Project your virtual self-image
As internet users spend more time inside online worlds, avatars are taking on animated dimensions
You are your avatar. The way you represent your virtual self says a lot about your mood, thoughts and personality.
There is the simple photo icon from the hiking holiday in Nepal ('I'm fitter than thou'); there is the image of Optimus Prime, a cartoon character popular two decades ago ('I'm a child of the 1980s'); many women prefer kittens ('I'm sweet and cute') and many men go for the laugh with silly poses ('I have a sense of humour').
Pity those who don't bother to choose an avatar at all ('I'm boring and unimaginative').
The computer-generated avatar made its first appearance as early as 1985 and traces its roots to video games. Now, as internet users spend more time inside online worlds, writing blogs and instant messaging, these avatars are taking on animated dimensions.
'Representing yourself through visuals is something you do on Skype [and other instant message programmes],' Oddcast founder and chief executive Adi Sideman said. 'It's just a matter of time until those visuals start to talk and have more flexibility in terms of how they look.'
Oddcast offers to bloggers and businesses animated avatars that hint at the developments to come. The New York-based company's SitePal application allows users to create custom avatars and change their appearance, clothes and background setting.
Other features allow users to give a voice to their avatar through text-to-speech technology, uploaded MP3 files or phone recordings. Also, for a one-time fee, customers can submit a photo from which Oddcast artists will create a 'photo realistic' or animated avatar.
Packages begin at about US$10 per month for the service, and Oddcast has signed up 5,500 business clients so far.
Mr Sideman said providing website visitors an 'online sales person' to interact with had improved sales and click-through rates at businesses such as McAfee and Rentacar.com.
Some versions of SitePal avatars come with an Artificial Intelligence, giving them the ability to answer customer queries.
Mr Sideman saw responses growing more sophisticated as algorithms improved and as avatars were combined with other software, such as programmes that recommended products based on the buying behaviour of other customers.
'If you're coming from Germany it will speak to you in German, if you're coming from China it will speak to you in Chinese,' he said.
'It will know exactly what your balance is. It will know to recommend to you the right product. It will know how to respond to you when you have a customer service question.
'This is the future of avatars. It's just a superior way of interacting through dialogue. Eventually, we're going to see a dialogue-based interface prevalent on the internet.'
Another interesting application allows web camera users to replace themselves with animated avatars during camera-shy moments.
The software, developed by peripherals maker Logitech, is free but compatible only with the company's high-end web cameras.
The avatars are not meant to represent the exact likeness of a person; most are cute or zany, ranging from unicorns or princesses to sharks and aliens.
Using face tracking technology, the camera registers a user's facial expressions to animate the avatar. The video effects also include 'facial accessories', such as bunny ears, a pirate patch, a gas mask and a sombrero, which are grafted onto a person's image.
To see a demonstration of
