AVATAR COMMUNITIES
I have just come back from a strange and wonderful journey.
I have seen landscapes that were beyond my imagination. I have talked to (yes, talked to, not typed to!) creatures that looked like dogs, fish, and things I couldn't describe. I have built my own home in a distant world, and been a guest at palaces built by people from all over our planet. I have flown over islands in an infinite ocean, then become a dolphin and joined others in underwater exploration. I have toured a space station with a red-headed witch as a guide. I have met friends in a city in the sky, miles above an uninhabited planet. I have done all this and more without leaving my suburban home office.
Well, it wasn't exactly I that did all this; it was my avatar. In Hinduism, an avatar is the incarnation, or manifestation, of a god, especially of Vishnu. In cyberspace, an avatar is a figure that represents you in the virtual world you share with others. Depending on the environment, an avatar can be as realistic as your own photo, or as fantastic as anyone's imagination. You choose what the avatar will look like. You control what it says, where it goes, and what it does. Sometimes, you see and hear as it does; other times, you watch it from outside, like a puppet master.
Online, text based chat has been around since before most of us fired up our first modem. Now, with the growth of the Internet, people are looking for a richer experience. There is a world of difference between "The Wizard" typing on a screen called "The Cave" and seeing a wizard in a cave. The most successful avatar chat systems are, by definition, the most popular; they offer the widest opportunities for interaction with others.
Let's look at the most popular avatar chat worlds. They require downloading some client software to get started, and the initial downloads and demos are all free. Almost all the upgrades are, too. So far, there are no charges to connect. To learn more, click on a section heading. Lets start with…
Active Worlds, boasting hundreds of thousands of participants, may be the most widely used of the 3-D avatar chats. In some ways, it is the most powerful. Starting your Active Worlds client drops you in a plaza in the "Active Worlds Gateway". There is usually a "Gatekeeper", or human guide, to answer questions. From that plaza, you can explore portals to other worlds. The themes in these worlds run the gamut from educational to cyberpunk. I have been to a winter resort (and skied down some fast slopes!), traveled to fantasy worlds, and visited a Mars colony. Several of the worlds are foreign language venues.
Active Worlds Gateway and several other worlds are run by Activeworlds.com, who also sell the tools for other designers to create their own worlds. The company's site offers the Active Worlds software you need to download. There is a free version, but paying a small fee gives you more capabilities, such as a wider avatar choice.
The avatars are animated, and most of them are humanoid. Some can be made to bow, wave, jump for joy, or perform martial arts moves. Talking is by text, which appears over the avatar's head. It also shows in a chat window. You may also talk privately to another user, through "telegrams" and "whispers".
What makes Active Worlds special, though, is the ability to build. In many places, ordinary users without special privileges can stake out cyberterritory and show creativity. This is mostly expressed in buildings, gardens, parks or sculptures. There is a choice of objects to let a visitor send you email, visit your home page, or just read your message. You can provide sound effects such as music, flowing water, or a crackling fire.
Unfortunately, this kind of multimedia environment requires some powerful equipment. As a PC user, you need a Pentium (greater than 133 MHz) and Windows 95/98/NT. Mac users need a G3 or iMac, OS 8.0 or better, and a PC emulator such as VirtualPC. You may get by with a 28.8 Kbps connection, but 56 Kbps is recommended. As broadband--DSL and cable modem--services become widespread, expect Active Worlds participation to mushroom.
Compared to Active Worlds, The Palace's system requirements are downright modest. Practically any Windows or Macintosh system capable of handling Web browsers should be able to manage it.
This is probably because The Palace has foregone the "first person" point of view, which has to change as you move. Instead, you move your avatar in a scene with all the other avatars. These scenes are spread across a growing number of Palace worlds, and represent indoor, outdoor, or fantasy settings. The Palace worlds have been made by a variety of users, and represent interests from pure entertainment to business and technology.
Avatar communication is by text. This appears as a cartoon balloon. As an option, the conversation can also appear in a "Log Window" which can then be saved. This is a useful feature for business meetings. The Palace also supports private, one-to-one messages, and users can make sounds (such as Applause) from a small list.
There are two ways of connecting to The Palace: by Java applet or by downloading a Palace client. The experience is somewhat different between the two. In either, you can customize your avatar in different ways. I suggest you try them both.
You will get the Palace Viewer as a Java applet the first time you connect
to the site. You'll have to register first, but it's free. For newbies,
there's an online tutorial and "practice rooms" so you can try out your
avatars. That gives you a chance to become familiar with the system before
going out to one of the public areas.
But Wait, There’s More…
These are just two of the popular avatar chat systems. New ones are coming up all the time, and some that have been around are acquiring a real following. To find out more, go to the Avatar Teleport.
Which avatar chats do you like, if any? Did I miss the best one? Send
me email and let me know
what you think. If I’ve missed the best avatar scene, and enough of you
tell me about it, I’ll cover it here.