syndrome. Symptoms are such as depression, guilt, sleep disorders, and loss of appetite and has difficulty in daily life. 25.3% of the respondents said it took more than 731 days to recover their daily lives, which was very high.
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The adoption of pets in the Metaverse will minimize indiscriminate animal adoption, allowing a healthy ecological environment to be maintained by reducing the number of abandoned animals.
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Multi-parenting is possible without realistic constraints (finance, household damage, location), which also can solve ‘animal holder’ issue
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PROCESS
Case Analysis
<Falcon Age>, <Animal Crossing>, <Sims 4: Cats and Dogs> were according to the ASF(Acceleration Studies Foundation)’s classified criteria. According to Metaverse Roadmap published in 2007 by the American non-profit technology research organization ASF, there are four main criteria for distinguishing Metaverse.
User Analysis
People in their 20s and 30s, the MZ generation, were selected as the main users of this Metaverse. They have high interest in animal rights as well as human rights, and open to spend fair price for valuable experiences.
36 questions to find
36 questions to find
Demographic characteristics / Social perception / Technical perception / Economic perception / Environmental perception / Political perception / Social behavior radius survey / Threat identification / Demand identification.
Targets: 17 MZ generation, 1 X generation(Pet owners and Non-pet owners)
AFFINITY DIAGRAM
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IDEATION
Concept
The purpose of UX design is to pattern user behavior by guiding them to the socially correct direction. This Metaverse is aimed to socialize users, and satisfy them through emotional bonds.
The 3d Platform <Roblox> was selected: entry barrier is low enough for elementary school students to use, and there is already an open source for content creators.
52*52*13 Actual Concept Building, 2022
Final Shoot of mirrored world, 2022
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FINAL PRODUCT
A bright, lovely, and possitive deformed casual design will be implemented to this product; this will attract the people of all ages. Previous research proves that Humankind always have been favorable to young and youthful images. The extreme realistic image is likely to bring the Uncanny Valley.
Community-based connecting function
This will deliver emotional satisfaction by implementing interaction with pets beyond realistic restrictions and communication functions between other users at temporary animal shelters at Seoul National University Station, Nakseongdae Park, and Sharosu-gil. In particular, Nakseongdae Park will activate the dog SNS function by implementing the pet's marking habit. During pet interaction, we will share communication by borrowing behavioral habits so that we can feel emotions during parenting. These include head stroking, urine education, and individual skills education. It also has the function of increasing intimacy through each mission to form a bond.
SNU Station: a temporary animal shelter, 2022
Naksungdae Park: Pet SNS, 2022
Educational function
Gwanak-gu Office will be set up as a museum and classroom. Then deliver E-learning content providing OX quizzes, pet adoption education, education related to dogs and abandoned dogs, animal registration cards, and examinations for pet managers.
Accredited Test: Gwanak-gu Pet Manager Test, 2022
Gwanak-gu Office: Training Center for the Management of ferocious dogs, 2022
Counseling function in the Hospital
Seoul National University Dental Hospital can be replaced with an animal hospital to consult on the health status of pets that actually behave abnormally. It can also be a good practice place for prospective veterinarians. You can also share reviews, ratings, and locations of real animal hospitals.
Veterinary Consultation at Seoul National University Animal Hospital, 2022
Personalized quest function.
Based on the demographic facts of users, personalized mode settings will be provided.
Dog’s nose pattern recognition function
It is possible to recognize the nose pattern of the actual companion animal to implement the dead animal, or to implement the currently living animal in the Metaverse. This can help the mental health of people suffering from Pet-losss.
