A graphic identity you either select from a group of choices or create on your own to represent yourself to the other party in a chat, instant messaging (IM) or multiplayer gaming session. An avatar is a caricature, not a realistic photo and can be a simple image or a bizarre fantasy figure.
Avatar is a Sanskrit word that means the incarnation of a god on earth, and this usage of the term came from the gaming and 3D chat worlds. See VRML.
Avatar is a Sanskrit word that means the incarnation of a god on earth, and this usage of the term came from the gaming and 3D chat worlds. See VRML.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Wordcamp 2008
- In the quiet flats of University of California San Francisco Mission Bay campus, bloggers, thinkers, journalists, developers, and inventors melt together for a full day of lectures and learning. The goal of Wordcamp 2008 is to figure out the future of publishing on the web. ...
- Blog posts 2008-08-16
- Vivaty rolls out 'student friendly' development platform
- I've written about Vivaty before, the new add-on to your existing social network, modelling your entire network in three dimensions. Before, they gave you your own blank scene and avatar, allowing you to mix and match your own virtual 3D "profile page" which interacts just...
- Blog posts 2008-08-06
- Loober (exe)
- Loober is a free peer-to-peer voice chat system with integrated text messaging. You control your own talkshow chatroom where you load your own photo or select an avatar that suits you. You can even broadcast live to your Facebook, myspace or other Web site through our flash 'radio' widget. Meet...
- Software downloads 2008-07-24
- Perfect People Icons (zip)
- A collection of icons depicting people in a characteristic avatar-like style, Perfect People Icons will enhance any chat or instant messenger, or will make a perfect skin to a blog or forum. Perfect People Icons depict people of different backgrounds, social and racial origins. Software developers, bloggers, and owners of...
- Software downloads 2008-07-23
- Loober (for Mac) (dmg)
- Loober is a peer-to-peer voice chat system with integrated text messaging. You control your own talkshow chatroom where you load your own photo or select an avatar that suits you. You can even broadcast live to your Facebook, myspace or other website through our flash 'radio' widget. Meet new friends...
- Software downloads 2008-07-22
- Virtual world tipping point: Is there an enterprise use?
- Google has entered the virtual world game with a project called Lively and Second Life and IBM have pulled off a few interoperability experiments. Add it up and we may be seeing a little tipping point for virtual worlds. There may be even a few corporate uses in the future....
- Blog posts 2008-07-09
- SocialText Unveils New Wiki Spreadsheet
- SocialText Unveils New Wiki SpreadsheetDo we need this?Remember when people were saying everyone was going to have an online Avatar?... yeah.It's just like with regular Office. Microsoft keeps trying to spin it as a platform or "office system". Only problem is, if you ask someone in an office, I'd venture...
- Discussion threads 2008-06-10
- Maplestory Europe (exe)
- At Maple world, hunting and battling are not the only options. With intricate maps of medieval villages, modern cities or even fantasy toy towns, players can venture into totally new worlds. Through an enhanced avatar system, characters can sport ravishing clothes and accessories and even attract other users. Players can...
- Software downloads 2008-05-28
- Bogglet Duo (exe)
- Meet in the games online lobby to compete against players all over the world with this 2 player head to head Boggle style game. Make as many words as you can with adjoining letters before your online opponent gets the same word. There are 3 eighty second rounds for you...
- Software downloads 2008-05-22
- SmallWorlds getting ready to open its doors
- SmallWorlds, an application I called "the coolest Flex app I've ever seen" is getting ready to go into pubic beta mode with a new new features. SmallWorlds is a 3D world built entire in Flex. You can create an avatar and a pet and then set up a room that's...
- Blog posts 2008-05-21
- Bricksoft IM Web Services (zip)
- IM Web Services enable to quickly integrate MSN/Yahoo/ICQ/AIM feature into any applications across multiple platforms, systems and even across businesses. IM Web Services is standards with SOAP and WSDL will enable system-to-system communication that is easier and cheaper than ever SDK before. Features (MSN/Yahoo/ICQ/AIM) Send and receive instant messagesUnicode supported...
- Software downloads 2008-05-21
- 80% of Internet users to have avatars by 2011
- Gartner Media estimates that by 2011, 80% of Internet users worldwide will have an avatar, making animated online personas as common as screen names. by AM
- Blog posts 2008-05-16
- Nortel Demos Virtual World Platform
- Nortel demoed a virtual world prototype here in a Ottawa at a day long event. Dubbed Project Chainsaw, the virtual world is the first project to come out of Nortel new research effort that imposes a VC-like model for funding research. Like other virtual worlds, Project...
- Blog posts 2008-05-16
- Sourceforge missing community manager opportunity
- Sourceforge community manager Ross Turk called today and we had a nice talk about the site's Community Choice Awards, whose nominations opened today. (Shown is the avatar of Socrates Jansma, community manager for OurVirtualHolland. Notice the nifty virtual tie with matching handkerchief. Every girl's crazy about a...
- Blog posts 2008-05-12
- And in other news ... id Software announces Doom 4
- And in other news ... id Software announces Doom 4hahaDuke Nukem Forever, the ultimate in vaporware!The engine for Doom 4 looks pretty amazing. Hopefully the story is better than the last one.12 long yearsIt's been more than 12 years since I first played Doom and still fondly remember the first...
- Discussion threads 2008-05-08
- Second Life appoints new CEO with "rare and unusual passion for Second Life"
- Linden Lab, the makers of virtual world Second Life, have announced the appointment of a new CEO. Mark Kingdon, whose current post is CEO of online creative/marketing agency Organic of dot com bubble fame, will take over from former CEO and current chairman Philip Rosedale as of May 15th to...
- Blog posts 2008-04-23
- Oracle Ironman and other super heroes
- If you're on Twitter you'll know that this week is super hero avatar week. Silly I know but it injects a bit of fun into proceedings. Coincidentally unless this started deep in the Twitterverse by an Oracle mole, Oracle is sponsoring Ironman, the upcoming super hero...
- Blog posts 2008-04-07
- VR study says 40% of us are paranoid
- UK researchers have recently used virtual reality VR to check if people had paranoid thoughts when using public transportation. Their VR tube ride experiment revealed that 40% of the participants experienced exaggerated fears about threats from others. Until now, researchers were relying on somewhat unreliable questionnaires to study paranoid thoughts...
- Blog posts 2008-04-06
- Microsoft aims to win student developers' hearts with free dev tools
- Microsoft aims to win student developers' hearts with free dev toolsActually, it is pretty generous...The program is called MSDN Academic Alliance. Students and instructors can download or have CDs shipped for a nominal price the programs and get full retail keys. It's not trial ware, and it doesn't...
- Discussion threads 2008-02-19
- New Association Promotes Virtual Worlds and Business
- Dave Elchoness has a vision – a hallway that will reach around the globe. Well, maybe not exactly that, but the former outsourcing executive from Qwest talks about the "global hallway", a virtual space where users can meet from around the globe. "We know that real work...
- Blog posts 2008-02-15
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