E2A San Francisco Oct 26 and 27, 1996

Primer for E2A Avatar Discussions
Version 0.2, also see Version 0.1

This document is divided into three sections:

A glossary of terms

A description of the three "dimensions"

An examination of the technical issues

Note that his Primer will be evolving right up to the E2A conference, and quite possibly beyond it.

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Glossary

There's a great deal of jargon associated with discussions of avatars and virtual environments. Here's a quick glossary to help you get started; it's in roughly alphabetical order. The parenthesized initials after some definitions indicate their source: MM=Moses Ma, BR=Bernie Roehl, BD=Bruce Damer, and so forth.

The embodiment or representation of a user's awareness and identity within a multi-user computing environment, with the minimal properties of subordination, telepresence, identity and social facilitation. (MM)

An autonomous software entity that carries out some set of operations on behalf of a user, and in so doing, employs some knowledge of the user's goals or desires, with the minimal properties of autonomous interoperability, intelligence and authority. (MM)

The combination of the functionality of an autonomous agent, with the audiovisual representation of an avatar. (MM)

An autonomous software entity which emulates understood biological forms, seeks fitness to a niche, reproduces through some means and may or may not serve user's interests in its quest for survival. (BD)

See Drone.

There are many definitions of cyberspace. Mostly commonly, it refers to any environment which exists only within computer systems and the networks which connect them.(BR) The territory of Cyberspace where avatar-supporting environments are found is sometimes called Avatar Cyberspace. (BD)

The avatar for another user, as displayed on your local computer system. A drone is remotely controlled by a Pilot. For each user on the system, there are as many drones as there are other users on the system.

Distributed Virtual Environment. A virtual environment that (potentially) has more than one user in it at the same time. A kind of visual cyberspace. See MUVR.

See Pilot.

See Observer Platform.

Multi-User Virtual Reality.(BR)

Essentially an "invisible avatar", which is capable of observing the events taking place in a multi-user virtual environment but which does not manifest itself in any way. (DIS) This type of avatar is also often called a lurker or ghost. (BD)

The master copy of your avatar, which you control on your local computer system. A Pilot remotely controls all its drones. For each user on the system, there is exactly one pilot. (BR)

See Drone.

Real Life. The physical world we live in when we're not in a MUVR. Considered by some to be superior to virtual environments.

See Drone.

A representation of the human form using 3D graphics. Useful for ergonomics design, industrial simulation, non-realtime computer animation and many other applications in addition to being suitable for use as an avatar. (BR)

Another term for Multi-User Virtual Reality, often shortened to simply World. This term is often used to distinguish the medium from Virtual Reality, which connotates immersive environments with head-mounted displays. Virtual Worlds are characterized by their ability to be used through ubiquitous PC's on dial-up connections without the need for any additional equipment. (BD)

The Three "Dimensions "

It's useful to treat the issues surrounding avatars in terms of three "dimensions": Philosophical, Human and Technological. All three are important, but different individuals will naturally be drawn to one or another of these three dimensions.

The Philosophical Dimension

There are many, many philosophical issues related to the use of avatars and MUVR technology in general. Among these are:

• The nature of "identity"
• The nature of "reality"
• The nature and meaning of gender
• The blurry line between avatars, agents, bots and biots

The Human Dimension

The human dimension deals specifically with social and political issues related to virtual environments, as well as the impact of VR technology on society at large. Among the more important issues are:

• Rights and freedoms in cyberspace
• Censorship vs Freedom of Speech
• Do avatars have "human" rights?
• Do bots have rights? Do biots?
• If any of the above have rights, what sort of rights do they have? Privacy? Freedom of expression? Property rights?

• Law
• Does there need to be a legal system in a virtual environment?
• If so, how is it administered?
• How are laws enforced?
• Are some activities legal in cyberspace that are illegal in RL? (e.g. gambling)

• Politics
• Do virtual environments need "governments"?
• If so, how are such governments established?
• What form do they take?
• monarchy
• democracy
• technocracy
• Who is allowed to build and extend a virtual world?
• Do DVE's need "zoning commissions"?
• Does a DVE have a "citizenship"?

• Impact on RL society
• Will people neglect their RL activities in favor of DVE's?
• Are DVEs "nations" in an RL sense? Is all of cyberspace a new "nation"?
• Can DVEs serve as a model for RL society? Can we solve some social problems in cyberspace, and then apply the solutions to RL, or does this simply not work?

The Technological Dimension

The technological dimension is concerned with the actual implementation of avatars and MUVR technology. In particular, it deals with issues of data structures, file formats, networking protocols, and so forth. This is a large enough topic that it will be dealt with separately below.

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The Technology of Avatars

In order for any of the issues discussed above to have any real relevance, we must begin the job of actually implementing avatars and MUVR systems.

There are four basic aspects of avatars that must be addressed:

Representation

All aspects of an avatar's appearance. This includes such things as its hierarchical structure (hands attached to arms attached to chest and so forth), geometric description and surface properties (such as color and texture).

Behavior

The dynamically changing state of the avatar. This includes the positioning of the avatar in space, skeletal motion ("poses" or "positions") and muscular motion (such as facial expressions).

Interaction

The ability of the avatar to affect its environment and be affected by it. This includes such things as manipulating objects in the environment, communicating with other avatars using text or speech, exchanging data, and so forth.

Identity

The relationship of an avatar to a real-world individual or organization. This includes such things as "true names", gender, links to other resources (such as web pages or email addresses), information necessary to enable financial transactions, and so on.

Note that these should not be treated as rigid dividing lines. For example, it may not always be meaningful to discuss interaction independently of behavior, and some systems may treat identity as an aspect of representation.

Discussion of these technical issues is extremely important, since the results will be fed back into the Virtual Humans Architecture Group (V-HAG), the Universal Avatars Group, and the Living Worlds Group.

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