Arbetet som gjorts i denna undersökning har cirkulerat kring sexualisering av manliga och kvinnliga avatarers rustningar och hur spelare relaterar till dessa rustningar. Detta gjordes med en internetbaserad undersökning med två enkäter där den ena innehöll en manlig avatar med olika rustningar och den andre en kvinnlig avatar med olika rustningar, där den huvudsakliga skillnaden mellan rustningarna var nivå av sexualisering. Resultatet visar att spelare föredrar lite eller ingen sexualisering av båda oavsett könet på avataren, Svarandes motiveringar analyseras efter återkommande resonemang. Vidare arbete inom ämnet sexualisering uppmuntras och förslag på riktningar ges.

Den snabba tekniken/teknologin erbjuder oss nya uppfinningar varje dag. De flesta av oss hänger knappt men de branta svängarna med nya uppfinningarna. Avatarer som har blommat ut anses vara en av de användbarhetsräddningarna i organisationswebbsajter på Internet. Men stämmer det verkligen, är allt som är nytt bra och användbart eller är det bara en trend som kommer att slockna med tiden.Denna studie visar vad som tycks om avatarer samt dess användning i organisationswebbsajter bara från användarnas perspektiv. De teoretiska samt empiriska studierna har hjälpt oss att samla in information om ämnet.Den teoretiska studien har gett oss större förståelse för olika begrepp utifrån våra byggstenar som har haft en bidragande del till studien.Den empiriska studien gav oss möjligheten att undersöka ämnet utifrån datoranvändarnas syn på ämnet. Våra undersökningar tillämpades på två olika organisationswebbsajter, en företagswebbsajt (SAS) samt en kommunalwebbsajt (Jönköpings kommun). Detta gjordes för att få bredare syn på avatarer oavsett i vilken slags organisationssort de används i. Genom ett antal intervjuer såg vi till att få information från all slags datoranvändare för att kunna få en relativ objektivt syn om hur användarna tycker och använder avatarer.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:22:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Paula Narciso Severo.pdf: 41116757 bytes, checksum: 03aa3830fc6c5a0aceda938219ba0012 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-11 / Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo / The customization has been presented in several kinds of games, pleasing players with distinct profiles and showing its potential as a feature that may bring huge inovations to these virtual environments. Realizing that such feature may bring a deeper overlay between the player and its representative character, this paperwork has as purpose, investigate the avatar and its customizable process in order to identify the main elements that act on the avatars' construction and edition in games. For this, theoretical surveys have been made concerning the character in the general narrative and in digital environments, more specifically in the games. Then, we have performed a study of the avatar as the interactor's participation tool in the cyberspace and in the games, followed by an analysis concerning the avatar's customization tool under an aesthetic view and finally, it has been made a description of the games to be analysed, followed by a comparison and interpretation based on the dissertation's content as a whole and some authors that can make interesting contributions to the viewpoint of the avatar's customization in the game. However, we realized that the customization in the games may engage the player beyond the necessity of just accomplish the main goal of the game, creating an extra motivation and increasing the player's involvement not only with the avatar, but with the game as a whole / A personalização tem se apresentado em diversos gêneros dos games, agradando a jogadores de perfis distintos e demonstrando seu potencial como uma característica que pode trazer grandes inovações para estes ambientes virtuais. Percebendo que tal característica pode trazer um maior envolvimento do jogador com sua personagem representativa, este trabalho tem como objetivo investigar o avatar e seu processo customizável a fim de identificar os elementos fundamentais que atuam na construção e edição do avatares nos games. Para isso foram feitos levantamentos teóricos a respeito da personagem na narrativa geral e nos ambientes digitais, mais especificamente nos games; em seguida foi realizado um estudo do avatar como ferramenta de participação do interator no ciberespaço e nos games, seguido de uma análise da ferramenta de customização do avatar sob um olhar estético e por último, foi feita uma descrição dos games a serem analisados seguido de uma comparação e interpretação baseada no conteúdo da dissertação como um todo e em alguns autores que podem trazer contribuições interessantes para o ponto de vista da personalização do avatar no game. Percebemos, contudo, que a personalizaçãoo nos games pode empenhar o jogador para além da necessidade de apenas realizar o objetivo principal no game, constituindo uma motivação a mais e aumentando o envolvimento do jogador não só com o avatar, mas com o game como um todo

Deictic pointing—pointing at things during conversations—is natural and ubiquitous in human communication. Deictic pointing is important in the real world; it is also important in collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) because CVEs are 3D virtual environments that resemble the real world. CVEs connect people from different locations, allowing them to communicate and collaborate remotely. However, the interaction and communication capabilities of CVEs are not as good as those in the real world. In CVEs, people interact with each other using avatars (the visual representations of users). One problem of avatars is that they are not expressive enough when compare to what we can do in the real world. In particular, deictic pointing has many limitations and is not well supported. This dissertation focuses on improving the expressiveness of distant pointing—where referents are out of reach—in desktop CVEs. This is done by developing a framework that guides the design and development of pointing techniques; by identifying important aspects of distant pointing through observation of how people point at distant referents in the real world; by designing, implementing, and evaluating distant-pointing techniques; and by providing a set of guidelines for the design of distant pointing in desktop CVEs. The evaluations of distant-pointing techniques examine whether pointing without extra visual effects (natural pointing) has sufficient accuracy; whether people can control free arm movement (free pointing) along with other avatar actions; and whether free and natural pointing are useful and valuable in desktop CVEs. Overall, this research provides better support for deictic pointing in CVEs by improving the expressiveness of distant pointing. With better pointing support, gestural communication can be more effective and can ultimately enhance the primary function of CVEs—supporting distributed collaboration.

Τα περιβάλλοντα εικονικής παραγματικότητας είναι ένα κατάλληλο μέσο προκειμένου κάποιος να μπορέσει να εκπαιδευτεί και να εξασκηθεί εκ του ασφαλούς σε καταστάσεις που στον πραγματικό κόσμο θα ήταν δύσκολο και ίσως επικίνδυνο για αυτόν που εκπαιδεύεται αλλά και για όσους άλλους εμπλέκονται στην εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία. Μία τέτοια κατάσταση είναι και η εκδήλωση σεισμικής δραστηριότητας σε μία σχολική τάξη. Στόχος της συγκεκριμένης διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι η δημιουργία ενός εκπαιδευτικού εικονικού περιβάλλοντος για την προσομοίωση του φαινομένου του σεισμού και η χρήση εικονικών χαρακτήρων (avatars) για την δημιουργία ενός ρεαλιστικού σεναρίου που θα λάβει χώρα μέσα στο εικονικό περιβάλλον. Στα πλαίσια της συγκεκριμένης διπλωματικής εργασίας ορίζεται η έννοια της εικονικής πραγματικότητας, περιγράφονται τα συστήματα εικονικής πραγματικότητας καθώς και ο εξοπλισμός hardware ο οποίος είναι απαραίτητος για τη δημιουργία και χρήση εφαρμογών εικονικής πραγματικότητας. Επίσης περιγράφονται οι εφαρμογές της σε όλες της φάσεις και τους τομείς της ζωής μας καθώς και η υπάρχουσα κατάσταση στον Ελλαδικό χώρο. Για το εικονικό περιβάλλον που έχει δημιουργηθεί με τη χρήστη του 3D Studio Max, που είναι μια εικονική τάξη, περιγράφονται τα αντικείμενα που υπάρχουν σε αυτή καθώς και ο τρόπος εξαγωγής αυτής και των αντικειμένων της σε κατάλληλο λογισμικό εικονικής πραγματικότητας Virtools προκειμένου να καθοριστεί η περαιτέρω συμπεριφορά τους. Επιπλέον δίνεται έμφαση στην εισαγωγή εικονικών χαρακτήρων (avatars), στο εικονικό περιβάλλον που έχει δημιουργηθεί. Περιγράφεται αναλυτικά η εισαγωγή του εικονικού χαρακτήρα στο περιβάλλον της εικονικής τάξης καθώς και τρόποι και τεχνικές όσον αφορά τη συμπεριφορά των εικονικών χαρακτήρων με τη βοήθεια των animations. Δίνεται η δυνατότητα στο χρήστη να ελέγξει ο ίδιος και να καθορίσει της κινήσεις του εικονικού χαρακτήρα μέσα στο εικονικό περιβάλλον και να τον κινεί μέσα στον εικονικό χώρο όπως θα συνέβαινε στην πραγματικότητα. Ακόμα, έχει δημιουργηθεί ένα συμβάν σεισμού όπου συγκεκριμένος εικονικός χαρακτήρας αντιδρά λάθος κατά τη διάρκεια του φυσικού φαινομένου με στόχο η συγκεκριμένη αντίδραση να είναι παράδειγμα προς αποφυγή σε αυτούς που το παρακολουθούν (μαθητές) και να εξοικιωθούν με το ενδεχόμενο εκδήλωσης σεισμού στην τάξη. Γίνεται προσπάθεια απομυθοποίησης του φαινομένου του σεισμού με ευχάριστο και ασφαλή τρόπο. / Environments of virtual reality are a suitable means in order that somebody it can be educated and practiced from sure in situations that in the real world would be difficult and perhaps dangerous for the one that is educated but also for those who other they are involved in the educational process. A such situation is also the event of seismic activity in a school order. Objective of particular diplomatic work is the creation of educational virtual environment for the simulation of this phenomenon of earthquake and the use of virtual characters (avatars) for the creation of realistic script that will take place in the virtual environment. In the frames of particular diplomatic work is fixed the significance of s virtual reality, is described the systems of virtual reality as well as the equipment hardware which is essential for the creation and use of applications of virtual reality. Also are described her applications in all phases and the sectors of our life as well as the existing situation in the Hellenic space. For the virtual environment that has been created with the user of the 3 D Studio Max, that is a virtual order, are described the objects that exist in this as well as the way of export of this and her objects in suitable software of virtual reality Virtools so that is determined their further behavior. Moreover is given accent in the import of virtual characters (avatars), in the virtual environment that has been created. Are analytically described the import of virtual character in the environment of virtual order as well as ways and techniques with regard to the behavior of virtual characters with the help animations. Is given the possibility in the user checks himself and of determining her movements of virtual character in the virtual environment and him of moving in the virtual space as it would happen actually. Still, has been created a incident of earthquake where concrete virtual character reacts error at the duration of natural phenomenon in order the particular reaction is example to reject in those where watching (students) and familiarize with the possibility of event of earthquake in the order. Becomes effort of demystification of phenomenon of earthquake with pleasant and sure way.

Studien har undersökt om rörelsesättet hos en underförstådd arketyp kan påverka sättet en spelare interagerar med en virtuell miljö. För att ta reda på detta skapades ett spel som kan spelas i två olika versioner där avatarens rörelsesätt är den enda skillnaden. Data samlades in via enkät och via spelet som skapats. Resultatet antyder att spelaren anpassar sitt beteende efter sättet som avataren rör sig. Detta belyser även hur man kan utnyttja arketyper för att fömedla avatarens personlighet och dispositioner.

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Comunicação, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação, 2015. / Submitted by Albânia Cézar de Melo (albania@bce.unb.br) on 2016-02-17T13:15:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_DaniellyAmatteLopes.pdf: 26578271 bytes, checksum: 7722f8f0dc30ce148d08fda8677cced4 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Raquel Viana(raquelviana@bce.unb.br) on 2016-02-25T15:08:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_DaniellyAmatteLopes.pdf: 26578271 bytes, checksum: 7722f8f0dc30ce148d08fda8677cced4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-25T15:08:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_DaniellyAmatteLopes.pdf: 26578271 bytes, checksum: 7722f8f0dc30ce148d08fda8677cced4 (MD5) / O presente trabalho se propõe investigar a relação estabelecida entre o sujeito contemporâneo e o jogo digital, tendo a figura do avatar como mediadora dessa relação. Propusemo-nos discutir como essa relação, onde a figura do avatar é a responsável por dar corporeidade ao sujeito neste novo espaço, liga-se aos diversos reordenamentos conceituais verificados na contemporaneidade. Buscamos identificar como o imaginário, enquanto formação simbólica, interfere na dinâmica estabelecida entre jogo e jogador, entendendo game e avatar como veículos de experiência e experienciação dos sujeitos e suas relações. Trabalhamos com a hipótese de que o jogador identifique seu avatar como parte de seu reordenamento identitário. Para isso, acabamos por nos debruçar sobre temas como identidade e subjetividade contemporânea, corpo e imaginário. A conexão com o mundo dos games e seus avatares se deu através do exame de jogos do tipo MMORPGs. Optamos pela realização de um experimento que nos permitisse observar como se constrói a relação entre jogador e avatar a fim de termos elementos para discutir conceitos e confrontá-los com a experiência de construção do avatar propriamente dita. Estruturada em seis capítulos, a tese traz no primeiro deles uma introdução ao estudo, apresentando em linhas gerais como a pesquisa se desenvolveu. Nesse capítulo também apresentamos nossos objetivos e as hipóteses que guiaram a tese, bem como as estratégias e ferramentas metodológicas que utilizamos nesse processo de construção. No capítulo 2 examinamos o jogo e seus componentes, apresentando melhor o jogo digital, o Game Studies e também algumas definições sobre o avatar, figura central da nossa pesquisa. Ao capítulo 3 reservamos a tarefa de descrever o experimento realizado, cuja discussão se dá ao longo dos outros capítulos que se seguem. No capítulo 4 expomos a relação entre games e imaginário contemporâneo. Já no capítulo 5 traremos uma análise sobre a identidade contemporânea, contrapondo aí questões relativas ao entendimento de corpo e materialidade, nos encaminhando para a discussão da identidade contemporânea e a produção de subjetividades, buscando sempre pontuar tais temas com os dados obtidos durante o experimento. O capítulo 6 traz algumas considerações construídas ao final dessa jornada, buscando entender as relações dialógicas existentes entre sujeito, game e avatar. Rediscutimos nesse capítulo nossas hipóteses e os resultados desse fluxo de investigação, que apresenta temas relevantes da cultura contemporânea e os contrapõe ao sujeito contemporâneo. Um sujeito que terminou por se configurar como polo aglutinador das questões abordadas por esta tese. / The present work aims to investigate the relationship between the average contemporary person (subject) and the digital games, with the avatar as a mediator. Our proposition is to discuss the means with which this relationship, in which the avatar figure is responsible for personifying the subject in the new space, connects the various conceptual reorganizations present in contemporary society. With the understanding of game and avatar as means to the experience and the experiencing of subjects and their relations, we aim to identify how the imaginary1, while symbolic creation, interferes in the dynamic between the player and the game. Working with the hypothesis that players identify their avatar as part of their rearranged identity, we discuss themes such as body and imaginary, identity and the subjectivity in contemporaneity. The connection between the game world and its avatars has been made through the study of MMORPG games. We chose a type of experiment that would allow us to observe how the relationship between player and avatar is constructed, providing us with material to discuss our concepts and to confront them with the actual experience of constructing an avatar. The present thesis is structured in six chapters, with the first one being an introduction to the studies, providing an overall look on how the research was developed, along with the objectives and hypothesis that guided our thesis, and the strategies and methodologic tools that were used in our process when constructing said thesis. In chapter two we examine the game and its components, providing a more thorough explanation of the digital game, Game Studies, and presenting a few definitions of avatar, the main figure of our research. In chapter three we describe our experiment, leaving its analysis to the following chapters. Chapter four is concerned with the relationship between games and the contemporary imaginary; while in chapter five we analyze contemporary identity, confronting ideas related to the understanding of body and materialness, which leads to the discussion on contemporary identity and the creation of subjectivity. We illustrate this analysis with the data obtained from the experiment. Leaving chapter six to the final considerations that were achieved through this journey, we aim to understand the relationship built between subject, game and avatar. In this final chapter, we go back to our hypothesis and re-discuss the results of this investigation, which approaches themes relevant to contemporary culture and contrast them to a subject who ended up the joint point of this thesis’ investigations.

The visual appearance of video game characters carries great importance in regards to how a player perceives them. This also holds true for characters that are meant to represent the player in games, their avatars. In this thesis, the topic of preferences regarding visual appearance in relation to age of player avatars is explored. Interviews were held with participants from two age demographics in order to find potential differences and analyse them. The two age demographics consisted of middle aged swedes and young adult swedes. In the interviews, the respondents were given choices between eight different characters sketches. These eight sketches consisted of two groups, one meant to appear as being in the same age group as the young adult swedes and one meant to appear as being part of the middle aged swedes age group. After having made their choices, the respondents were asked to explain the motivation behind them. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the thought process that fueled their answers, the respondents were also prompted to answer question regarding their gaming habits, and their preferences in characters in other mediums than games. Results from the interviews indicated that there were trends in the choices made by the participants that differed between the two demographics. A majority of the demographic consisting of young adult swedes chose characters that were designed to appear closer to their age. Similarly, a majority of the middle aged demographic chose characters that were designed to appear closer to their age group. In short, a majority of the participants from both demographics showed a preference towards characters that were closer to their own age group.

Future warfare concerns information superiority, i.e. supplying decisionmakers with better information than their opponents. Their decisions will be based on information from various sensors such as radars, UAVs, satellites, or any other object that can supply the decision makers with information. A system like this will make use of a huge amount of data, and the decisionmakers may not be able to handle all information that will be presented to them. Because of this, they might make decisions that are not optimal for the task. To enhance tha capability in decision making, the national defence college will create an avatar which will be located in a 3D presentation device, called the Visioscope (tm). If the computer system detects that a person might have made an erroneous decision, the avatar will act and point out the error, i.e. there will be a dialog between the decision makers and the avatar. One important factor when humans communicate with each other is mutual eye gaze. If mutual eye gaze can occur between the users and the avatar, and if the avatar can behave like a human, the communication process will be improved and the users will make less errors. This literature study aims to generate some ideas about how existing technology supports mutual eye gaze between the avatar and the users in the ROLF 2010 environment. The study partly concerns how a computer system can control an avatar so that it behaves like a human.

Detta arbete baserar sig på frågeställningen: ”Påverkar en spelares politisk-ideologiska uppfattning dess val av fraktionstillhörighet i digitala underhållningsmedier vid skapandet av sin avatar?”. Spelare interagerar med digitala världar med hjälp av avatarer som en förlängning av sig själva och överför därmed sin personlighet till avataren. Om politiska åsikter baserar sig på personligheten hos olika personer, finns det eventuellt grund för att även spelarens politiska åsikter återspeglas genom avataren. I studien genomförs en undersökning av 30 testdeltagare som blir politiskt kartlagda och får genomföra ett fraktionsval för en skapad avatar.Resultatet av undersökningen uppvisar inga konkreta samband mellan testdeltagarnas politiska värden samt dess val av fraktion, dock kan man utröna vissa samband mellan fraktionsvalen samt skapandet av avatarer. Man kan exempelvis utröna att personer som föredrar en högerekonomisk politik, i högre utsträckning tenderar att sträva efter en god ekonomi för sin avatar i spel. Studien kan på sikt användas som inspiration för fortsatt forskning inom politik i förhållande till spel.