WHO IS YOUR AVATAR FOR?
Decisions about how we decide to represent ourselves in VR are rapidly expanding. I recently introduced someone — let’s call her Kelly — to a social VR nightclub and she said:
“I feel like I’m in the Star Wars cantina.”
It’s noteworthy that Kelly didn’t say, “Oh, I visited a nightclub like this in San Francisco in 2005” — she went straight to Star Wars as her first comparator.
I’m in VR often enough that I don’t blink when I see a non-human or anime avatar, but it was surprising for Kelly. Once she said it, I realized how much I’ve habituated to unique avatars. (This is one reason why we should test our VR experiences on a wide range of people — we learn what we’ve adapted to.)
It also got me thinking about the effort that people make to customize their avatars. And who these avatars are for. I did a quick poll on Twitter to ask
“Is your VR avatar for you? Or is it for the people around you?”
Fifty-four people responded and here were the results:
54% My avatar is for me
0% My avatar is for others
41% Both
5% Other
Based on this poll, I’m an outlier because my avatar is only for the people around me. I don’t see my avatar as a vehicle of self-expression. I see it as a tool to be recognized, or to be anonymous.
I have a Doob3d body scan avatar that I use for when I want to be seen as Jessica Outlaw. If I have a meeting in VR, I will use that avatar to help you locate me. But the majority of the time I don’t want to be recognized so I choose generic male avatars because I get less attention.
I anticipate that I’ll continue to have a range of avatar and that I’ll never have a fixed avatar that I use constantly.
If you want to come see my Doob3d body scan avatar, come to my social VR bystander intervention training. I’ve adapted recommendations from meatspace bystander interventions to equip our avatars with proven tactics to use when you witness harassment in VR. I taught this training last week and this is what one participant had to say about it:
Like many people I’ve been confronted with harassment in VR and been unsure how to help. After this class I have several concrete ideas and a real plan. — Jeremy Nickel, SacredVR
There are two more upcoming trainings in July and I hope you will attend one of them. They will be held July 3rd at 1pm Pacific and again on July 10th at 2:30pm Pacific inside of the High Fidelity platform. The event is free and here’s how to sign up:
- Register for a High Fidelity user name here (if you don’t have one already)
- Sign up on the Eventbrite here
- On the day of the event, log into High Fidelity to access the venue
Stay after the event and we can discuss avatars and self-expression then.
