For Discussion: Part 2 Avatar Marketing Application

Well, you all may have a rough idea on what avatar is from the previous post, where avatar is a representation or embodiment of the identity of the virtual world icon which you and I can obtain through the manifestation of one's presence in these online communities. As you all know, avatars has been used widely around the Internet where forums, online games, and more have used these avatars for people as their representation in the virtual world. These avatars have evolved from a one-dimensional user-name and a two-dimensional icon(picture) to a 3-dimensional figure which can be seen in games or social networking virtual worlds such as Second Life.



In most games, the player's representation is fixed, however some games offer a basic character model, or template, and then allow customization of the physical features as the player sees fit. For an example, a player can customize their avatar physical appearance such as hairstyle, and also can be dressed in wide ranged of clothes. However, massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) are have a more sophisticated avatars which player can customize like skin tones, facial expression and more.



Besides that, avatars are also widely use among the online communities in the virtual worlds as what I had mention earlier. One example that can be seen would be in Second Life which they take on a whole new level and become the exact replica or otherwise a created persona of the user himself. Through this new experience, Second Life is attracting more and more users who are not interested in gaming where it becomes a virtual meeting place for users to socialize among themselves using avatars. Also,most of these avatars are free for users to create as the popularity is rising by the increasing computer users for the Internet. Users can then communicate in the virtual worlds, by creating their own avatars that uses instant messaging systems to communicate.



Avatars have also been used for educational purposes where universities uses virtual world as the virtual classroom. This is where the students are able to communicate with their lecturers through a virtual worlds that represents them using avatars to enhance their learning experience. Even so, a new concept for the uses of virtual worlds has been tested where a virtual shopping mall in the future that is fill with avatars poking at merchandise which would definitely change the ways how shoppers shop in the Internet. Thus, it can be seen that Internet users nowadays uses avatars to represent them in most of the social networking sites or even games in the virtual world where there will be a continuous growing community of users in the coming future.

If you were to create an avatar, would you use it for games or socializing?
What do you think of the use of avatars for educational purposes? Do you think its convenient?

Feel free to leave your comment below. Thanks!

References:

Damer B, 1997, Applications of Virtual Worlds, http://www.digitalspace.com/avatars/book/chus/chus1.htm, viewed on 14 September 2010.