Avatars or Our Digital Self in the Metaverse
What does ‘a wholly simulated experience, which may be similar to or entirely different from the real world’ mean to us in reality, in terms of life experience?
It is easy to see how virtual reality can be a canvas for our imaginations. Gamers have long been enthralled by fantastical worlds they can explore and interact in, playing the part of characters and adopting different alter-egos. However, virtual reality can also become an extension of our physical lives, a broader multidimensional stage on which to act out our daily existence and dreams.
The virtual has and will continue to extend and shape our capabilities and conceptions.
Computer gaming has already shaped several generations, introducing them to technology, showing them alternatives, teaching them once completely unfamiliar and now second nature technical and strategy skills, and conditioning them to a new world. That Gen X, Millennials and Zoomers — who have technical understanding and capabilities far beyond those of their parents — see the world differently is, in no small measure, due to computer games and the attractive alternative environments they provide. One might argue that computer games are an effective mechanism for both training and social norming.
Social media has picked up the baton, connecting an ever-expanding community and their interests. We spend more and more time online and are less and less surprised by what we find there.
As we build our virtual worlds and start to inhabit the Metaverse, how does this look for us individually?
Avatars
In the Metaverse, an avatar is a virtual representation of a human user or their character or persona. An avatar may be two-dimensional, such as an internet forum icon, or three-dimensional, as in games and virtual worlds.
The term ‘Avatar’ derives from the Sanskrit word ‘avatāra’, which means ‘descent’ and signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a deity on Earth.
Thus with Metaverse avatars, we are ‘descending’ from our physical world into a potentially infinite number of virtual worlds.
Avatars had their genesis in video games based on the idea that the player is represented in the game. This representation has become increasingly realistic, complex and customisable, and especially important in the transition from single-player to multiplayer games to gaming communities and virtual worlds.
Many games offer basic character models and let their players customise the look of their avatars. Various physical. ‘appearance’ and even mental, ‘capability’ features can be added. This is true in video games such as ‘Sims’ or ‘Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’, where the main character ‘Carl Johnson’ can be dressed in a wide range of clothing, given different haircuts, or even body types.
Another example is Second life, one of the first virtual worlds that allow people to create an avatar and have an autonomous parallel life in an online virtual world, unconnected to their real-world persona and reality.
People are creative and love the thought of designing themselves in a virtual world. They can change their hair colour and style of clothing to suit their preferences and mood.
With the help of AI, avatars are becoming increasingly realistic. AI can analyse 2D user images or 3D scans to create increasingly realistic and accurate representative avatars, which can be modified whenever the user chooses.
AI is also being used to create different facial expressions, hairstyles, clothes, and features to enhance the digital humans we create.
Aside from the physical appearance, an avatar’s characteristics can also be revealed through dialogue: a good example is the action hero, Duke Nukem or Gordon Freeman, from Half-Life.
Once the preserve of a niche audience, the COVID-19 pandemic has made avatars mainstream. Within weeks, we had swapped our physical interactions with online alternatives — communicating via video rather than face-to-face and even organising Zoom pub quizzes in the absence of the real thing. While it felt like a downgrade for many, it was an unparalleled opportunity for others.
As the Metaverse grows, so too will the use of avatars. These will multiply the experiences available to us daily, which have only existed fictionally in movies like Blade Runner, Star Wars, or Star Trek.
Avatars provide a means and metaphor for us to interact more fully as human beings in virtual space at a distance. Be it meeting a friend who lives on the other side of the planet in the Metaverse market square for a virtual coffee, going into a virtual office, taking up a new sport or visiting a new country without leaving home.
Avatars are not just a vehicle for interaction. They provide a means for us to express ourselves differently, explore our character, personality and self, and experiment with who we are and how we want to be. We can shapeshift between character, colour and gender. The introvert may become the extrovert, the man a woman. We can explore the possibilities and find out what fits well.
With a different form of expression, our avatars may become famous in their own right, reframing the boundaries of fame, success, and financial independence. Sponsored Avatar influencers are almost a certainty!
More importantly, their ability to take any conceivable form can make Avatars a valuable tool in accenting empathy, allowing us to ‘walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.’
Conclusion
Perhaps a virtual world where all appearances are artificial and changeable will finally break down at least some of our biases and prejudices.
The ability to live out alternative lives might be both heaven and hell, liberating the human spirit by vastly expanding its range of expression or encapsulating the ultimate escapism from real life.
FreedomX immersive digital ecosystem offers community-driven experiences, solutions, and rewards for creators, brands, retailers, celebrities, influencers , organizations and the public. The platform combines elements of social media and e-commerce with augmented reality and three dimensional communities within an expansive virtual world.
This article is extracted from the book “Metaverse NFTs Uprising: The Ultimate Guide” by Dinis Guarda, in collaboration with a Ztudium team of writers. This “Guide to the Metaverse” Series is specifically created for FreedomX: the innovative, utopian Metaverse-based marketplace.
