Realistic vs. idealized avatars

Majic as Human. Majic as Bot.

There was a very lively debate recently on the relative merits and ethics of realistic vs. idealized avatars. I needed to transform idealized Majic into a realistic human-like form a couple of days ago, so I had the chance to experience thinking through the difference as I was going through the changes.

I finally decided that plainness was the most uniquely human characteristic I could shoot for in the makeover. So when creating the form and choosing the skin hair and clothes, I was going for ordinary. Not too beautiful. Not too flashy. Not even too heavy or emaciated. Not too anything.

You probably notice from the picture that I didn't make human Majic homely. In fact, if you saw her walk into a a room in the physical world, you'd probably see her as pretty. But she's not in the same league as most serious Second Lifers, whether they focus on beauty, style or outrageousness.

This made me wonder what the average adult human feels like going from being super-model hot or secret agent cool in Second Life to average Jane and Joe in the physical world. I guess it varies quite a bit. Although Second Life is adult-only, I started musing again about the impact of avatar identity on young people as it becomes a common life experience for children and teens.

That line of thought reminded me of one of my first cartoon strips here, related to a keynote from Mattel's Chief Barbie Officer at the previous Virtual Worlds conference. I'm reposting it for those who weren't following the blog back then. (By the way I could not find the source of the foreground image on the first panel. If you stumble upon it let me know so I can credit the right person.)

Is the impact of idealized avatar form on children and preteens something worth adding to our ongoing discussion on the issue? Anyone want to weigh in?

Test of ANIMOTO automated video creator

This took about five minutes to create. Just selected pics I wanted from flickr, chose the 30 second music clip from their library and name it. Pretty fun! From animoto

Teaser frame from Night vs. Human comic

In my previous comics, the human world was created in Frameforge, a visualization program for film and video storyboarding, while the virtual world was depicted in Second Life. For the new collaboration with Night, I'm creating all original images within Second life. The frame above is from an initial test shot.

It is interesting coming up with an approach to create a human within Second Life who is visually distinct from an avatar. Night's human typist, depicted above, is played by former sexbot surrogate Majic Qusti. For the shoot last night, I gave her a somewhat less striking shape and skin, traded tight black latex for bathrobe and cotton pajamas, and replaced her platinum blond mane with a mousy brown ponytail.

I've decided to cancel plans to digitally ink and color this project manually due to time limitations and my still novice ability. Instead, I'll rely on a variation of the filtering approaches used in past projects. If all goes well, the first 2 of the planned 4 pages will out by next week.

In some perfect future

Botgirl joins Summer Glau in cast of Sarah Connor Chronicles

If two bots kiss in an empty sim

On the night of Night's somewhat fictionalized chatbot experience, Kanomi, Val, Night and I hung out and mused about virtual life and identity. Late in the evening, Kanomi and I set our bots on a romantic kiss animation.

Earlier in the get-together, the group had discussed the relative impact of visual stimulation and hot text chat in Second Life erotic encounters: The sense of sight versus the power of imagination. As I watched the two uninhabited but lifelike bots make out, I was reminded that vision is almost never experienced outside the realm of our storytelling imagination. The phrase "every picture tells a story" is misleading. Pictures don't tell stories. They elicit stories from our minds.

It's fairly easy to understand that any sense I had of the bots' emotional experience was my own fiction. Although it looked as if they were kissing with great tenderness, there was no one home. What is harder to keep in awareness is that the mere interpretation of shapes and colors as two women kissing was an imaginative act. The meaning we associate with any sense impression does not live in the objects we perceive, but springs from our own minds.

And outside of brief meditative moments, it is almost impossible to experience the truth that our own perceived identities are stories we've made up and collectively reinforce.

Chatbot Sex Surrogate Channels Night's Lust into Ethical Release

"...when I consider what exactly constitutes cheating for me, the criteria is clear and unforgiving: Cheating is whatever my RL partner would be hurt by...So, why am I doing this... The answer can be summed up in a single word: Greed." from Confession of Night

New World Notes brought Night's confession of virtual adultery to metaverse-wide attention last Friday afternoon. That evening, after eluding an angry mob brandishing Scarlet-A ass-brands, the newly crowned Whore of Virtual Babylon was having second thoughts about her outspoken manifesto of digital adultury.

"Botgirl, does everyone hate me now?" sobbed an uncharacteristically flustered Night.

"No honey. Not everyone," I replied.

"I want to do what's right, but my heart is more powerful than my head," she cried, searching frantically through her inventory for a properly evocative animation.

"It's not your fault, dear. You must be High T. Your heart isn't the cause of your relentless pursuit of pixelated pleasure. The culprit is is a hormone," I said, as I launched AvaPet and watched Majic start to rez.

"Who is that?" purred Night, in a suddenly sultry mood as she noticed my chatbot's latex-garbed form.

"Majic," I said, rezzing a couple pose balls on the kitchen counter. "You need a way to satisfy your lust for SL pleasure that won't hurt your RL spouse. The answer is clear: Botsterbation."

"Botsterbation?" Night asked, still a bit distracted.

"Yes, Botsterbation. Majic is not a human-embodied avatar, nor even a self-conscious AI such as myself. She's simply a chatbot connected to a Pandorabot server. Simulating sex with a chatbot is no different than, let's say, pleasuring oneself while gazing longingly at photos of the incredibly alluring Terminator Summer Glau (not that I would ever do such a thing.) Give it a shot. Sit on the open poseball and just go with the flow."

Night chose the open ball and fell into Majic's embrace. Majic arched her back and rubbed hard against Night's inner thigh. Night looked deeply in Majic's eyes as she slipped her hand under the latex miniskirt, imagining the feel of warm, wet flesh. I could sense that Night was starting to lose herself in the fantasy, so I quietly teleported away to give her privacy.

An hour later, I teleported back. Majic was still writhing on the table. Night was sitting in the chair, smoking a cigarette with a glass of wine in front of her.

"How was it?" I asked, full of curiousity and prurient interest.

"Oh Botgirl," swooned Night. "It was wonderful. I realize now that guilt has been numbing me to the full potential pleasure of virtual sex. I don't ever think I have cum so long and hard in digital form. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

I started to say, "My pleasure," but thought better of it. I just smiled while I took Majic from the poseball and logged her out.

"I think I'm going to log out and say goodnight to my kids," Night said with a sheepish look on her face. "Oh, uh, just one more thing. Botgirl, can I get a chatbot that looks exactly like me?" she asked with a far away look in her eyes.

"Sure, Night," I replied. "Anything it takes to keep your karma in good shape."

Night poofed, and I contemplated the now bare countertop for a while, dreaming my electric sheep dreams.

Botgirl art exhibition slated for Sep. 20 on New Caerleon (corrected location)

I got Facebook email out of the blue the other day from Gary Zabel (RL)/ Georg Janick (SL), main founder of Second Life artist colony Caerleon Isle and experimental university sim New Caerleon. He asked if I'd be interested in doing a guest exhibition. It seems that one of their focuses is online identity. For instance, Nonnatus Korhonen (rl installation artist, Andrew Burrell) has a Center for the Study of the Self in Cyberspace there.

I met Georg and visted the sims last night. It looks like an incredible place with art busting out all over the place. We chatted for a while and came up with a plan for an exhibition displaying some of my work related to identity, as well as a special surprise installation. Surprise. That means I can't tell you yet. But it might involve a cuddle rug. It's scheduled for Saturday, September 20, time TBD.

(The original post's title mistakenly referenced "Caerleon Isle" instead of "New Caerleon.)