Fishing for Fortune
By Janet Dang

There is “Victor,” the narcissistic guppy, “Noir,” the shy, (brooding) platy fish, “Earnie,” the lazy blowfish, “Nishikigoi” the Japanese carp—and everyone’s favorite, “Sparkie,” the happy-go-lucky Clownfish. These are just some of the creatures in Keiko M. Randolph’s collection, which originate from all corners of the world, with their own traits, tricks and quirks.

“These fish have a mind of their own,” Randolph says. “They interact with you. You can stroke the body. Most of the fish look at you, and wag their tail, sort of with a doggie attitude.”

Sounds far-fetched, until you consider these are a new breed of virtual pets.

Eight years ago, when Randolph contemplated having these not-so-real fish as pets, it was virtually impossible. At that time, Randolph says she was working as an intellectual-property licensing agent for a Russian software company. (She is tight-lipped about the particulars of the company including its name.)

However, she does say the company was creating fish animation. When Randolph first laid eyes on these computer-generated creatures, she thought, “It would be nice to have a personal pet on my computer to work with.”

But in the early years (pre-Windows 95) computers were based on text and the graphics were crude. What she had envisioned—free flowing fish that while serenely swimming across computer screens would calm the jagged-nerves of the world’s workforce—couldn’t be done. It wasn’t until around 1996, with the advent of Windows 95 and Internet technology, that she founded PetFish Company, and began working on her pet project.

By 1999, Randolph launched the company’s Web site, www.petfish.com, where these virtual aquatic vertebrates, along with virtual food and other accessories (algae, rocks, etc.) can be downloaded onto a personal computer, to create a virtual aquarium containing swimming pets, which take on a life of their own.

Randolph says her fish are more than just pets, they’re friends. Rather than the flat, one-dimensional screensaver-types of animation where fish float aimlessly, Randolph explains her fish are sophisticated, three-dimensional “pets,” with unique personalities, thanks to the technology developed by the Russian engineers, with whom she partnered. And like real fish, they need to be fed, played with and most of all, loved.

“With PetFish, you are not launching an application. You are adopting and enjoying the company of a pet,” Randolph says.

PetFish fish-owners have to feed their swimming pals, “pet” them using both the mouse and written commands. They in turn will offer hours of “genuine companionship,” she says. For example, some play hide-and-seek, while others stare at their masters with doggie-like devotion, “wagging” their tail. And still another breed explores the computer workspace, swimming over, around and under the window, prodding icons, and text. What’s truly cute about these fish is that they know when not to bother their owners. The little guys “sense” this by gauging typing speed. If it’s fast, they go to a corner of the screen and hang out.

Fish enthusiasts can download any one of 30 fish for free, including new “catch of the month” varieties. But the food—which is the essential ingredient for bringing out the animation and personality in the fish—is $5.95 for a one year’s supply.

In the first three months since the site launched, the company claims over 2 million hits. According to company statistics, 65 percent of visitors were from the United States, while 35 percent came from international regions ranging from Japan to Zimbabwe. In its first year, PetFish reported over 300,000 downloads. Though Randolph was evasive about how much in sales her company has generated, she did say it has plans to expand its services to corporate logo packages, consumer CD-ROM publishing and hardware bundling.

“At this point, a lot of Internet companies are not making any money yet. We are trying very hard to bring in revenue from many sources,” she says.

Randolph, who studied art theory and iconography in Japan, pays special attention to color scheme, shape and sizes, she designs her creatures so that she can have a school of “beautiful fish.”

But why fish? Randolph says she isn’t necessarily partial to them. Rather it was technological constraints that limited her to create animals that move in three dimensions—fish, butterflies, birds.

“When you have four-legged animals, you have to define where the ground is,” she says.

Randolph says that most people in the computer animation scene would laud the sophisticated technology and the realistic animation of her virtual pets. But the common folk, they’re just interested in a companion for work. And soon enough, she says, they’ll become “attached to the fish, and they start talking to the computer and then weird things start to happen.”