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Incomputing, anavatar is agraphical representation of auser, the user'scharacter, orpersona. Avatars can be two-dimensionalicons inInternet forums and other online communities, where they are also known asprofile pictures,userpics, or formerlypicons (personal icons, or possibly "picture icons"). Alternatively, an avatar can take the form of athree-dimensional model, as used in online worlds and video games, or an imaginary character with no graphical appearance,[1] as in text-based games or worlds such asMUDs.
The termavatāra (/ˈævətɑːr,ˌævəˈtɑːr/) originates fromSanskrit, 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 inInternet forums andMUDs. Nowadays, avatars are used in a variety of online settings includingsocial media,virtual assistants,instant messaging platforms, and digital worlds such asWorld of Warcraft andSecond Life. They can take the form of an image of one's real-life self, as often seen on platforms likeFacebook andLinkedIn, 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.
The wordavatar is ultimately derived from theSanskrit word (avatāra/ˈævətɑːr,ˌævəˈtɑːr/); inHinduism, it stands for the "descent" of a deity into a terrestrial form.[2][3] It was first used in acomputer game by the 1979PLATOrole-playing gameAvatar. InNorman Spinrad's novelSongs from the Stars (1980), the termavatar 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:[4]
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 termavatar for the on-screen representation of the user was coined in 1985 by Richard Garriott for the computer gameUltima 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.[5] Other early uses of the term includeLucasfilm andChip Morningstar's 1986online role-playing gameHabitat,[6] and the 1989pen and paper role-playing gameShadowrun.[citation needed]
The use ofavatar to mean online virtual bodies was popularised byNeal Stephenson in his 1992cyberpunk novelSnow Crash.[7] InSnow Crash, the termavatar was used to describe the virtual simulation of the human form in theMetaverse, a fictional virtual-reality application on theInternet.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 skilledhacker andprogrammer while the less talented would buy off-the-shelf models in the same manner a beginner would today. Stephenson wrote in the "Acknowledgments" toSnow Crash:
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 wordsavatar (in the sense used here) andMetaverse are my inventions, which I came up with when I decided that existing words (such asvirtual reality) were simply too awkward to use ... after the first publication ofSnow Crash, I learned that the termavatar has actually been in use for a number of years as part of a virtual reality system calledHabitat...in addition to avatars,Habitat includes many of the basic features of the Metaverse as described in this book.[8]
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An avatar can be a two-dimensional picture akin to anicon in online communities.[9][10] This is also known as a profile picture or userpic, or in early Internet parlance, a 'picon' (personal icon).[11] With the advent of social media platforms likeFacebook, where users are not typically anonymous, these pictures often are a photo of the user in real life.[12][13]
Alternatively, avatars can also bethree-dimensional digital representations, as ingames such asWorld of Warcraft orvirtual worlds likeSecond Life.[14][15] InMUDs and other early systems, they were a construct composed of text.[16] The term has been also sometimes extended to the personality connected with thescreen name, or handle, of an Internet user.[17]
Despite the widespread use of avatars, it is unknown whichInternet 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 theirpersona, beliefs, interests or social status in the forum.
The traditional avatar system used on most Internet forums is a small (80x80 to 100x100pixels, 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 toupload 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 areanimated, consisting of asequence 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.[18]
Other avatar systems exist, such as onGaia Online,WeeWorld, Frenzoo orMeez, where a pixelized representation of a person or creature is used, which can then be customized to the user's wishes.[19] 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'sIP 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.[20][21]
GIF avatars were introduced as early as 1990 in theImagiNation 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 1996Microsoft Comic Chat, anIRC 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 asDiscord have added avatars. With a paid subscription, users can select individual identities for different communities.[22]
Avatars can be used as virtual embodiments ofembodied agents, which are driven more or less byartificial 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 ofautomated customer services in order to interact with consumers and users of services. This can avail for enterprises to reduce their operating and training cost.[23] A major underlying technology to such systems isnatural language processing.[23] Some of these avatars are commonly known as "bots". Famous examples includeIKEA's Anna, an avatar designed to guide users around the IKEA website.
Such avatars can also be powered by adigital 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.
Avatars invideo games are the player's representation in the game world. The first video games to include a representation of the player wereBasketball (1974) which represented players as humans,[24][25] andMaze War (1974) which represented players as eyeballs.[26]
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 fromGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas, can be dressed in a wide range of clothing, can be giventattoos andhaircuts, and can evenbody build or becomeobese depending upon player actions.[27] One video game in which the avatar and player are two separate entities is the gamePerspective, 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 incutscenes, may also reveal something of its character. A good example is the crude,action herostereotype,Duke Nukem.[28] Other avatars, such asGordon Freeman fromHalf-Life, whonever 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).
ManyMassively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) also include customizable avatars. Customization levels differ between games; for instance, inEVE 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.[18] 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 traditionalsuperheroes 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.[29]Felicia Day, creator and star ofThe Guildweb series, created a song called "(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar" which satirizes avatars andvirtual dating.
Nintendo'sWii,3DS andSwitch 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 inWii Sports.[30][31] In some games, the ability to use a Mii as an avatar must be unlocked, such as inMario Kart 8.[32]
In late 2008,Microsoft released anXbox 360 Dashboard update which featured the introduction ofAvatars as part of the console'sNew Xbox Experience.[33] 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 onWindows 10, featuring increased detail and having a focus on inclusivity.[34]PlayStation Home forSony'sPlayStation 3 console also featured the use of avatars, but with a more realistic style than Nintendo's Miis or Microsoft's Avatars.[35]
Avatars in non-gamingonline worlds are used as two- or three-dimensional human orfantasticrepresentations 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.[36]
The earliest avatars of this form were text-based descriptions employed by players withinMUDs. 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 differentgenders, which could be changed at the user's will.[14] The visually-based gameHabitat also used the term to refer to players within the game world. A later example is Linden Lab'sSecond 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 asFacebook. More recently, the concept has been combined withvirtual reality;VRChat allows the user to interact with other avatars in custom environments, andMark Zuckerberg'sMeta Platforms has promoted it as part of his vision of ametaverse.[37][38]
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[39] and other websites for avatars such asKoinup, Myrl, andAvatars 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.[40] InSecond Life avatars are created by residents and take any form, and range from lifelikehumans to robots,animals,plants andlegendary creatures.Avatar customization is one of the most important entertainment aspects in non gaming virtual worlds, such asSecond Life,IMVU, andActive Worlds.[41] Some evidence suggests that avatars that are more anthropomorphic are perceived to be less credible and likeable than images that are less anthropomorphic.[j 1] Social scientists atStanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab[42] examine the implications, possibilities, andtransformed social interaction that occur when people interact via avatars.
Another use of the avatar has emerged with the widespread use ofsocial 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 ofsocial presence which in turn fosters reciprocity and sharing behavior in online environments.[43] According to MIT professorSherry Turkle: "... we think we will be presenting ourselves, but our profile ends up as somebody else – often the fantasy of who we want to be".[44]
Another form of use for avatars is for video chats/calls. Some services, such as Skype (through some external plugins) allow users to usetalking avatars during video calls, replacing the image from the user's camera with an animated, talking avatar.[45] Through the use offacial motion capture and awebcam, an avatar can be configured to mimic the motions and expressions of the user. This can be integrated directly into games, such asStar Citizen, and via standalone software such as FaceRig.[46][47]
Both 3D and 2D avatars have been used inLearning 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 bySynthesia among others.[48]
Virtual YouTubers use animated avatars designed in software such asLive2D, which often resembleanime characters.[49] A whole ecosystem of talent agencies and investors exists to manage these online personalities, which often differ from the creator's real-life persona.[50] 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,[51] and in May 2021,Twitch added a VTuber tag for streams as part of a wider expansion of its tag system.[52]
With the rise ofartificial intelligence in the mid-2020s, companies began offering to create 3D avatars of individuals, particularly those near death.[53]
Samsung'sAR Emoji which comes onSamsung Galaxy smartphones lets users create animated avatars of themselves.[54][55]
Cartoons and stories sometimes have a character based on their creator, either a fictionalised version (e.g. theMatt Groening character in some episodes ofThe Simpsons) or an entirely fictional character (e.g.Hermione Granger in theHarry Potter series has been said[56] byJ. K. Rowling to be based upon herself). Such characters are sometimes known as "author surrogates", "author avatars" or Self Inserts.[57]
Early examples of customizable avatars include multi-user systems, includingMUDs.[58]Gaia Online has a customizable avatar where users can dress it up as desired.[59] Users may earn credits for completing sponsored surveys or certain tasks to purchase items and upgrades to customize their avatar.[60]Linden Lab'sSecond Life creates avirtual world in which avatars, homes, decorations, buildings and land are for sale.[61] 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.[58]
To meet the demand for millions of unique, customized avatars, generator tools and services have been created.[62] Many of them, such as the websitePicrew, are based around works by original artists.[63] The 2021Electronic Entertainment Expo featured an avatar creator, to align with its new all-digital nature.[64]
Some people add visual details or effects to their avatars to show support for a movement or issue, in a similar way to a physicalawareness ribbon.
The awareness avatar may have first been used in theNew 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:
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 astechnoself studies, which is concerned with all aspects of identity in a technological society.[j 2] Across the literature, scholars have focused on three overlapping aspects that influence users' perceptions of the social potential of avatars: agency, anthropomorphism, and realism.[j 3] According to researchers K. L. Novak and J. Fox, researchers must differentiateperceived agency (whether an entity is perceived to be human),anthropomorphism (having human form or behavior),identomorphism[72] (how much the form of the avatar resembles the player), andrealism (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.[j 4]
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.[j 5] Higher levels of anthropomorphism also lead to higher involvement, social presence, and communication satisfaction.[j 6] Moreover, people communicate more naturally with more anthropomorphic avatars.[j 7] Anthropomorphism is also tied to social influence, as more human-like representations can be more persuasive.[j 8]
For theHarvard 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.[73] In addition, research indata collection via Second Life avatars suggested important considerations related to research participant engagement, burden, and retention, as well as accuracy of the data collected.[74]
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.[j 9] Researchers at York University studied whether avatars reflected a user's real-life personality.[75] Student test groups were able to infer upon extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, but could not infer upon openness and conscientiousness.[75]
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.[76] Research by Nick Yee of the Daedelus Project demonstrates that an avatar may differ considerably from a player's offline identity, based on gender.[77] However, most players will make an avatar that is (proportionately) equal to their height (or slightly taller).[77] 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.[76] Others have pointed out similar findings in those withmental disorders makingsocial interaction difficult, such as those withautism or similar disabilities.[78]
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.
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