#hello avatar

I know this review is a little dated, but I thought it was still worth posting.

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Human interaction with technology has become a symbiotic relationship. Not an hour goes by with a Facebook left unchecked, a gaming console not turned on, or an email unread. People are almost literally attached to the hip to the ever-increasing ability that technology gives us to always keep in touch with others. This phenomenon is so powerful that it has almost destroyed the anonymity the Internet gave us in its earlier years. Now every person has several pages and avatars that are virtual extensions of their self and the question of what is virtually acceptable behavior must now be analyzed. These ideas, among others, are what B. Coleman discusses in her book Hello Avatar: Rise of the Networked Generation.

The main focus of the book is on X-reality. Coleman defines this term as “an interlacing of virtual and real experiences.” She goes on to describe how this happening affects people’s behaviors on the web and how this type of media is becoming pervasive in our daily lives. Avatars’ aid in communication between peoples, the development of making avatars look more human, and alternate reality games are also discussed. One of the most interesting chapters involved an interview with a man who used his Second Life avatar to conduct virtual cannibalism. I found this chapter to be the most captivating for a variety of reasons.

For starters, the interview between the author and the virtual cannibal took place within the Second Life world. Normally such an interview would be conducted face-to-face physically, but since the level of detail and immersion of virtual worlds has been increasing so tremendously, and since some people are more comfortable in a virtual setting, it is now acceptable to conduct such business virtually. The activities that the virtual cannibal performed in Second Life would be considered unspeakable acts in real life. As a group, they would simulate sexual engagement where rape, asphyxiation, assault, and finally the death and consumption of a member would occur. What is even more shocking is that the man behind the avatar conducting these actions is a smart, well-to-do French man. This helped to illuminate the idea of multiple identities across mediums and the ability virtual worlds give us to experiment without consequence.