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Avatar (computing)

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,[1] as in text-based games or worlds such as MUDs.

An avatar in the virtual world Second Life
A Twitter post, with the user's profile picture

The term avatāra (/ˈævətɑːr, ˌævəˈtɑːr/) 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 edit

The word avatar is ultimately derived from the Sanskrit word (avatāra /ˈævətɑːr, ˌævəˈtɑːr/); in Hinduism, it stands for the "descent" of a deity into a terrestrial form.[2][3] 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:[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 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.[5] Other early uses of the term include Lucasfilm and Chip Morningstar's 1986 online role-playing game Habitat,[6] and the 1989 pen and paper role-playing game Shadowrun.[citation needed]

The use of avatar to mean online virtual bodies was popularised by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash.[7] 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:

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.[8]

Types and usage edit

An avatar can refer to a two-dimensional picture akin to an icon in Internet forums and other 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 like Facebook, where users are not typically anonymous, these pictures often are a photo of the user in real life.[12][13]

Alternatively, avatars can also be three-dimensional digital representations, as in games such as World of Warcraft or virtual worlds like Second Life.[14][15] In MUDs and other early systems, they were a construct composed of text.[16] The term has been also sometimes extended to refer to the personality connected with the screen name, or handle, of an Internet user.[17]

Internet forums edit

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.

 
Example of an avatar image on an internet forum

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.[18]

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.[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'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.[20][21]

Internet chat and messaging edit

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.[22]

Online assistants edit

 
An avatar used by an automated online assistant 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.[23] A major underlying technology to such systems is natural language processing.[23] 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 edit

 
 
Game consoles such as the Xbox 360 (shown left), Nintendo Switch (shown right), and PlayStation 3 have featured universal animated avatars.

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,[24][25] and Maze 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 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.[27] 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.[28] 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.[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 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.[29] 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.

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.[30][31] In some games, the ability to use a Mii as an avatar must be unlocked, such as in Mario Kart 8.[32]

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.[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 on Windows 10, featuring increased detail and having a focus on inclusivity.[34] 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.[35]

Non-gaming online worlds edit

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.[36]

 
Avatars socialising in the 2003 virtual world Second Life

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.[14] 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.[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 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.[40] 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.[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 at Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab[42] examine the implications, possibilities, and transformed social interaction that occur when people interact via avatars.

Social media edit

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.[43] According to MIT professor Sherry 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]

Motion capture edit

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.[45] 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.[46][47]

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.[48]

Virtual YouTubers use animated avatars designed in software such as Live2D, which often resemble anime 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]

Miscellaneous edit

Samsung's AR Emoji which comes on Samsung Galaxy smartphones lets users create animated avatars of themselves.[53][54]

In popular culture edit

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[55] by J. K. Rowling to be based upon herself). Such characters are sometimes[citation needed] known as "author surrogates" or "author avatars".

Customisation edit

Early examples of customizable avatars include multi-user systems, including MUDs.[56] Gaia Online has a customizable avatar where users can dress it up as desired.[57] Users may earn credits for completing sponsored surveys or certain tasks to purchase items and upgrades to customize their avatar.[58] Linden Lab's Second Life creates a virtual world in which avatars, homes, decorations, buildings and land are for sale.[59] 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.[56]

Generators edit

To meet the demand for millions of unique, customised avatars, generator tools and services have been created.[60] Many of them, such as the website Picrew, are based around works by original artists.[61] The 2021 Electronic Entertainment Expo featured an avatar creator, to align with its new all-digital nature.[62]

Awareness avatars edit

 
Example user image with a rainbow flag 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:

Academic study edit

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.[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 differentiate perceived agency (whether an entity is perceived to be human), anthropomorphism (having human form or behavior), identomorphism [70](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.[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 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.[71] 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.[72]

Representation of identity edit

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.[73] Student test groups were able to infer upon extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, but could not infer upon openness and conscientiousness.[73]

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.[74] Research by Nick Yee of the Daedelus Project demonstrates that an avatar may differ considerably from a player's offline identity, based on gender.[75] However, most players will make an avatar that is (proportionately) equal to their height (or slightly taller).[75] 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.[74] Others have pointed out similar findings in those with mental disorders making social interaction difficult, such as those with autism or similar disabilities.[76]

See also edit

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Academic sources edit

  1. ^ Nowak, Kristine L. (2004). "The Influence of Anthropomorphism and Agency on Social Judgment in Virtual Environments". Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 9 (2): n.p. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2004.tb00284.x.
  2. ^ Brunskill, David (December 2013). "Social media, social avatars and the psyche: is Facebook good for us?". Australasian Psychiatry. 21 (6): 527–532. doi:10.1177/1039856213509289. PMID 24159052. S2CID 7526092.
  3. ^ Nowak, K. L.; Fox, J. (2018). "Avatars and Computer-Mediated Communication: A Review of the Definitions, Uses, and Effects of Digital Representations". Review of Communication Research. 6: 30–53. doi:10.12840/issn.2255-4165.2018.06.01.015 (inactive March 7, 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of March 2024 (link)
  4. ^ Fox, J.; Ahn, S. J.; Janssen, J. H.; Yeykelis, L.; Segovia, K. Y.; Bailenson, J. N. (2015). "Avatars versus agents: A metaanalysis quantifying the effects of agency on social influence". Human-Computer Interaction. 30 (5): 401–432. doi:10.1080/07370024.2014.921494. S2CID 21235038.
  5. ^ Westerman, D.; Tamborini, R.; Bowman, N. D. (2015). "The effects of static avatars on impression formation across different contexts on social networking sites". Computers in Human Behavior. 53: 111–117. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.06.026. S2CID 43018984.
  6. ^ Kang, S. H.; Watt, J. H. (2013). "The Impact of Avatar Realism and Anonymity on Effective Communication via Mobile Devices". Computers in Human Behavior. 29 (3): 1169–1181. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.10.010.
  7. ^ Heyselaar, E.; Hagoort, P.; Segaert, K. (2017). "In dialogue with an avatar, language behavior is identical to dialogue with a human partner". Behavior Research Methods. 49 (1): 46–60. doi:10.3758/s13428-015-0688-7. PMC 5352801. PMID 26676949.
  8. ^ Gong, L (2008). "How social is social responses to computers? The function of the degree of anthropomorphism in computer representations". Computers in Human Behavior. 24 (4): 1494–1509. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2007.05.007.
  9. ^ Nowak, K. L.; Rauh, C. (2005). "The Influence of the Avatar on Online Perceptions of Anthropomorphism, Androgyny, Credibility, Homophily, and Attraction". Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 11 (1): 153–178. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.tb00308.x.

Further reading edit

  • Cooper, Robbie 2007. Alter Ego: Avatars and Their Creators. London: Chris Boot. ISBN 978-1-905712-02-1.
  • Holzwarth, Martin; Janiszewski, Chris; Neumann, Marcus (2006). "The Influence of Avatars on Online Consumer Shopping Behavior". Journal of Marketing. 70 (4): 19–36. doi:10.1509/jmkg.70.4.19.
  • Nowak, K. L.; Fox, J. (2018). "Avatars and Computer-Mediated Communication: A Review of the Definitions, Uses, and Effects of Digital Representations". Review of Communication Research. 6: 30–53. doi:10.12840/issn.2255-4165.2018.06.01.015 (inactive March 7, 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of March 2024 (link)
  • Sloan, R. J. S., Robinson, B., Cook, M., and Bown, J. (2008). "Dynamic Emotional Expression Choreography: Perception of Naturalistic Facial Expressions". In M. Capey, B. Ip and F. Blastland, editors, SAND Conference Proceedings, Swansea, UK 24–28 November 2008. Swansea Metropolitan University: Swansea.
  • Wood, Natalie T.; Solomon, Michael R.; Englis, Basil G. (2005). "Personalization of Online Avatars: Is the Messenger as Important as the Message?". International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising. 2 (1/2): 143–161. doi:10.1504/ijima.2005.007509.

External links edit

avatar, computing, text, terminal, protocol, advanced, video, attribute, terminal, assembler, recreator, other, uses, avatar, disambiguation, computing, avatar, graphical, representation, user, user, character, persona, avatars, dimensional, icons, internet, f. For the text terminal protocol see Advanced Video Attribute Terminal Assembler and Recreator For Other uses see Avatar disambiguation 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 1 as in text based games or worlds such as MUDs An avatar in the virtual world Second Life A Twitter post with the user s profile picture The term avatara ˈ ae v e t ɑːr ˌ ae v e ˈ t ɑːr 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 Contents 1 Origins 2 Types and usage 2 1 Internet forums 2 2 Internet chat and messaging 2 3 Online assistants 2 4 Video games 2 5 Non gaming online worlds 2 6 Social media 2 7 Motion capture 2 8 Miscellaneous 2 9 In popular culture 3 Customisation 3 1 Generators 3 2 Awareness avatars 4 Academic study 4 1 Representation of identity 5 See also 6 References 6 1 Academic sources 7 Further reading 8 External linksOrigins editSee also Player character The word avatar is ultimately derived from the Sanskrit word avatara ˈ ae v e t ɑːr ˌ ae v e ˈ t ɑːr in Hinduism it stands for the descent of a deity into a terrestrial form 2 3 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 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 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 5 Other early uses of the term include Lucasfilm and Chip Morningstar s 1986 online role playing game Habitat 6 and the 1989 pen and paper role playing game Shadowrun citation needed The use of avatar to mean online virtual bodies was popularised by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash 7 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 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 8 Types and usage editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Avatar computing news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message An avatar can refer to a two dimensional picture akin to an icon in Internet forums and other 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 like Facebook where users are not typically anonymous these pictures often are a photo of the user in real life 12 13 Alternatively avatars can also be three dimensional digital representations as in games such as World of Warcraft or virtual worlds like Second Life 14 15 In MUDs and other early systems they were a construct composed of text 16 The term has been also sometimes extended to refer to the personality connected with the screen name or handle of an Internet user 17 Internet forums edit 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 nbsp Example of an avatar image on an internet forum 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 18 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 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 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 20 21 Internet chat and messaging edit 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 22 Online assistants edit nbsp An avatar used by an automated online assistant 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 23 A major underlying technology to such systems is natural language processing 23 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 edit Main article Player character nbsp nbsp Game consoles such as the Xbox 360 shown left Nintendo Switch shown right and PlayStation 3 have featured universal animated avatars 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 24 25 and Maze 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 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 27 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 28 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 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 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 29 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 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 30 31 In some games the ability to use a Mii as an avatar must be unlocked such as in Mario Kart 8 32 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 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 on Windows 10 featuring increased detail and having a focus on inclusivity 34 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 35 Non gaming online worlds edit 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 36 nbsp Avatars socialising in the 2003 virtual world Second Life 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 14 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 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 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 40 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 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 at Stanford s Virtual Human Interaction Lab 42 examine the implications possibilities and transformed social interaction that occur when people interact via avatars Social media edit 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 43 According to MIT professor Sherry 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 Motion capture edit 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 45 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 46 47 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 48 Virtual YouTubers use animated avatars designed in software such as Live2D which often resemble anime 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 Miscellaneous edit Samsung s AR Emoji which comes on Samsung Galaxy smartphones lets users create animated avatars of themselves 53 54 In popular culture edit 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 55 by J K Rowling to be based upon herself Such characters are sometimes citation needed known as author surrogates or author avatars Customisation editEarly examples of customizable avatars include multi user systems including MUDs 56 Gaia Online has a customizable avatar where users can dress it up as desired 57 Users may earn credits for completing sponsored surveys or certain tasks to purchase items and upgrades to customize their avatar 58 Linden Lab s Second Life creates a virtual world in which avatars homes decorations buildings and land are for sale 59 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 56 Generators edit To meet the demand for millions of unique customised avatars generator tools and services have been created 60 Many of them such as the website Picrew are based around works by original artists 61 The 2021 Electronic Entertainment Expo featured an avatar creator to align with its new all digital nature 62 Awareness avatars edit nbsp Example user image with a rainbow flag 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 63 Yellow tint Beginning June 17 2009 to protest the increasing size and role of the United States government 64 Green tint Beginning June 18 2009 support for Iran election protests 65 French flag tint Beginning November 13 2015 to show support for France after the November 2015 Paris attacks 66 During the COVID 19 pandemic users added surgical masks and respirators on the faces of characters and avatars citation needed Websites such as Facebook officially supported these efforts by adding the option for several frames supporting the COVID 19 vaccine 67 Conversely anti vaccine advocates have used profile frames to state their opposition to it 68 Rainbow patterns to represent membership or solidarity with the LGBT community 69 Academic study editAvatars 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 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 differentiate perceived agency whether an entity is perceived to be human anthropomorphism having human form or behavior identomorphism 70 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 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 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 71 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 72 Representation of identity edit 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 73 Student test groups were able to infer upon extraversion agreeableness and neuroticism but could not infer upon openness and conscientiousness 73 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 74 Research by Nick Yee of the Daedelus Project demonstrates that an avatar may differ considerably from a player s offline identity based on gender 75 However most players will make an avatar that is proportionately equal to their height or slightly taller 75 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 74 Others have pointed out similar findings in those with mental disorders making social interaction difficult such as those with autism or similar disabilities 76 See also editMichaelmas novel 1977 Algis Budrys novel NECA Project Online identity Persona user experience Player character Pointman user interface Proteus effect Thumbnail ViverseReferences edit Salamone Frank A 2004 Levinson David ed Encyclopedia of Religious Rites Rituals and Festivals New York Routledge p 300 ISBN 0 415 94180 6 Paez Danny August 24 2020 How gaming turned a Hindu concept into the internet s most common feature Inverse Retrieved November 5 2021 avatar Random House Webster s Unabridged Dictionary Spinrad Norman Songs from the Stars New York Pocket Books 1981 p 218 Coining Term Avatar insights from the greatest minds in video games Retrieved December 15 2017 Morabito Margaret Enter the Online World of LucasFilm Run Aug 1986 24 28 Gerhard Michael Moore David Hobbs Dave 2004 Embodiment and copresence in collaborative interfaces International Journal of Human Computer Studies 61 4 453 480 doi 10 1016 j ijhcs 2003 12 014 ISSN 1071 5819 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 Stephenson Neal Snow Crash New York Bantam 2003 reissue pp 469 70 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 Kinzler Steve Picons Picons Archive Retrieved May 24 2014 Lee Kevan March 25 2015 What Research Says About the Best Profile Picture Buffer Buffer Marketing Library Retrieved May 11 2020 Golby Joel July 9 2016 What Your Facebook Profile Photo Says About You Vice Retrieved May 11 2020 a b Evans Claire L September 16 2019 Quest of the Avatars LA Review of Books Retrieved November 5 2021 Lessig Lawrence Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace Basic Books 2000 ISBN 0 465 03913 8 In Mulligan Jessica Patrovsky Bridgette 2003 Developing online games an insider s guide 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 Jordan Tim Cyberpower The Culture and Politics of Cyberspace and the Internet Routledge 1999 ISBN 0 415 17078 8 a b Designing Isometric Avatars Virtual World Games Like OurWorld Find Me Similar May 15 2014 Retrieved September 5 2023 Identicons August 15 2013 Don Park Visual Security 9 block IP Identification Archived from the original on July 3 2008 Server Avatars Discord Help Discord Help October 16 2021 Retrieved November 5 2021 a b 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 Video Game Firsts The Golden 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link Fox J Ahn S J Janssen J H Yeykelis L Segovia K Y Bailenson J N 2015 Avatars versus agents A metaanalysis quantifying the effects of agency on social influence Human Computer Interaction 30 5 401 432 doi 10 1080 07370024 2014 921494 S2CID 21235038 Westerman D Tamborini R Bowman N D 2015 The effects of static avatars on impression formation across different contexts on social networking sites Computers in Human Behavior 53 111 117 doi 10 1016 j chb 2015 06 026 S2CID 43018984 Kang S H Watt J H 2013 The Impact of Avatar Realism and Anonymity on Effective Communication via Mobile Devices Computers in Human Behavior 29 3 1169 1181 doi 10 1016 j chb 2012 10 010 Heyselaar E Hagoort P Segaert K 2017 In dialogue with an avatar language behavior is identical to dialogue with a human partner Behavior Research Methods 49 1 46 60 doi 10 3758 s13428 015 0688 7 PMC 5352801 PMID 26676949 Gong L 2008 How social is social responses to computers The function of the degree of anthropomorphism in computer representations Computers in Human Behavior 24 4 1494 1509 doi 10 1016 j chb 2007 05 007 Nowak K L Rauh C 2005 The Influence of the Avatar on Online Perceptions of Anthropomorphism Androgyny Credibility Homophily and Attraction Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 11 1 153 178 doi 10 1111 j 1083 6101 2006 tb00308 x Further reading editCooper Robbie 2007 Alter Ego Avatars and Their Creators London Chris Boot ISBN 978 1 905712 02 1 Holzwarth Martin Janiszewski Chris Neumann Marcus 2006 The Influence of Avatars on Online Consumer Shopping Behavior Journal of Marketing 70 4 19 36 doi 10 1509 jmkg 70 4 19 Nowak K L Fox J 2018 Avatars and Computer Mediated Communication A Review of the Definitions Uses and Effects of Digital Representations Review of Communication Research 6 30 53 doi 10 12840 issn 2255 4165 2018 06 01 015 inactive March 7 2024 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint DOI inactive as of March 2024 link Sloan R J S Robinson B Cook M and Bown J 2008 Dynamic Emotional Expression Choreography Perception of Naturalistic Facial Expressions In M Capey B Ip and F Blastland editors SAND Conference Proceedings Swansea UK 24 28 November 2008 Swansea Metropolitan University Swansea Wood Natalie T Solomon Michael R Englis Basil G 2005 Personalization of Online Avatars Is the Messenger as Important as the Message International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising 2 1 2 143 161 doi 10 1504 ijima 2005 007509 External links edit nbsp Look up avatar in Wiktionary the free dictionary Avatars at Curlie Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Avatar computing amp oldid 1218535113, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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