Avatar Machine
Filed Under Art, Second Life on 2007-06-01, 10:52
So you spend a lot of time in World of Warcraft or maybe Second Life and you’re not so used to tromping out into the real world due to the shift in perspective? The Avatar Machine can help you out with that. Built by design student Mark Owens, the Avatar Machine is “a system which replicates the aesthetics and visuals of third person gaming, allowing the user to view themselves as a virtual character in real space via a head mounted interface.” In short, it’s a camera on poles wired to a video monitor in a headset that allows you to see the physical world in the same manner that you would in say World of Warcraft, from the 3rd person. In addition, it’s a “costume” that makes you look even more like a virtual avatar. I can imagine it would be slightly disorienting at first, but then strangely comfortable to most of us.