Avatars - Your Digital Persona
November 1, 2021
Avatars are the digital and graphical representation of your own self in the Virtual and Computing world. It can either be a two dimensional representation as an icon and end up being a profile picture of your social media handles or evolve themselves to be your virtual replica and end up being your digital persona and representation.
Obvious to the fact, the word originated from the Hindu mythology, as it represents the act of taking various forms and features.
A perfect plateau for building up your online form and customizing your online self. More effective in Role playing games (RPG), where you take up the role of Assassin Ninjas, Commandos and other characters.
The use of the term “Avatar” and using Avatars within a computerized format was popularized by Neal Stephenson in his Cyberpunk novel Snow Crash way back in 1992.
Over the recent times, if we look at most of the technological form factors and other latest gadgets and gizmos, most of them had their origin dating back to at least 30 or 40 years ago.
The widespread usage of avatars today are predominantly prevalent in the social media websites and apps. They are used as a means to customize the individual selves and project a different version of themselves, which are challenging or not so funny in the real world. Whether, this is a healthy trend way forward is a different debate altogether, weighing in on the psychological effects it can have in society on the user’s confidence level and the way we live. But, in terms of the amount of realistic projection of our own selves in the simulated gaming and computer world, this can have lasting and profound impact.
In situations like role playing games, the users get to represent their physical forms with customization of their forms and features. It takes you a step closer to immersive reality and helps the user’s not just be a part of the game or the virtual world but become a being inside it.
The evolution of Avatars will add more muscle and firepower to the recently touted “Metaverse” future and ensures better means of communication and more realistic access of contents.
Future interactions in the virtual universe will be a combination of real and artificial embodiment. It will be exciting to see how the conversation will be between the avatar version and the real version.
All of these are and might be cool and exciting among the tech nerds and fantasy enthusiasts, but the kind of implications it might have on the societal communications can not be ignored. All the developers and creators working in this domain today and the co creators of future virtual universe should take these into account and build accordingly.
We should not ignore or detest the societal values and psychological impacts of a technology and it’s potential use cases while we develop the product and technology.
We already are experiencing identity crisis and anonymity crisis within our tech forums and social worlds with the existing user base and models. Many of the digital identities prevalent today, thrive and poach on the power of anonymity and take a free joy ride in the online world. The power of anonymity is so profound, that it has had a large scale tech abuse and other uncivilized acts in the internet, reflecting negatively in the offline world.
We need to make sure all the pitfalls of Web 2.0 and the internet of today don’t carry over to the next internet generation and ensure a synergy between our digital and physical self. We need to have a common thread that enables seamless convergence of offline and online world.
As we proceed further into the next revolution and evolution of technology, we have to make sure more attention is focused towards the security and privacy concerns of Digital Identities.
When Avatar’s become the De facto mode of digital representation, there are high possibilities, the online predators can impersonate your persona.
We could use technologies like block-chain to provide a digital id for each and everyone, which becomes your Passport of the Virtual Universe and can then be linked to all your social media handles, digital representations, avatars etc.
Let us make use of internet and the future Virtual Universe or METAVERSE to their fullest extent for all the good reasons.
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