Sure, the Koi Pond app for your phone and tablet is entertaining enough, but interacting with virtual fish by tapping on the screen generates very predictable results. If you get bored of this, Mindworks Innovation Lab takes it to the next level- you can now access their Web app to play with real fish! Relax to the soothing music and live video of an actual aquarium on Aquard.io. Sick of the view? They provide three different camera angles to monitor these fish from straight on, overhead, and inside the tank:
Here’s the best part of this app: this is an interactive aquarium. You can actually feed the fish, which happens every hour. There’s even a countdown at the bottom of the screen so you’ll never miss a feeding. The obvious concern is that there are way more people who want to feed than there are hours a day to feed them. Clearly, the creators of Aquard.io took this into consideration when they introduced the air pump function to the tank- you can “reserve bubbles” and set them off at your leisure.
Obviously, there it’s still a bit of a competition to snatch up these bubbles because only one viewer can reserve them at a time, which makes getting them that much more satisfying. So what happens if someone reserves a feeding or bubbles and doesn’t release them? Not to worry, the fish don’t go hungry (or bubble-less), the action required to initiate the function self-destructs if the viewer who reserved it does not use it promptly, opening it up for someone else.
Perhaps this app was originally devised as a way for the creators to feed their fish while they were at work. Needless to say, they will never have to worry about this task ever again, since there are now hundreds of people fighting to do this for them over the internet. Either way, we thank them for providing us with an aquatic escape on our computer screens.
Want a cooperative online activity with a little more drama? Click here
