More bullets on "The Avatarization of you" and user-created content in the digital age...
More notes:
1.) Fabjectory: "(w)hile right now we're mainly making real life figures from secondlife avatars, we're going to rapidly get into the business of creating avatars that look like real life people and then make figures of those as well. Thought.. it was cool." Indeed. For discussion see 1. , 2.
2.) Thanks to "Roo" Reynolds, the ubiquitious Sketchup (3d modeling tool for the casual user) can now export primitive models that can be cut and paste into Second Life. The exporter is Ruby (viva! interpreted languages), and plenty of detail is offered. More discussion here.
3.) ...
In "Flat Daddy" Andrew Stern struck a chord with me. As he stated for himself:
I’ve posted numerous times about virtual characters (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8), and in my posts I’ve always been critical of shallow, cardboard-cutout characters. I’ve always had trouble understanding how players can tolerate them.
In my case I might cite (1. 2. 3. ). However, Andrew does mention where "sometimes a cardboard cutout is all you’ve got, and it’s better than nothing" citing a recent NYTimes article on how/why the Maine National Guard is giving away life-sized pictures to families of deployed guard members. "Guard officials and families say the cutouts, known as Flat Daddies or Flat Soldiers, connect families with a relative who is thousands of miles away." See the detail and discussion over on GTxA.
I'll close with Andrew's words: "(t)hat helped me remember why virtual characters, or fictional characters of any kind really, can be so powerful and useful to people." My earlier criticism of the frivolity of most virtual world cut-outs I still hold (ref cited above). But it does say to me that when one can get beyond the Zorros, elves and trolls, sometimes cut-outs can sit with gravity.
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