I am someone who was disappointed to discover that I couldn’t use my real name in Second Life. When you register there, you have to choose from a set list of surnames. “McDunnough” was the closest to Makice, and I figured if I can’t just be myself I may as well activate the bad pun gene my father gave me and call myself Old. One day, I will have a Second Life farm with pigs, cows and ducks. IEEE-i-e-i-oh. But for the most part, my participation in online communities tends to be an extension of myself rather than an opportunity to try being someone else.
While not uncommon, the majority of people don’t use their names. Usernames tend to mask offline identity in some way, usually with a cryptic reference to something of interest in the person’s background. The identity becomes more of an expression than a reflection, and this extends to the other information typically found in profiles … especially avatars. There are some sites that cater a bit to this form of expression. With some adult supervision (to avoid linking to the bad side of the Internet tracks), these are fun, creative outlets for kids, too.
Funny Pics
There isn’t much to this little web tool to create a cartoon avatar. There are a lot of simple controls for facial features and accessories, generating a stylized little head that can be added to forum profiles. I couldn’t get the Email tool to function, but it works fine from a screen capture file and minimal cropping.
Gizmo
Founded in 2003, Gizmoz is a avatar community where you can upload a head shot and use it to create an animated talking character. There are a number of free options to enhance your photo, plus others that cost some points. Every new member starts with points to be able to get some of the higher-quality animations, earning additional points through interaction with others. In some ways this seems like the equivalent of the blink command or flying toasters from the ’90s, but the customization is pretty extensive and the resulting animation isn’t bad.
After uploading a head shot, you can customize your animated avatar with Gizmo.
The Simpsons
Although it isn’t the primary focus, The Simpsons movie site has a great tool to build custom Simpsons world avatars. After I made one (more-or-less) trying to look as much like my real world self as possible, Carter wanted to do the same. He was very careful to select hair, eyes and mouth that he through reflected what he looked like. When it came to Archie, however, he encouraged his little brother to make more crazy selections. Amy did her own avatar, too. Since all of the avatars can be saved in the Simpson’s site and locally on the hard drive as a JPEG, it was only a few minutes before we had a family portrait from Matt Groening.
Meet the Makices
