Avatar - eh???

Wingerr

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I've seen more mentions of avatar than I've ever seen since the board update went up - have to ask, is this a specialized BB term made up for this purpose?

I vaguely recall the word "avatar" being mentioned on some program like Charmed,as in "avatar are a superior species that is neither good nor bad. They exist beyond space and time. They basically guide the future", but haven't really seen it in regular use anywhere else. Is everyone using it because it sounds kinda cool? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Looked up the word, and this came up:
Main Entry: av·a·tar
Pronunciation: 'a-v&-"tär
Function: noun
Etymology: Sanskrit avatAra descent, from avatarati he descends, from ava- away + tarati he crosses over -- more at UKASE, THROUGH
Date: 1784
1 : the incarnation of a Hindu deity (as Vishnu)
2 a : an incarnation in human form b : an embodiment (as of a concept or philosophy) often in a person
3 : a variant phase or version of a continuing basic entity

I assume #3 applies to the term as used here, rather than a Hindu deity, but how does even that translate to a picture icon?

Is there any etymo(pun)logical explanation for this??
 

Wolfen

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From Byte Magazine [ QUOTE ]

Agents and Avatars

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 1996 / Features / Agents and Avatars
Are on-screen personifications the wave of the future, or just a silly fad?
Tom R. Halfhill
Coming soon to a screen near you: You . Or at least a facsimile of you. It's called an avatar : a graphical image of a user -- representing yourself or someone else -- on a computer screen. Think of an avatar as your alter ego in the virtual world of cyberspace.

Another kind of avatar is sometimes called an agent , a character , or a bot . This is a graphical personi fication of a computer or a process that's running on a computer.

Avatars are controversial creatures on the cutting edge of user interface design. They're supposed to provide new ways for people to interact with their computers and with other users on a network. B y simulating the social interaction of real life, avatars try to present an environment that's more familiar than graphical desktops and command-line prompts.

Although limited forms of avatars have been with us for years in videogames, they're rarely seen in other kinds of software. Now that's all starting to change. Last year, Microsoft introduced Bob, an add-on for Windows in which animals and other fanciful characters lend assistance to novice computer users. Some new services on the World Wide Web are making heavy use of avatars. There's even a business groupware product that creates a virtual office populated with employee avatars. And you'll find avatars popping up everywhere in movies, TV shows, and books.

Is this the future? Or is it a fad? Some experts predict that avatars will be a common sight on the computer screens of tomorrow. Others say they're too limited and might even be socially destructive. But one thing is clear: Avatars are the focus of intense research in academic and corp orate design labs. You'll probably meet one soon.

[/ QUOTE ]


http://www.byte.com/art/9602/sec9/art1.htm
 
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