This cruise will give you a sea creature friend
Meet the Tagalongs

Each week, we spotlight a cool innovation recommended by some of the industry's top tech writers. This week's pick is an aquatic virtual avatar.
Carnival Corp. is populating its ships with virtual avatars that follow passengers throughout a cruise, said John Gaudiosi at Wired. The avatars, or "Tagalongs" — each takes the form of a sea turtle, seahorse, or angelfish, which passengers can then customize to their liking — appear on screens that passengers pass by, and even on their cellphones. They are activated by a "Medallion," a poker chip–size token worn as a necklace or bracelet.
The chips were introduced last year with 7,000 sensors wired into the 19 decks of Carnival's Caribbean Princess. Now the entire Princess fleet of 17 ships has been retrofitted to accommodate them. Carnival hopes that eventually the "very design of future cruise ships could evolve based on both the feedback" from the ubiquitous sensors and passengers' interactions with the Tagalongs.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why ‘anti-Islam’ bikers are guarding Gaza aid sites
In The Spotlight Members of Infidels MC, who regard themselves as modern Crusaders, among private security guards at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites
-
China: Xi seeks to fill America’s void
Feature Trump’s tariffs are pushing nations eastward as Xi Jinping focuses on strengthening ties with global leaders
-
Rebrands: Bringing back the War Department
Feature Trump revives the Department of Defense’s former name