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David Stafford

Our bodies are bastions of our identities. They are the borders of our sense of self. They are our ambassadors to the rest of the world, and a vessel through which we perceive it. How far does the body intertwine with the self? Can we use other bodies to define what it means to be separated from our own? What can we identify of ourselves in these new bodies?

The advent of the Internet and the proliferation of computer games has led to a vast array of pseudo-bodies for us to inhabit. Many of them are as yet too simplistic to house a full personality, but instead allow us to explore an aspect of our personas through them. As technology advances however, these entities allow more and more of the users self to permeate them. The Internet offers worlds for these entities to exist in, particularly in online computer games where thousands of players may inhabit an expanding universe. These worlds are becoming ever more complex and, more importantly, self-evolving. They are proliferated by the users who inhabit them. Why do people feel the need explore these false worlds? The answer may be to escape the restrictions our bodies, and therefore our identities, place upon us.

Our idea of disembodiment separates the self from the flesh. When we are separated from our physical forms, what is it that gives us our identity? The idea may be on the surface terrifying but there are many who seek this detachment, to escape the solidity of their own identity. To inhabit a new universe is appealing, to decide to begin again and to choose those characteristics you want your new body to have can be, and is, addictive. We can choose to appear as anything we want in a place that carries none of the barriers and restrictions of our own world. Therefore the users in this world may meet and interact with other users that they would never encounter outside these pseudo-environments. An important aspect of online games and environments is that you are aware that those you meet are potentially the representations of real people, people you will only ever encounter in this way. Does that make these representations more real than those that are merely computer-controlled programs? Does it imbue them with a spark of life? Does it make the experiences you have in these environments as real as a conversation you have in the street? What will be the effect of the experience when we cannot discern the real personalities from the programmed ones? Will it be on a par with the physical world? No. But the value of what we take from these experiences may change.

Encountering other peoples representations on the Internet can give a better idea of the level to which these virtual bodies can be moulded and tailored to a specific personality rather than analysing one�s own experiences. The avatars you encounter on the Internet, in whatever game you happen to be playing, are entities in their own right, controlled by a player remotely from somewhere in the world, combined with a virtual character who has been created with its own abilities and weaknesses. What must also be taken into account is that these games are without real consequence, and the anonymity that players enjoy allows them to explore these worlds without inhibition. The avatar, therefore, is not a mere container for the personality of the player, rather it allows someone to combine aspects of themselves with the host character, which is usually modifiable to suit the player�s preference, and is already equipped with its own constraints which direct the level of expression the player can employ. The players can feel free to interact as they wish without any fear of consequence. With this understanding, the avatars people create may tell them a good deal about themselves and why they are exploring these alternative worlds in the first place.

The bodies available to players evolve constantly. It can be argued, however, that an avatar must have certain properties however. It must be modifiable by the player. A character in a traditional single-player game (where the player is the only real consciousness in the game) usually has its own immovable identity, the player is merely directing them. They are not representations of the player unless the player can modify some element of the character in a way that can be different from another player�s character. From simple two-dimensional characters that have a very limited range of abilities, to complex learning creatures that are extremely difficult to see as merely a collection of polygons, textures and code, this rule remains consistent. A particularly good example of avatar creation is found in the creatures in Peter Molyneaux�s Black & White, even though the avatar is not designed to represent the player directly, but instead learn from them. Players take the part of a god, and are given a tribe of people to nurture or torment as they see fit. Players then choose a creature to raise and train, which they do on a number of fictional islands. The creatures are all based on animals, tigers, sheep, cows and so on, so they already start with the nucleus of an identity. The player is under no obligation to teach the creature good habits, however. As the creature learns from watching the player dealing with the world in the game, interacting with it itself and being taught directly by the player, it physically changes, it will grow, and as it perceives a player�s actions as good or bad, will change to visually display its conclusions. A tiger that has become evil, for example, will turn black and its claws and teeth will elongate. The creatures function like a mirror, reflecting the player�s own actions, and gives them a constant evaluation of their decisions in the game. They are avatars once removed, but interpret and absorb so much of the player�s actions that they may be considered as representations of the player. Characters of this complexity are rare, but they are the nature of things to come.

In the future, if the trend in computer games and online games continues, we are likely to see avatars develop into incredibly complex entities. Like the creatures in Black & White, they may learn from real players. Future generations of characters may then wander off into another area of some as yet undesigned massive virtual world, where they learn from other players. If this is the case, why could they not learn from each other? How hard would it be to discern real players from these entities? Would it be possible for them to become more than the sum of their parts? If so, would entities like this do things that their designers never envisaged?

Avatars that the player controls directly may become more malleable, so that eventually each player�s avatar is as unique as they are. This Avatar might not just be used for one game, but may travel with the player from game to game, world to world, growing and evolving. Players using such avatars would be able to identify each other as easily as a friend in the street recognises you. The important question then may not be what we can identify of ourselves in these new bodies, but how much others identify of us in them? For if our personas can be identified in these creations, then they will have become valid representations of us in the virtual world; true avatars.

David Stafford is the creative director of Kapooki Games, a young Irish computer games company. Kapooki is just nearing the release of its first title, Lorgaine: the Black Standard, an online game based on Irish mythology. For more information see www.lorgaine.com and www.kapookigames.com