I confess to being technospeak challenged, so can anyone please explain to me what an Avatar is and what one can do with it? I see these all over the 3D web sites and wonder if I'm missing something.

It's just a small picture meant to be a representation of you. Sometimes people make avatars from photos of themselves, sometimes it's a more fanciful representation.

Avatar: n. The descent of a Hindu deity in a visible form; incarnation. See? No technospeak required, just Sanskrit. :-) Oh, all right then. In web terms, an avatar is usually that little picture that you have next to your name, and which may (or may not) resemble you. In other words, it's your representative in cyber-space.

Correct me, if I'm wrong, an avatar once was a "human envelope" for a god, at least in Irish folklore. It was a real life representation which housed a god while he/she was walking among the mortals. The name was choosen for the pictures representing a person in a chat room, a game, or something like that, as Joey already mentioned. Willy

Heyas! Are we a fast bunch, or not ;-) Willy

In "the old days" (about 10-15 years ago), the game characters played by the gamer were known as EGO, because it is an extension of the human mind into the game world. Whether you were playing Monkey island or King's Quest, that little character in there doing things was you. The Ultima series featured a character who was a superhuman and who performed tasks demanded of a saint (including humility and sacrifice)... known as The Avatar and Eight Times Savior of Brittania. In religious mythology, an avatar is an extension of godhood into a human body, and quite often the representation of the god himself in physical form. There is a class of games known as "god-games", where the player takes on the role of a divinity and has worshippers, but the player is usually not represented in the world by a character. Populous was one of the first such games. Even in games where the player isn't the god of the world, too many players got used to the idea of being supremely powerful (especially when they had access to the cheat codes and could have unlimited wealth, weapons, and lives). Avatar replaced Ego as the term used for the representation of the human player in the game worlds. With the "mods" players got used to creating their own characters and in early multi-person environments (Habitat and WorldsAway), they could personalize their heads and bodies and be recognized. Avatars became the term used for these figures, too. It is an escalating situation. Since Avatars are now ordinary people standing around and chatting, game players are Semi-Divinities and the terms are shifting again. To answer your question (you were wondering when I'd get around to doing that?), an Avatar is currently any personalized represention of yourself in any game or online environment. You may choose from a stock of avatars, build one from supplied parts, or make your own image in an outside program depending upon the environment, but it is simply a pictorial representaion of yourself. I have a hard enough time being human, and certainly don't feel like usurping any privileges or undergoing the trials of avatarship or godhood. I have made innumerable avatars for other people (WorldsAway is only one of the projects I have worked upon), but have yet to adopt one for my own. Carolly

Ok. Thanks all! I'm a little wiser now.

Good answer, Hauksdottir! It's always good to hear some of the history of the technology from someone working in the field.