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Avatars in video games are the player's representation in the game world. The first video games to include a representation of the player were Basketball which represented players as humans, [15] [16] and Maze War which represented players as eyeballs.
In some games, the player's representation is fixed, however many games offer a basic character model, or template, and then allow customization of the physical features as the player sees fit.
San Andreas , can be dressed in a wide range of clothing, can be given tattoos and haircuts , and can even body build or become obese depending upon player actions. Aside from an avatar's physical appearance, its dialogue, particularly in cut scenes , may also reveal something of its character.
A good example is the crude, action hero stereotype , Duke Nukem. Massively multiplayer online games MMOGs are the source of the most varied and sophisticated avatars. Usually, all players appear in gigantic spacecraft that give no view of their pilot, unlike in most other RPGs. Alternatively, City of Heroes offers one of the most detailed and comprehensive in-game avatar creation processes, allowing players to construct anything from traditional superheroes to aliens, medieval knights, monsters, robots, and many more.
Robbie Cooper 's book "Alter Ego, Avatars and their creators" pairs photographs of players of a variety of MMO's with images of their in-game avatars and profiles; recording the player's motivations and intentions in designing and using their avatars. The survey reveals wide variation in the ways in which players of MMO's use avatars.
Nintendo 's Wii console allows for the creation of avatars called " Miis " that take the form of stylized, cartoonish people and can be used in some games as avatars for players, as in Wii Sports. In some games, the ability to use a Mii as an avatar must be unlocked, such as in Mario Kart Wii. On November 19, , Microsoft released an Xbox Dashboard update which featured the introduction of Avatars as part of the console's New Xbox Experience. With the update installed users can personalize the look of their Avatars by choosing from a range of clothing and facial features.
On August 11, , the NXE Avatar program was updated with the inclusion of an Avatar Marketplace feature that allows users to purchase additional product and game branded clothing, jewelry, full body suits, and animated props.
Avatars in non-gaming online worlds are used as two- or three- dimensional human or fantastic representations of a person's inworld self. Such representations are a tool which facilitates the exploration of the virtual universe, or acts as a focal point in conversations with other users, and can be customized by the user.
Usually, the purpose and appeal of such universes is to provide a large enhancement to common online conversation capabilities, and to allow the user to peacefully develop a portion of a non-gaming universe without being forced to strive towards a pre-defined goal. In non-gaming universes, the criteria avatars have to fulfill in order to become useful can depend to a great extent on the age of potential users.
Avatar-based non-gaming universes are usually populated by age groups whose requirements concerning avatars are fulfilled. In contrast, There and Kaneva Game Platform target users aged 22 to 49 and their avatars allow for a wide range of social interactions, including the expression of emotions: This turns the avatar into a direct reflection of users' real-life appearance, as desired by older users.
Lisa Nakamura has suggested that customizable avatars in non-gaming worlds tend to be biased towards lighter skin colors and against darker skin colors, especially in those of the male gender. Moreover, there is a growing secondary industry devoted to the creations of products and items for the avatars. Some companies have also launched social networks [26] and other websites for avatars such as Koinup , Myrl, and Avatars United.
Early examples of customizable avatars include multi-user systems, including MUDs. Gaia Online has a customizable avatar where users can dress it up as desired. She described a case in which a man with a serious heart condition preventing him from ordinary socializing found acceptance and friendship through his online identity. Avatars have become an area of study in the world of academics. The emergence of online avatars have implications [ according to whom?
Following Novak and Fox , researchers must differentiate perceived agency whether or not an entity is perceived to be human , anthropomorphism having human form or behavior , and realism the perception that something could realistically or possibly exist in a non-mediated context.
A meta-analysis of studies comparing agents and avatars Fox et al. Anthropomorphism is also tied to social influence, as more human-like representations can be more persuasive Gong, Paul Hemp has written an article for the Harvard Business Review, where he analyses the effects of avatars on real-world business.
He focuses on the game "Second Life", and shows that the creators of virtual avatars are willing to spend real money to purchase goods marketed solely to their virtual selves. The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication published a study of the reactions to certain types of avatars by a sample group of human users.
The results showed that users commonly chose avatars which were humanoid and matched their gender. The conclusion was that in order to make users feel more "at home" in their avatars, designers should maximise the customizability of visual criteria common to humans, such as skin and hair color, gender, hair styles and height.
Researchers at York University studied whether avatars reflected a user's real-life personality. Another use of the avatar has emerged with the widespread use of social media platforms. There is a practice in social media sites: Profile picture is a distinct graphics that represent the identity of profile holder.
It is usually the portrait of an individual, logo of an organization, organizational building or distinctive character of book, cover page etc. Using avatars as profile pictures can increase users' perceived level of social presence which in turn fosters reciprocity and sharing behavior in online environments. Cartoons and stories sometimes have a character based on their creator, either a fictionalised version e.
Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series has been said [40] by J. Rowling to be based upon herself. Such characters are sometimes [ citation needed ] known as "author avatars". To meet the demand for millions of unique, customised avatars, generator tools and services have been created. As avatars grow in use, services to centralize design, management and transportation of digital avatars start to appear.
For example, Evolver seems to be the first solution to bring together complex 3D modeling, consumer ease of use and fully interoperable avatars. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace. Reality in the Age of Psychotechnology. Casino Gambling For Dummies. Retrieved 24 May The Culture and Politics of Cyberspace and the Internet. Songs from the Stars. Exploring and Building Virtual Worlds on the Internet. Peach Pit Press, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet. Role-playing Identities in Ludic Space". Online Conference on Networks and Communities. Retrieved 15 December Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Retrieved 17 January Australasian Conference on Information Systems.
Retrieved 23 March Up to colour icons are supported by NewIcons system. The design guidelines recommend icons to be drawn at a more diagonal perspective, thus creating the illusion of three dimensions. The guidelines also strongly encourage the use of Workbench's "image" highlights, where a selected image changes its actual shape when clicked, instead of simply inverting its colours or becoming a darker shade. For example, a computer terminal could have its screen powered up, a pen could write letters on paper, or a robot symbolising a computer game could move around.
NewIcons are stored in 8-bit data even when only few colours were used. NewIcons also includes DefIcons, a package of ready-made icons which aims to provide a default icon image for all files that do not have their own associated icons provided as.
This approach is slower than the file extension system used by Microsoft Windows , but ultimately more accurate; a PNG image file with a. The major difference to NewIcons is how image data is stored. In GlowIcons system developers extended internal icon definition without need to abuse metadata. The second image state uses a glow effect to indicate that the icon is pressed.
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