Today we’re shining a spotlight on Carrie Tatsu, the visionary behind Zooby, whose innovative virtual pets and babies have enhanced the interactive experiences of Second Life Residents for over a decade.
How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I joined SL in 2006. Wow, 19 years! I took a year off from my job in advertising to stay home with my real-life baby. He is 18 now. I was bored as a full-time stay-at-home mom and read an article about an innovative virtual world with user-generated content. I joined out of curiosity. I became hooked instantly and bought a prim cat. I felt a need to hold my cat when I logged in. My cat became part of who I was. I realized that the cat became part of my own virtual identity.
I then thought maybe I could make a better cat. I made my own white fluffy cat with prim flexies (old avatars will know what that is) that was a representation of my real-life cat named Spaceman. I then held my own cat while I wandered various sims. Random users would ask me where I purchased my cat and wanted to buy it. I then decided I should open up a virtual pet store and convinced my husband at the time to spend $300 USD on virtual land. Within a year I replaced my advertising salary and have not looked back.
Zooby Animesh baby clothing by Sweet Penelope through the Zooby Affiliate program
How and when did you get into content creation in Second Life?
I have been consistently making content in Second Life for roughly 19 years. It is my full-time job and I support my family with income earned from selling virtual goods. I took a break from 2014-2017 to make a mobile game. I came back to SL in 2017 when Animesh was in development. I knew I had to update my products, so I spent close to 2 years developing the Zooby Animesh Baby. I also wanted to be one of the first creators to focus on Animesh. I have a team that helps me develop products, and I focus on my strengths which include project management, art, design, 3d modeling, and painting/drawing. I hire and collaborate closely with software developers, 3d modelers, and animators.
Zooby Animesh baby clothing by Sweet Penelope through the Zooby Affiliate program
What tools do you use to craft your content? Are there specific resources you recommend to aspiring creators?
I have a master’s degree in fine art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I do not have a business degree. I learned the basics of C4d in 2017. I did not learn Blender until 2019-2020. I did not learn Substance Painter until 2022. I have always had the mindset that if you are dedicated to learning regardless of your age or circumstances, you can. It just takes time, patience, and dedication. I have always loved art and have been able to focus for long periods of time on a project. Substance Painter allows projection painting and that became a natural tool for me and helped me create the realistic fur for the Zooby Animesh Puppies. Blender is also a terrific resource because not only is it free, but there are endless tutorials online to learn and develop a skillset. I fell in love with 3d modeling. I also work with extremely talented people and give them freedom to develop their skills and foster their own creativity.
Click to watch the Zooby Animesh Yellow Lab + Wings! on Flickr
Tell us more about your latest project, the Zooby Animesh Puppies. What inspired the designs and features?
I have a deep understanding of the SL community and intuition on what people like to do here. Role-play is huge. Creating experiences you cannot otherwise have in real life is also essential. I wanted to make puppies that had advanced interactive functionality. The idea was to create a shared experience with the puppies so users could enjoy them together with friends and family. The puppies had to look as real as possible. There had to be an emotional connection so the owner of the puppy felt it was their puppy. It is not possible to do a project of this scale alone, so I have a wonderful team that helped make my vision become a reality. It has also taken years to build this team.
Here is a list of key features that set the puppies apart:
- Zooby Puppies can share accessories.
- Zooby Puppies include a care system where you can collect tokens and redeem them for puppy toys.
- Friends can be added to all Zooby Puppies to provide care and interact.
- All Zooby Puppies can be interacted with.
- Zooby Puppies can sleep in beds, poop/pee on puppy pads, relax on love pillows, chew on bones, snuggle with toys, and eat from food bowls.
- Zooby Animesh Babies can interact with Zooby Animesh Puppies.
- Zooby Puppies include over 100 animations.
- Post launch Zooby Puppies will be able to wear clothing. Texture Hud Kits will be provided to 3rd parties to create and sell clothing and accessory textures for the puppies.
- Zooby Puppies can walk/run/fly while attached to you and while in travel mode they can be taken anywhere in SL.
- Zooby Puppies can be held and snuggled by their owner.
- Zooby Puppies can independently fly with wings. (Flying independently with wings includes new animations, is an add-on, and has a small fee.)
- Zooby Puppies can run or walk around your sim where you set the radius and location.
- Zooby Puppies include a Hud that allows you to rez any puppy you own and you can never lose a puppy.
- Zooby Puppies have carefully detailed, custom, realistic fur and will make your heart melt when you look at them.
- In the future, you will be able to walk them on a leash, and play ball/fetch with Zooby Puppies and they will bring you a newspaper.
Click to watch the the Zooby Animesh Husky + Baby Interactions on Flickr
What are your future plans or upcoming projects that fans of Zooby can look forward to?
I plan to make many more puppy breeds and then move on to other pets. I plan to stick around SL for a few more years and see how things go!
From your perspective, how has Second Life evolved over the years, and what makes it an incredible experience for new users today?
I love the freedom to make anything I can think of. I was not a fan of working for an ad agency and was glad to quit. I also needed a creative outlet. SL has provided me the opportunity to make amazing products and watch them come to fruition. Having a connection to the community has been inspiring because I have seen people fall in love with ephemeral things and that is absolutely fascinating to me. I have met incredibly talented people here and we have worked together without any typical social barriers. Your gender, identity, race, religion, ethnicity, education, and upbringing do not matter. All that matters is the work. I love that for so many reasons. SL has allowed people to make beautiful things and given users the opportunity to explore and imagine a life they want to live.
Where can people see your work? Please share links to your store, websites, and social media accounts.
Here is a list of the social media links:
Discord
Facebook
YouTube
Instagram
Twitter
Zooby Store
Zooby Group: secondlife:///app/group/fc43d42e-3ba3-b77c-cdf3-5ec035f7a230/about
Thank you, Carrie, for pushing the boundaries in SL and enriching our virtual experiences with every new Zooby creation.
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