I, Avatar : The Culture and Consequences of

What is an avatar? Why are there nearly a billion of them, and who is using them? Do avatars impact our real lives, or are they just video game conceits? Is an avatar an inspired rendering of its creatorrs"s inner self, or is it just one among millions of anonymous vehicles clogging the online freeways? Can we use our avatars to really connect with people, or do they just isolate us? And as we become more like our avatars do they become more like us? InI, Avatar, Mark Stephen Meadows answers some of these questions, but more importantly, he raises hundreds of others in his exploration of avatars and the fascinating possibilities they hold. His examination of avatars through the lenses of sociology, psychology, politics, history, and art, he will change the way you look at even a simple online profile and revolutionize the idea of avatars as part of our lives, whether first or second.

Mark Stephen Meadows (known in the virtual world as Pighed) is an artist, writer, and engineer with 15 years experience in interactive media. Founder of both HeadCase Humanufacturing (dedicated to developing tools to create intelligent, autonomous avatars) and Echo & Shadow, he also spent time at Xerox-PARC, Stanford Research Institute, and The Waag. The author of Pause and Effect (New Riders, 2003) he helped build the third commercial web server (1992), the first open-protocol 3D multi-user environment (1997), and has won awards such as the Ars Electronica Golden Nica and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum's highest honors. Based in L.A., Mark speaks at universities and conferences worldwide.

The Strange Migration	p. 7
On Pigs, The WELL, and 1992	p. 9
What It Is, Part One: Mario, The Sims and World of Warcraft	p. 13
What It Is, Part Two: The Three White Girls from YouTube	p. 16
What It Is, Part Three: A Point of View	p. 19
What It Is, Part Four: A Simple Character	p. 23
"Why Don't You Spend Time Talking to People in Person?"	p. 24
Diving into the Deep End	p. 28
The Roles of Social Worlds and the Rules of Game Worlds	p. 34
The Assumption of The Mask	p. 36
Alts, Newbs, and How a Fisherman Gets Fresh Fish	p. 37
Fur vs. Gor	p. 40
Virtual Wars	p. 42
Rituals and Archetypes	p. 44
The Dive into the Deep End Continues	p. 47
On Drinking Virtual Wine and the Grounding of Belief	p. 50
The Night of the Dance	p. 54
The Morning After	p. 57
Virtual Work	p. 60
The Suits Cometh	p. 64
How Avatars Affect the Real World	p. 69
Happiness Is a Warm Gun	p. 72
A Few Notes on Griefing and Morality	p. 76
Gunid's Babies	p. 80
Why?	p. 82
Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones but Karate Is Not Sexy	p. 88
Car Is Avatar Is Prosthetic	p. 92
"Where There Is Id There Will Be Ego"	p. 96
Kajira, Raddick, and Involuntary Speed Dating Services	p. 98
Celebrities and Millions of Us	p. 104
Auto Portraits	p. 106
Do We Count Avatars or People?	p. 108
Autonomous Avatars and the Very Present Future	p. 109
The American Nightmare	p. 114
The Children of the Strange Migration	p. 118
The Isles of the Blessed	p. 124
A Gallery of Avatars	p. 126
Index	p. 135
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I, Avatar : The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials