|
Free Forum Avatars
Free forum avatars according to some definitions, especially to those who
are working on virtual reality and cyberspace interfaces, is actually
known as an icon or representation of a user in a shared virtual reality.
It is simply described with the term “visual chat”, although it is said
that free forum avatars have gone by a diversity of other names. Example
of those related names of free forum avatars or visual chat are
multimedia chat, GMUKS (Graphical Multi-User Konversations), and
habitats. The term “habitat” is coined by an inventor named Randy Farmer,
who invented those other related names. Free forum avatars, or avatars in
particular, are something that go between a MOO and a traditional chat
room, and are considered one-of-a-kind because free forum avatars are
graphical. This uniqueness of free forum avatars is made through the
illusion of movement, space, and physicality, rather than the conventional
dimension of most chat rooms that the users are limited to text-only
communications.
Furthermore, with the use of free forum avatars, the users have the will
to express their identity visually, rather than just through written
information. With this visual dimension, a whole fresh sphere for
self-expression and social dealings and interaction with characteristics
such as subtlety and complexity, which is not evident in text-only chat
rooms, came into being.
Free forum avatars, in addition, are also widely known across the
internet as pictures, drawings, or icons that most users choose to
represent themselves. Free forum avatars are commonly differentiated from
“props”, which are objects that users may add to their avatars such as a
hat or a cigar.
Accordingly, the free forum avatars, just like any other free forum
tools, also fall into classifications. Free forum avatars are mainly
divided into two overall categories. The first are the standard set of
“smileys”. I know that everyone is familiar with smileys. Almost all
users love to put smileys on their messages. These familiar faces are
said to be inspired by ASCII smileys and are always available to all
users. This type of free forum avatars generally come in a set that
displays basic human emotions and behavioral signs, such as happy, sad,
angry, winking, sleeping/bored, blushing, head nodding, head shaking,
crying, etc. With these forms, the users have also control on changing
the color of the face or even adding to it one or more props, such as
hats, wigs, scarves, devil horns, a glass of beer, a bicycle, and a lot
more. These can be easily done because the faces and props can be mixed
and matched.
The second major type of free forum avatars consist of those pictures or
icons borrowed from internet archives, scanned from hardcopy, or taken
from other digital sources. Accordingly, the users have the power to edit
or combine these pictures according to their preferred tastes.
Demonstrating this second type of free forum avatars is said to create self-esteem
and social status. Technical and artistic ability is important for this
type of free forum avatars.
Given such information about free forum avatars, let me further state
that all of these forms of free forum avatars symbolically shows aspects of
who you are. Free forum avatars therefore highlight some facet of your
personality or lifestyle, or something you are interested or you wish
for. This is definitely true with free forum avatars!
|
