avatar (computing)

{{short description|Graphical representation of a user or a user's alter ego or character}}

File:My first tweet! (3344952812).png post, with the user's profile picture]]

In computing, an avatar is a graphical representation of a user, the user's character, or persona. Avatars can be two-dimensional icons in Internet forums and other online communities, where they are also known as profile pictures, userpics, or formerly picons (personal icons, or possibly "picture icons"). Alternatively, an avatar can take the form of a three-dimensional model, as used in online worlds and video games, or an imaginary character with no graphical appearance,{{Cite book |last=Salamone |first=Frank A. |title=Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals, and Festivals |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=0-415-94180-6 |editor-last=Levinson |editor-first=David |location=New York |pages=300}} as in text-based games or worlds such as MUDs.

The term {{IAST|avatāra}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|v|ə|t|ɑr|,_|ˌ|æ|v|ə|ˈ|t|ɑr}}) originates from Sanskrit, and was adopted by early computer games and science fiction novelists. Richard Garriott extended the term to an on-screen user representation in 1985, and the term gained wider adoption in Internet forums and MUDs. Nowadays, avatars are used in a variety of online settings including social media, virtual assistants, instant messaging platforms, and digital worlds such as World of Warcraft and Second Life. They can take the form of an image of one's real-life self, as often seen on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, or a virtual character that diverges from the real world. Often, these are customised to show support for different causes, or to create a unique online representation.

Academic research has focused on how avatars can influence the outcomes of communication and digital identity. Users can employ avatars with fictional characteristics to gain social acceptance or ease social interaction. However, studies have found that the majority of users choose avatars that resemble their real-world selves.

Origins

The word avatar is ultimately derived from the Sanskrit word ({{IAST|avatāra}} {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|v|ə|t|ɑr|,_|ˌ|æ|v|ə|ˈ|t|ɑr}}); in Hinduism, it stands for the "descent" of a deity into a terrestrial form.{{cite web |last1=Paez |first1=Danny |title=How gaming turned a Hindu concept into the internet's most common feature |url=https://www.inverse.com/gaming/avatar-meaning-origins-video-games |website=Inverse |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=24 August 2020}}[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/avatar "avatar"]. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. It was first used in a computer game by the 1979 PLATO role-playing game Avatar. In Norman Spinrad's novel Songs from the Stars (1980), the term avatar is used in a description of a computer generated virtual experience. In the story, humans receive messages from an alien galactic network that wishes to share knowledge and experience with other advanced civilizations through "songs". The humans build a "galactic receiver" that allows its users to engage in "artificial realities". One experience is described as such:Spinrad, Norman. Songs from the Stars. New York: Pocket Books, 1981. p. 218.

{{blockquote|You stand in a throng of multifleshed being, mind avatared in all its matter, on a broad avenue winding through a city of blue trees with bright red foliage and living buildings growing from the soil in a multitude of forms.}}

The use of the term avatar for the on-screen representation of the user was coined in 1985 by Richard Garriott for the computer game Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar. In this game, Garriott desired the player's character to be their Earth self manifested into the virtual world. Due to the ethical content of his story, Garriott wanted the real player to be responsible for their character; he thought only someone playing "themselves" could be properly judged based on their in-game actions. Because of its ethically nuanced narrative approach, he took the Hindu word associated with a deity's manifestation on earth in physical form, and applied it to a player in the game world.{{Cite web|url=http://www.criticalpathproject.com/video/coining-term-avatar/|title=Coining Term "Avatar"|website=insights from the greatest minds in video games.|language=en|access-date=2017-12-15}} Other early uses of the term include Lucasfilm and Chip Morningstar's 1986 online role-playing game Habitat,Morabito, Margaret. "Enter the Online World of LucasFilm." Run Aug. 1986: 24–28 and the 1989 pen and paper role-playing game Shadowrun.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

The use of avatar to mean online virtual bodies was popularised by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash.{{Cite journal|last1=Gerhard|first1=Michael|last2=Moore|first2=David|last3=Hobbs|first3=Dave|date=2004|title=Embodiment and copresence in collaborative interfaces|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1071581904000126|journal=International Journal of Human-Computer Studies|language=en|volume=61|issue=4|pages=453–480|doi=10.1016/j.ijhcs.2003.12.014|issn=1071-5819|quote=It was first used in the context of virtual worlds in the pioneering Habitat system of the mid 1980s (Morningstar and Farmer, 1991) and popularized by Stephenson's (1992) science-fiction novel Snow Crash.}} In Snow Crash, the term avatar was used to describe the virtual simulation of the human form in the Metaverse, a fictional virtual-reality application on the Internet. Social status within the Metaverse was often based on the quality of a user's avatar, as a highly detailed avatar showed that the user was a skilled hacker and programmer while the less talented would buy off-the-shelf models in the same manner a beginner would today. Stephenson wrote in the "Acknowledgments" to Snow Crash:

{{blockquote|The idea of a "virtual reality" such as the Metaverse is by now widespread in the computer-graphics community and is being used in a number of different ways. The particular vision of the Metaverse as expressed in this novel originated from idle discussion between me and Jaime (Captain Bandwidth) Taaffe ... The words avatar (in the sense used here) and Metaverse are my inventions, which I came up with when I decided that existing words (such as virtual reality) were simply too awkward to use ... after the first publication of Snow Crash, I learned that the term avatar has actually been in use for a number of years as part of a virtual reality system called Habitat...in addition to avatars, Habitat includes many of the basic features of the Metaverse as described in this book.Stephenson, Neal. Snow Crash. New York: Bantam, 2003 (reissue). pp. 469–70.}}

Types and usage

File:President Obama facebook post on Merrick Garland to Supreme Court (cropped).jpg, with his photo next to his name at the top of the post]]

An avatar can refer to a two-dimensional picture akin to an icon in Internet forums and other online communities.Fink, Jeri. Cyberseduction: Reality in the Age of Psychotechnology. Prometheus Books, 1999. {{ISBN|1-57392-743-0}}Blackwood, Kevin. Casino Gambling For Dummies. For Dummies, 2006. p.284. {{ISBN|0-471-75286-X}} This is also known as a profile picture or userpic, or in early Internet parlance, a 'picon' (personal icon).{{cite web|last=Kinzler|first=Steve|title=Picons|url=http://kinzler.com/picons/ftp/faq.html|work=Picons Archive|access-date=24 May 2014}} With the advent of social media platforms like Facebook, where users are not typically anonymous, these pictures often are a photo of the user in real life.{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Kevan |title=What Research Says About the Best Profile Picture {{!}} Buffer |url=https://buffer.com/library/best-profile-picture-science-research-psychology |access-date=11 May 2020 |work=Buffer Marketing Library |date=25 March 2015}}{{cite news |last1=Golby |first1=Joel |title=What Your Facebook Profile Photo Says About You |url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mvkakb/what-your-facebook-profile-photo-says-about-you |access-date=11 May 2020 |work=Vice |date=9 July 2016 |language=en}}

Alternatively, avatars can also be three-dimensional digital representations, as in games such as World of Warcraft or virtual worlds like Second Life.Lessig, Lawrence. Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace. Basic Books, 2000. {{ISBN|0-465-03913-8}} In MUDs and other early systems, they were a construct composed of text.In {{cite book|last1=Mulligan|first1=Jessica|last2=Patrovsky|first2=Bridgette|title=Developing online games: an insider's guide|year=2003|publisher=New Riders}}, Randy Farmer is quoted (p.454): "It is important to realize that the term 'avatar' was used in another game later [??] in that period (Ultima IV) and that the concept of an 'avatar' was in several works of fiction prior to the development of Habitat including Vernor Vinge's True Names and John Brunner's Shockwave Rider." The term has been also sometimes extended to refer to the personality connected with the screen name, or handle, of an Internet user.Jordan, Tim. Cyberpower: The Culture and Politics of Cyberspace and the Internet. Routledge, 1999. {{ISBN|0-415-17078-8}}

=Internet forums=

Despite the widespread use of avatars, it is unknown which Internet forums were the first to use them; the earliest forums did not include avatars as a default feature, and they were included in unofficial "hacks" before eventually being made standard. Avatars on Internet forums serve the purpose of representing users and their actions, personalizing their contributions to the forum, and may represent different parts of their persona, beliefs, interests or social status in the forum.

File:Orion forum post.jpg

The traditional avatar system used on most Internet forums is a small (80x80 to 100x100 pixels, for example) square-shaped area close to the user's forum post, where the avatar is placed in order for other users to easily identify who has written the post without having to read their username. Some forums allow the user to upload an avatar image that may have been designed by the user or acquired from elsewhere. Other forums allow the user to select an avatar from a preset list or use an auto-discovery algorithm to extract one from the user's homepage.

Some avatars are animated, consisting of a sequence of multiple images played repeatedly. In such animated avatars, the number of images as well as the time in which they are replayed vary considerably.[http://herbert.gandraxa.com/herbert/dia.asp Designing Isometric Avatars]

Other avatar systems exist, such as on Gaia Online, WeeWorld, Frenzoo or Meez, where a pixelized representation of a person or creature is used, which can then be customized to the user's wishes.{{Cite web |date=2014-05-15 |title=Virtual World Games Like OurWorld - Find Me Similar |url=https://socialnewsdaily.com/findmesimilar/2014/05/games-like-ourworld.html/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |language=en-US}} There are also avatar systems (e.g. Trutoon) where a representation is created using a person's face with customized characters and backgrounds.

Another avatar-based system is one wherein an image is automatically generated based on the identity of the poster. Identicons are formed as visually distinct geometric images derived from a digest hash of the poster's IP address or user ID. These serve as a means to associate a particular user with a particular geometric representation. When used with an IP address, a particular anonymous user can be visually identified without the need for registration or authentication. If an account is compromised, a dissimilar identicon will be formed as the attacker is posting from an unfamiliar IP address.{{Cite web|url=https://github.blog/2013-08-14-identicons/|title=Identicons!|date=15 August 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.docuverse.com/blog/donpark/2007/01/18/visual-security-9-block-ip-identification |author=Don Park |title=Visual Security: 9-block IP Identification |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703155519/http://www.docuverse.com/blog/donpark/2007/01/18/visual-security-9-block-ip-identification |archivedate=2008-07-03 |url-status=dead }}

=Internet chat and messaging=

GIF avatars were introduced as early as 1990 in the ImagiNation Network (also known as Sierra On-Line) game and chat hybrid. In 1994, Virtual Places offered VOIP capabilities which were later abandoned for lack of bandwidth. In 1996 Microsoft Comic Chat, an IRC client that used cartoon avatars for chatting, was released.

America Online introduced instant messaging for its membership in 1996 and included a limited number of "buddy icons," picking up on the avatar idea from PC games. When AOL later introduced the free version of its messenger, AIM, for use by anyone on the Internet, the number of icons offered grew to be more than 1,000 and the use of them grew exponentially, becoming a hallmark feature of instant messaging. In 2002, AOL introduced "Super Buddies," 3D animated icons that talked to users as they typed messages and read messages. The term Avatar began to replace the moniker of "buddy icon" as 3D customizable icons became known to its users from the mainstream popularity of PC Games. Yahoo's instant messenger was the first to adopt the term "avatar" for its icons. Instant messaging avatars were usually very small; AIM icons have been as small as 16×16 pixels but are used more commonly at the 48×48 pixel size, although many icons can be found online that typically measure anywhere from 50×50 pixels to 100×100 pixels in size.

More recently, services such as Discord have added avatars. With a paid subscription, users can select individual identities for different communities.{{cite web |title=Server Avatars - Discord Help |url=https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409388345495-Server-Avatars |website=Discord Help |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=16 October 2021}}

=Online assistants=

File:Automated online assistant.png providing customer service on a web page]]

Avatars can be used as virtual embodiments of embodied agents, which are driven more or less by artificial intelligence rather than real people. Automated online assistants are examples of avatars used in this way.

Such avatars are used by organizations as a part of automated customer services in order to interact with consumers and users of services. This can avail for enterprises to reduce their operating and training cost. A major underlying technology to such systems is natural language processing.[http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1643823.1643908 Implementing an online help desk system based on conversational agent] Authors: Alisa Kongthon, Chatchawal Sangkeettrakarn, Sarawoot Kongyoung and Choochart Haruechaiyasak. Published by ACM 2009 Article, Bibliometrics Data Bibliometrics. Published in: Proceeding, MEDES '09 Proceedings of the International Conference on Management of Emergent Digital EcoSystems, ACM New York, NY, USA. {{ISBN|978-1-60558-829-2}}, {{doi|10.1145/1643823.1643908}} Some of these avatars are commonly known as "bots". Famous examples include IKEA's Anna, an avatar designed to guide users around the IKEA website.

Such avatars can also be powered by a digital conversation which provides a little more structure than those using NLP, offering the user options and clearly defined paths to an outcome. This kind of avatar is known as a Structured Language Processing or SLP Avatar.

=Video games=

File:Prince of Persia 1 - MS-DOS - Level 1 - Sword.png]]

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 (1974) which represented players as humans,[http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/video-game-firsts.html Video Game Firsts], The Golden Age Arcade Historian (November 22, 2013)[http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=wide-flyer&db=videodb&id=4036&image=2 Basketball Flyer] (1974), Arcade Flyer Museum and Maze War (1974) which represented players as eyeballs.Damer, B. F. Avatars! Exploring and Building Virtual Worlds on the Internet. Berkeley: Peach Pit Press, 1997.

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. For example, Carl Johnson, the avatar from Grand Theft Auto: 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.{{Cite web |url=http://ps2.ign.com/objects/611/611957.html |title=IGN: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas |access-date=2007-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620152954/http://www.ign.com/games/grand-theft-auto-san-andreas/ps2-611957 |archive-date=2013-06-20 |url-status=dead }} One video game in which the avatar and player are two separate entities is the game Perspective, where the player controls both themself in a 3-dimensional world and the avatar in a 2-dimensional world.

Aside from an avatar's physical appearance, its dialogue, particularly in cutscenes, may also reveal something of its character. A good example is the crude, action hero stereotype, Duke Nukem.[http://www.thecomputershow.com/computershow/reviews/dukenukem3d.htm Duke Nukem 3D] Other avatars, such as Gordon Freeman from Half-Life, who never speaks at all, reveal very little of themselves (the original game never showed the player what he looked like without the use of a console command for third-person view).

Many Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) also include customizable avatars. Customization levels differ between games; for instance, in EVE Online, players construct a wholly customized portrait, using a software that allows for several changes to facial structure as well as preset hairstyles, skin tones, etc. However, these portraits appear only in in-game chats and static information view of other players. 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 2007 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.Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, December 14, 2011, [http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/12/14/alter-ego-robbie-cooper/ "Alter Ego, Portraits of Gamers next to their Avatars"] Felicia Day, creator and star of The Guild web series, created a song called "(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar" which satirizes avatars and virtual dating.

{{Multiple image

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| image1 = Xbox NXE avatar.png

| alt1 = A Xbox 360 avatar

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| alt2 = A Nintendo Mii avatar

| footer = Universal animated avatars from the Xbox 360 (shown left) and Nintendo Wii (shown right)

}}

Nintendo's Wii, 3DS and Switch consoles allow 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.{{cite web |last1=Zell-Briefer |first1=Sam |title=The True Origin Of Nintendo Miis May Surprise You |url=https://www.looper.com/430412/the-true-origin-of-nintendo-miis-may-surprise-you/ |website=Looper |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=7 June 2021}}{{cite web|last=Casamassina|first=Matt|author-link=Matt Casamassina|url=http://wii.ign.com/articles/745/745708p1.html|publisher=IGN|title=Wii Sports Review|date=November 13, 2006|access-date=January 31, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012231243/http://wii.ign.com/articles/745/745708p1.html|archive-date=October 12, 2007|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} In some games, the ability to use a Mii as an avatar must be unlocked, such as in Mario Kart 8.{{cite web |last1=Parkin |first1=Jeffrey |title=Mario Kart 8 Deluxe unlockables |url=https://www.polygon.com/mario-kart-8-deluxe-guide/2017/4/27/15445610/unlockables-gold-kart |website=Polygon |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=3 May 2017}}

In late 2008, Microsoft released an Xbox 360 Dashboard update which featured the introduction of Avatars as part of the console's New Xbox Experience.{{cite web| author=Christian Nutt|publisher=Gamasutra|date=2008-07-22|access-date=2008-07-23|title=GameFest: Inside Avatars For The Xbox 360|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19519 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080726074506/http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19519| archive-date= 26 July 2008 | url-status= live}} With the update installed users can personalize the look of their Avatars by choosing from a range of clothing and facial features. In October 2018, Microsoft launched a new version of their Xbox avatars for Xbox One and Xbox on Windows 10, featuring increased detail and having a focus on inclusivity.{{cite web |last1=Warren |first1=Tom |title=Microsoft starts testing new diverse Xbox Live avatars |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/19/17365914/microsoft-xbox-live-avatars-launch-features |website=The Verge |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=19 June 2018}} PlayStation Home for Sony's PlayStation 3 console also featured the use of avatars, but with a more realistic style than Nintendo's Miis or Microsoft's Avatars.{{cite web |last1=Agnello |first1=A |title=There's no longer a place like PlayStation Home |url=https://www.engadget.com/2015-04-04-rip-playstation-home.html |website=Engadget |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=4 April 2015}}

=Non-gaming online worlds=

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.Damer, Bruce. Avatars: Exploring and Building Virtual Worlds on the Internet. Peachpit Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-201-68840-9}}

File:Second Life 11th Birthday Live Drax Files Radio Hour.jpg]]

The earliest avatars of this form were text-based descriptions employed by players within MUDs. These often allowed players to express an identity disparate from their public one within an interactive environment. For instance, LambdaMOO allowed a choice of 11 different genders, which could be changed at the user's will.{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Claire L. |title=Quest of the Avatars |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quest-of-the-avatars/ |website=LA Review of Books |date=16 September 2019 |access-date=5 November 2021}} The visually-based game Habitat also used the term to refer to players within the game world. A later example is Linden Lab's Second Life, which has the player use a custom avatar to interact in a virtual 3D world; after peaking in 2007, its user count declined due to the encroachment of more traditional platforms such as Facebook. More recently, the concept has been combined with virtual reality; VRChat allows the user to interact with other avatars in custom environments, and Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms has promoted it as part of his vision of a metaverse.{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Abram |title=What Is The Metaverse—And Why Does Mark Zuckerberg Care So Much About It? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2021/11/03/zuckerberg-facebook-metaverse-meta-virtual-reality-oculus/?sh=5cd5cac66b69 |website=Forbes |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=3 November 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Sung |first1=Morgan |title=What it's like to dance at a VR strip club |url=https://mashable.com/article/virtual-reality-strip-clubs-vrchat |website=Mashable |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=8 October 2021}}

Many modern virtual worlds provide users with advanced tools to customize their representations, allowing them to change shapes, hair, skins and also genre. Moreover, there is a secondary industry devoted to the creations of products and items for the avatars. Some companies have also launched social networks{{cite magazine|author=Sterling, Bruce|magazine=Wired|date=September 28, 2007|title=Get a First Life|url=http://blog.wired.com/sterling/2007/09/get-a-first-lif.html/}} and other websites for avatars such as Koinup, Myrl, and Avatars United.

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.Nakamura, Lisa. Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet. Routledge, 2002. {{ISBN|0-415-93836-8}} In Second Life avatars are created by residents and take any form, and range from lifelike humans to robots, animals, plants and legendary creatures. Avatar customization is one of the most important entertainment aspects in non gaming virtual worlds, such as Second Life, IMVU, and Active Worlds.Meadows, Mark Stephen (2008). I, Avatar: The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life, New Riders, {{ISBN|0-321-53339-9}} Some evidence suggests that avatars that are more anthropomorphic are perceived to be less credible and likeable than images that are less anthropomorphic.{{cite journal|last=Nowak|first=Kristine L.|title=The Influence of Anthropomorphism and Agency on Social Judgment in Virtual Environments|journal=Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication|year=2004|volume=9|issue=2|page=n.p|url=http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol9/issue2/nowak.html|doi=10.1111/j.1083-6101.2004.tb00284.x}} Social scientists at Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab[http://vhil.stanford.edu VHIL: Virtual Human Interaction Lab - Stanford University] examine the implications, possibilities, and transformed social interaction that occur when people interact via avatars.

=Social media=

Another use of the avatar has emerged with the widespread use of social media platforms. There is a practice in social media sites: uploading avatars in place of real profile image. 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.{{Cite conference |author1=Teubner, T. |author2=Adam, M. |author3=Camacho S |author4=Hassanein K. |title=Understanding Resource Sharing in C2C Platforms: The Role of Picture Humanization |conference=Australasian Conference on Information Systems |year=2014 |url=https://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10292/8101/acis20140_submission_352.pdf |access-date=2015-03-22 |archive-date=2016-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027083304/https://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10292/8101/acis20140_submission_352.pdf |url-status=dead }} Retrieved 23 March 2015. According to MIT professor Sherry Turkle: "...{{nbsp}}we think we will be presenting ourselves, but our profile ends up as somebody else – often the fantasy of who we want to be".Turkle, Sherry. "Alone Together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other" Basic Books (2011): 153.

= Motion capture =

Another form of use for avatars is for video chats/calls. Some services, such as Skype (through some external plugins) allow users to use talking avatars during video calls, replacing the image from the user's camera with an animated, talking avatar.[https://extras.skype.com/72/view Skype Extras] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061024194129/https://extras.skype.com/72/view |date=October 24, 2006 }} Through the use of facial motion capture and a webcam, an avatar can be configured to mimic the motions and expressions of the user. This can be integrated directly into games, such as Star Citizen, and via standalone software such as FaceRig.{{Cite web|title=U.S fund invests USD 2 mln in Romanian animation software developer|url=http://www.romania-insider.com/facerig-usd-2-million-expansion|access-date=2021-09-01|website=Romania Insider|date=8 January 2018|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2014-07-01|title=This is the easiest way to pretend to be an octopus pretending to be a human|url=https://www.vg247.com/octodad-dadliest-catch-facerig-animation-demo|access-date=2021-09-01|website=VG247|language=en}}

Both 3D and 2D avatars have been used in Learning and Development content for education, onboarding, employee training and more. Photorealistic 3D AI avatars have been used as stand-ins for real actors via video editing tools like those made by Synthesia among others.{{Cite web|date=2023-10-17|title=Create professional videos with 140+ diverse AI avatars|url=https://www.synthesia.io/features/avatars

|access-date=2023-10-17|language=en}}

Virtual YouTubers use animated avatars designed in software such as Live2D, which often resemble anime characters.{{Cite web|last=Nagata|first=Kazuaki|date=2018-07-17|title=Japan's latest big thing: 'virtual YouTubers'|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/17/national/japans-latest-big-thing-virtual-youtubers/|access-date=2020-12-14|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US}} A whole ecosystem of talent agencies and investors exists to manage these online personalities, which often differ from the creator's real-life persona.{{cite news|last=Lufkin|first=Bryan|date=2 October 2018|title=The virtual vloggers taking over YouTube|language=en|work=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20181002-the-virtual-vloggers-taking-over-youtube|access-date=14 February 2018}} YouTube's 2020 Culture and Trends report highlighted VTubers as one of the notable trends of that year, with 1.5 billion views per month by October,{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=15 December 2020|title=YouTube Culture & Trends – Data and Cultural Analysis for You|url=https://www.youtube.com/trends/articles/report-sources/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218081931/https://www.youtube.com/trends/articles/report-sources/ |archive-date=2020-12-18 |access-date=2020-12-16|website=YouTube Culture & Trends|language=en}} and in May 2021, Twitch added a VTuber tag for streams as part of a wider expansion of its tag system.{{Cite web|last=Marshall|first=Cass|date=2021-05-27|title=Twitch introduces more than 350 new streamer tags, including Vtuber, transgender, queer|url=https://www.polygon.com/22456783/twitch-new-streamer-tags-vtuber-transgender-queer-trans-community|access-date=2021-09-01|website=Polygon|language=en}}

=Miscellaneous=

Samsung's AR Emoji which comes on Samsung Galaxy smartphones lets users create animated avatars of themselves.{{Cite web |last=Carman |first=Ashley |date=2018-03-26 |title=Everyone's making digital avatars, and none of them are great |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/3/26/17156360/digital-emoji-ar-bitmoji-animoji-samsung-apple-snapchat |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=The Verge |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Galaxy AR Emoji SDK for Unity |url=https://developer.samsung.com/galaxy-ar-emoji/overview.html |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=Samsung Developers |language=en}}

=In popular culture=

Cartoons and stories sometimes have a character based on their creator, either a fictionalised version (e.g. the Matt Groening character in some episodes of The Simpsons) or an entirely fictional character (e.g. Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series has been said{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/pacific/magazine/20001030/potter.html |title=A Good Scare |magazine=Time |date=30 October 2000 |access-date=5 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228031300/http://www.time.com/time/pacific/magazine/20001030/potter.html |archive-date=28 February 2010 }} by J. K. Rowling to be based upon herself). Such characters are sometimes known as "author surrogates", "author avatars" or Self Inserts{{Cite web |last=Ahmed |first=Nazeefa |date=2024-06-22 |title=The Fall Guy and the self insert character |url=https://thegauntlet.ca/2024/06/22/the-fall-guy-and-the-self-insert-character/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=The Gauntlet |language=en-US}}.

Customization

Early examples of customizable avatars include multi-user systems, including MUDs.{{cite web|last=Bear|first=Amy|title=Me, My Self, My Character, and I: Role-playing Identities in Ludic Space.|url=http://networkconference.netstudies.org/2010/04/me-my-self-my-character-and-i/|work=Online Conference on Networks and Communities|access-date=15 December 2012|date=27 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727210310/http://networkconference.netstudies.org/2010/04/me-my-self-my-character-and-i/|archive-date=27 July 2012|url-status=dead}} Gaia Online has a customizable avatar where users can dress it up as desired.{{cite web|last=Au|first=Wagner James|title=Move over MySpace, Gaia Online is here|url=http://gigaom.com/2007/04/22/move-over-myspace-gaia-online-is-here/comment-page-2/|work=GigaOm|access-date=15 December 2012|date=22 April 2007}} Users may earn credits for completing sponsored surveys or certain tasks to purchase items and upgrades to customize their avatar.{{cite web|last=Morgan|first=KC|title=What's So Great About IMVU?|url=http://tools.devshed.com/c/a/Website-Marketing/Whats-So-Great-About-IMVU/|work=Website Marketing|access-date=15 December 2012|date=10 March 2010|archive-date=3 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203043152/http://tools.devshed.com/c/a/Website-Marketing/Whats-So-Great-About-IMVU/|url-status=dead}} Linden Lab's Second Life creates a virtual world in which avatars, homes, decorations, buildings and land are for sale.{{cite web|last=Hopkins|first=Curt|title=Second Life Economy At Record High|url=http://readwrite.com/2010/04/28/second_life_economy_at_record_high|work=ReadWritePlay|publisher=SAY Media, Inc.|access-date=15 December 2012|date=28 April 2010}} Less-common items may be designed to appear better than common items, and an experienced player may be identified from a group of new characters before in-game statistics are seen.

=Avatar Generators=

To meet the demand for millions of unique, customized avatars, generator tools and services have been created.{{cite web |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/172320/cartoon_you_creating_easy_avatars.html |title=Cartoon You: Creating Easy Avatars |author=Pariah S. Burke, Macworld.com |date=September 21, 2009 |magazine=PC World|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221110659/https://www.pcworld.com/article/172320/cartoon_you_creating_easy_avatars.html|archive-date=February 21, 2010}} Many of them, such as the website Picrew, are based around works by original artists.{{cite web |first=Rachel|last=Leishman|url=https://www.themarysue.com/avatar-trend-twitter/ |title=What Is This New Picrew Avatar Trend? |website=The Mary Sue |date=May 27, 2020|access-date=November 5, 2021}} The 2021 Electronic Entertainment Expo featured an avatar creator, to align with its new all-digital nature.{{cite web |first=Ash|last=Parrish|url=https://kotaku.com/e3-avatar-creator-the-kotaku-review-1847049829 |title= E3 Avatar Creator: The Kotaku Review |website=Kotaku |date=July 6, 2021|access-date=November 5, 2021}}

=Awareness avatars=

File:Example social media profile pic.png across one corner]]

Some people add visual details or effects to their avatars to show support for a movement or issue, in a similar way to a physical awareness ribbon.

The awareness avatar may have first been used in the New Zealand Internet Blackout, to protest copyright law changes in New Zealand. Globally, protesters replaced their icons with black squares to show solidarity. The protest was successful and proved the method effective at both raising awareness and effecting change. Campaigns have used this method include:

Black avatar: February 16–23, 2009 New Zealand Internet Blackout protesting copyright law changes in New Zealand.{{cite web|url=http://creativefreedom.org.nz/blackout.html |title=Join the Internet Blackout - Protest Against Guilt Upon Accusation Laws in NZ — Creative Freedom Foundation (Creativefreedom.org.nz) |accessdate=2009-06-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429074200/http://creativefreedom.org.nz/blackout.html |archivedate=2009-04-29 }}
Yellow tint: Beginning June 17, 2009, to protest the increasing size and role of the United States government.{{cite web |last1=Menendez |first1=Ed |title=Ed Menendez Blog - Bush + Obama Debt = Slavery |url=http://menendez.com/blog/bush-obama-debt-slavery/ |access-date=5 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330012406/http://menendez.com/blog/bush-obama-debt-slavery/ |date=June 29, 2009 |archive-date=March 30, 2010|url-status=dead}}
Green tint: Beginning June 18, 2009 support for Iran election protests.{{cite web |last1=Kraskin |first1=Michael |title=Going Green for Iran |url=http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/06/18/going-green-for-iran/ |website=Politics Daily |access-date=5 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090620234907/http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/06/18/going-green-for-iran/ |archive-date=June 20, 2009}}
French flag tint: Beginning November 13, 2015 to show support for France after the November 2015 Paris attacks.{{Cite news|last1=Sanders|first1=Sam|last2=Mutnick|first2=Ally|date=2015-11-21|title=#MemeOfTheWeek: French Flags On Facebook|language=en|work=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2015/11/21/456820583/-memeoftheweek-french-flags-on-facebook|access-date=2022-02-01}}
During the COVID-19 pandemic, users added surgical masks and respirators on the faces of characters and avatars.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} Websites such as Facebook officially supported these efforts by adding the option for several frames supporting the COVID-19 vaccine.{{cite web |last1=Guynn |first1=Jessica |title=How to add 'I got my COVID vaccine' frame to your Facebook profile |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/04/01/facebook-covid-vaccine-profile-frames/4829274001/ |website=USA Today |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=1 April 2021}} Conversely, anti-vaccine advocates have used profile frames to state their opposition to it.{{cite web |last1=Fiener |first1=Lauren |title=Facebook races to remove anti-vaccine profile picture frames |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/14/facebook-races-to-remove-anti-vaccine-profile-picture-frames.html |website=CNBC |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=14 May 2021}}
Rainbow patterns to represent membership or solidarity with the LGBT community.{{cite news |last1=Dewey |first1=Caitlin |title=More than 26 million people have changed their Facebook picture to a rainbow flag. Here's why that matters. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/06/29/more-than-26-million-people-have-changed-their-facebook-picture-to-a-rainbow-flag-heres-why-that-matters/ |access-date=11 May 2020 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=June 29, 2015 |language=en}}

Academic study

Avatars have become an area of study in the world of academics. According to psychiatrist David Brunski, the emergence of online avatars have implications for domains of scholarly research such as technoself studies, which is concerned with all aspects of identity in a technological society.{{cite journal|last=Brunskill|first=David|title=Social media, social avatars and the psyche: is Facebook good for us?|journal=Australasian Psychiatry|date=December 2013|volume=21|issue=6|pages=527–532|doi=10.1177/1039856213509289|pmid=24159052|s2cid=7526092}}

Across the literature, scholars have focused on three overlapping aspects that influence users' perceptions of the social potential of avatars: agency, anthropomorphism, and realism.{{cite journal | last1 = Nowak | first1 = K. L. | last2 = Fox | first2 = J. | year = 2018 | title = Avatars and Computer-Mediated Communication: A Review of the Definitions, Uses, and Effects of Digital Representations | journal = Review of Communication Research | volume = 6 | pages = 30–53 | doi = 10.12840/issn.2255-4165.2018.06.01.015 | doi-broken-date = November 2, 2024 | doi-access = free }} According to researchers K. L. Novak and J. Fox, researchers must differentiate perceived agency (whether an entity is perceived to be human), anthropomorphism (having human form or behavior), identomorphism {{Cite web |last=Virk |first=Riz |date=2022-08-18 |title=Threads of the Metaverse — A Comparative Framework |url=https://rizstanford.medium.com/threads-of-the-metaverse-a-comparative-framework-a4ec6800b483 |access-date=2022-08-21 |website=Medium |language=en}}(how much the form of the avatar resembles the player), and realism (the perceived viability of something realistically existing). Perceived agency influences people's responses in the interaction regardless of who or what is actually controlling the representation. An earlier meta-analysis of studies comparing agents and avatars found that both agency and perceived agency mattered: representations controlled by humans were more persuasive than those controlled by bots, and representations believed to be controlled by humans were more persuasive than those believed to be controlled by bots.{{cite journal | last1 = Fox | first1 = J. | last2 = Ahn | first2 = S. J. | last3 = Janssen | first3 = J. H. | last4 = Yeykelis | first4 = L. | last5 = Segovia | first5 = K. Y. | last6 = Bailenson | first6 = J. N. | year = 2015 | title = Avatars versus agents: A metaanalysis quantifying the effects of agency on social influence | journal = Human-Computer Interaction | volume = 30 | issue = 5 | pages = 401–432 | doi = 10.1080/07370024.2014.921494 | s2cid = 21235038 }}

Additionally, researchers have investigated how anthropomorphic representations influence communicative outcomes and found that more human-like representations are judged more favorably; people consider them more attractive, credible, and competent.{{cite journal | last1 = Westerman | first1 = D. | last2 = Tamborini | first2 = R. | last3 = Bowman | first3 = N. D. | year = 2015 | title = The effects of static avatars on impression formation across different contexts on social networking sites | journal = Computers in Human Behavior | volume = 53 | pages = 111–117 | doi = 10.1016/j.chb.2015.06.026 | s2cid = 43018984 }} Higher levels of anthropomorphism also lead to higher involvement, social presence, and communication satisfaction.{{cite journal | last1 = Kang | first1 = S. H. | last2 = Watt | first2 = J. H. | year = 2013 | title = The Impact of Avatar Realism and Anonymity on Effective Communication via Mobile Devices | journal = Computers in Human Behavior | volume = 29 | issue = 3 | pages = 1169–1181 | doi = 10.1016/j.chb.2012.10.010 }} Moreover, people communicate more naturally with more anthropomorphic avatars.{{cite journal | last1 = Heyselaar | first1 = E. | last2 = Hagoort | first2 = P. | last3 = Segaert | first3 = K. | year = 2017 | title = In dialogue with an avatar, language behavior is identical to dialogue with a human partner | journal = Behavior Research Methods | volume = 49 | issue = 1 | pages = 46–60 | doi = 10.3758/s13428-015-0688-7 | pmid = 26676949 | pmc = 5352801 | doi-access = free }} Anthropomorphism is also tied to social influence, as more human-like representations can be more persuasive.{{cite journal | last1 = Gong | first1 = L | year = 2008 | title = How social is social responses to computers? The function of the degree of anthropomorphism in computer representations | journal = Computers in Human Behavior | volume = 24 | issue = 4 | pages = 1494–1509 | doi = 10.1016/j.chb.2007.05.007 }}

For the Harvard Business Review, Paul Hemp analysed the effects of avatars on real-world business. He focuses on the game "Second Life", demonstrating that the creators of virtual avatars are willing to spend real money to purchase goods marketed solely to their virtual selves.Hemp, Paul. "Avatar-based marketing." Harvard Business Review 84.6 (2006): 48–57. In addition, research in data collection via Second Life avatars suggested important considerations related to research participant engagement, burden, and retention, as well as accuracy of the data collected.{{Cite journal |last1=Cook |first1=Sarah L. |last2=Sha |first2=Mandy |last6=Sha |first6=Mandy |date=2016-03-15 |title=Technology options for engaging respondents in self-administered questionnaires and remote interviewing |url=https://www.rti.org/rti-press-publication/technology-options-engaging-respondents-self-administered-questionnaires-and-remote-interviewing |journal=RTI Press |language=en-US |doi=10.3768/rtipress.2016.op.0026.1603 |doi-access=free}}

=Representation of identity=

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, age, gender, hair styles and height.{{cite journal | last1 = Nowak | first1 = K. L. | last2 = Rauh | first2 = C. | year = 2005 | title = The Influence of the Avatar on Online Perceptions of Anthropomorphism, Androgyny, Credibility, Homophily, and Attraction | journal = Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication | volume = 11 | issue = 1| pages = 153–178 | doi = 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.tb00308.x | doi-access = free }} Researchers at York University studied whether avatars reflected a user's real-life personality.{{cite web | last=Gregoire | first=Carolyn | title=People Can Predict Your Personality From Your Online Avatar | website=The Huffington Post | date=14 January 2015 | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/14/online-avatar-personality_n_6463484.html | access-date=17 January 2015}} Student test groups were able to infer upon extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, but could not infer upon openness and conscientiousness.

Researchers have also studied avatars that differ from real-life identity. Sherry Turkle described a middle-aged man who played an aggressive, confrontational female character in his online communities, displaying personality traits he was embarrassed to display in the offline world.{{cite magazine|last=McCorduck|first=Pamela|title=Sex, Lies and Avatars|url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.04/turkle_pr.html|magazine=Wired|access-date=15 December 2012}} Research by Nick Yee of the Daedelus Project demonstrates that an avatar may differ considerably from a player's offline identity, based on gender.{{cite web|last=Yee|first=Nick|title=Our Virtual Bodies, Ourselves?|url=http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001613.php?page=1|work=The Daedalus Project|access-date=15 December 2012|date=17 February 2008}} However, most players will make an avatar that is (proportionately) equal to their height (or slightly taller). Turkle has observed that some players seek an emotional connection they cannot establish in the real world. 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. Others have pointed out similar findings in those with mental disorders making social interaction difficult, such as those with autism or similar disabilities.{{cite web|last=Harris|first=Stephen|title=Working Through Personal Identity Issues Using Virtual Communities and Networks|url=http://networkconference.netstudies.org/2010/04/working-through-personal-identity-issues-using-virtual-communities-and-networks/|work=Online Conference on Networks and Communities|access-date=15 December 2012|date=23 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320224257/http://networkconference.netstudies.org/2010/04/working-through-personal-identity-issues-using-virtual-communities-and-networks/|archive-date=20 March 2012|url-status=dead}}