Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Communication?

32 comments:

aircupcakes10 said...

To start, that was really freaky and totally unexpected but, cool.

I think that using avatars will make people less likely to go and see their friends in person. With avatars personal interaction becomes a thing of the past. Also with the possibilities of avatars people can drastically change their image to something that looks nothing like them.

But in another light it opens yet another door for creativity since the possibilities are endless.

TheOne128 said...

This is amazing. Kinda creepy, I must admit, but amazing nonetheless. I think its amazing how someone could make up something like this and yet we cant prevent the common cold. Anyway, I am contemplating on if I should procrastinate and go make avirtual me or actually finish my homework. hmmm =)

Kaley! said...

Avatars can change a lot of communication. It gives people a chance to hear the words someone wants to get out rather then see it written. I know that some reflections of the voice and emphasis on words can only go so far with written words. Hearing it through an avatar can show more clearly what the speaker is trying to convey, which could clear a lot of things up.

Mark said...

I have never seen anything like this. Communication through avatars though can be like lying on a dating website. You don't have to look like you really do. Is it safe for something like this to be out there?

Dan said...

That was totally unexpected..I thought that it was a video and not a recording of your voice on the avatar. I have seen these many places on forums and other websites. Although not as detailed and animated as yours, but close enough. After listening to it, you can already think of reasons why it would change the world of communication. People won't be going out anymore and having a conversation in the middle park. They would just stay in their house and have an avatar which could talk to people internationally. Although you can communicate world wide, it really loses the confidence people would have while talking to another person of the opposite sex or even talking to your friends. People will be creating avatars with desired traits and then be bummed out that their real life traits are not close to that of the fantasy. This could cause self-esteem issues.

Faustino Conde said...

The idea of avatars is rather strange in a way but they do add a more human-like feel to the web because as creepy as it may be I rather listen to someones words as they talk rather than read them.

Also I feel avatars attrach the readers or in this case the "listeners", because it gives them something to look at rather than a colored or white screen with words.

Kevin said...

I feel like avatars are nothing new and yes they have effects on people, but I doubt there is too much effect. I feel like it's just a "cute" way to portray yourslef on the internet or if you're a kid chatting. People like making up their own personal either making themselves or a completely new person. I thik most people if they wanna see you they'll prefer a video or web cam.

Diana said...

I think its kind creepy but if just another way that people are using to communicate with others. i think in the long run it will hold back people from actually going to see the person and instead just be able to have a conservation with them with Avatars.

Lucy said...

These avatars would be great for communication for friends who live far apart. International phone calls are often expensive, an avatar would allow people to hear each others voices without having to hand over money. Sure you can talk to them over AIM, but adding your own voice just makes it more personal for the one you are seperated from

Alyssa44 said...

Well first of all the idea that people are using avatars and fake characters instead of themselves doesn’t say anything about today’s technology, but more about the people that use it. I’m not trying to insult you (you looked beautiful by the way), but the people that use this must be afraid of showing their face for some reason. And what ever the reason it ends their predicament of hiding them selves. This is a great thing because sometimes there are people that will surprise you, and say the most interesting and intelligent thought that really may affect your life greatly. But those people have stage fright and have a hard time with the fact that people will actually see them and maybe even judge them, so they use this avatar method as their own “imagine the whole room is in their underwear” approach.

Tiffany said...

I totally agree this was pretty high on the freaky scale. However it was also extremely funny to me, I think when I see you from now on I will be picturing this little cartoon figure in my head. I don't like the ideas of avatars because your not viewing the actual person speaking, it can be anyone and the claim otherwise.

frenchykevin23 said...

Ok first of all that’s really cool, I knew there was things called avatars but I thought they were just cartoons of yourself, but this is really cool. But it is an interesting concept, and I think that it could have a lot of positive effects and a lot of negative ones. If people start using avatars to communicate then you never know what someone looks like so you might get the wrong impression and it could be someone dangerous or someone you just don’t want to be talking to, it could also be bad because people might use it to impersonate other people on the web because im sure that this technology will get more advance, and eventually will look like real people and that can be bad when it come to impersonation.

But it can also be a good thing depending on how you look at it. It is a fun way for people to communicate and play around and get the desired traits they desire. But it’s also good because people who are usually neglected or not very influential can become an important person by disguising their identity and thus making it able for them to put their ideas out there for people to listen. But I mostly think it will just become a thing used by teenagers because it’s too cartoony for the real world, but I am excited to see how this new method of communication develops.

Rebecca said...

There is so many pieces of technology out there for you to communicate with that now its getting ridiculous. I mean come on why do you have to talk to your friends through the computer looking like a cartoon character. What happen to the good old days where people actually called one another, or met in person. My creative writing teacher has a board on her wall that says, "What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can't reread a phone call." We need to take advantage of the time we have with each other, in person.

adyyy! said...

i like it, but it's kind of weird

Justin F said...

The world is becoming a place where everything is going to be online and when you see someone in public you freak out and don't know what to say because you have no social skills. Then when you go home and act as your avatar you don't have to look the same and make it your own little thing and freaky and act crazy over the internet. The idea of avatars are gay and somewhat cool at the same time depending on the way you look at it.

Daniel said...

Only one step short of just video taping yourself. But an avatar lets you be more creative. You can make yourself look any way you want. I think this tool is more for fun than it can be used for business or anything related to a serious fashion. I just don't see someone sending a business proposal with an avatar. Unless of course they don't have a web cam to use in place of the avatar, that's the only way that I can see this being used for anything other than social interaction and having fun with customizing avatars.

Daniel Glovsky said...

Holy crap, I almost fell of my chair that was the single scariest thing i have ever seen. I was so scared I could barley listen to what that creepy cartoon was saying to me.

Well i have never dealt with any Avatars lately but if i ever meet one I am going to kick it in the face. I don't have time for this avatar non sense just be a normal person and communicate through Morse code.

Anonymous said...

I personally don't like avatars. I think they're creepy, and totally unnecessary. If you have something to say, just type it haha

Harrison said...

Wow I agree, that was definitely pretty creepy at the start. Unlike everyone else, though, it remained creepy for me. Personally, I think the internet and social networking make communication impersonal enough. When you bring in avatars, it just becomes another facade to hide behind. Personally, I'll just stick to photos, email, and the occasional instant message.

Omar said...

I’m not a big fan of avatars but I got to admit it’s pretty cool. This could create so many forms of communication.

Alicia said...

When I first saw your avatar, the first thing that popped into my head was,"What the heck?" as in,"what is this?". Then I realized this is the avatar you were talking about when applying it to our project. Like a little lightulb went off in my head- "ahah! I get it!". Anyways, I think its pretty cool and looks a lot like you too. If I ever do it, it'll be just for fun. I definitely enjoy talking in person than through a fake me.

GATORS217 said...

I'll start by informing you that I just laughed for a good five minutes at this; Definitely not what I was expecting. I admit, it was somewhat interesting but I don't think I would ever be involved in something like that. I wouldn't want a bad drawing of my friend speaking to me. It would kind of freak me out. I do believe, though, that we're going to start seeing more and more inventions that we never even would have thought inventing. But I would much rather just hang out with my friends.

Gian Trotta said...

I pressed play on the little avatar and I was like "Holy crap that sounds like Mrs. Stoklosa!"
Then I felt a little dumb when I heard what you were talking about. I don't think the use of avatars will really affect communication. To be honest i've always seen avatar systems as a way to create the best you that you possibly can. But when it comes to communication my opinions are that it really does nothing to improve social network. I'm still old fashioned and I'm happy to have a face to face conversation, and if that's not possible i'll stick to the phone. It feels a little more personal that way.

amanda said...

I think avatars are a total waste of time. If you want to talk to the "real" person this is not one of the ways to do it. On the other hand, if you want to mess around with the internet, go ahead.

David Deckers said...

I believe using the internet to communicate is a way to teach the world to basically be lazy and airheaded. Back when there was no internet or anything, people had to plan events. This led to people back when computers werent around to actually plan things ahead, and set things up. Not just go on line avatar someone and ask whats going on.We're becoming lazier and lazier as a community.

Chris Goodwin said...

This was something new from you. It was kind of cool. The avatar make the impact of the message so much more. If it was just written text it wouldn't be as influential. The future has many things to come. We can hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Prada said...

Well I honestly prefer a written message simply because not everybody speaks very clearly when it comes to microphones or even telephones with some people. However, with a written message the worst that could happen is a spelling mistake whic makes it a little easier to figure out what the person meant. I do think it's going to be successful and popular simply because people are going to feel like they are in the future talking through screens like they do in the movies. Not trying to call everyone stupid, just large amounts at a time.

RCK'r'HRD(Jose E.) said...

I think this whole avatar thing is impractical. I don't think it will impact people that much.
It's more of something to be used as an amusement than something serious. Likewise, I rather found this whole thing amusing.

Sebastian B said...

Yea, I messed arround with the Avatar in class. I think it's cool how technology has advanced and how we can use all of these new innovations for school work. We can use this for online communication and it can make it easier and better.

Jeremiah Nelson said...

Umm...gotta say kind of freaked out by the whole face staring at me while your voice comes out of the speakers. And if the words were actually synked to the mouth that would probably weird me out even more. But anyway as far as using avatars for communicating, I think it is a silly idea. For one it promotes more predators that can use these false images while they talk to attractive young women. And two you can just use a program like skype where you can talk and watch the person at the same time if that is what you really need. So I really think that it is over rated and the only reason anybody would really use it is if they were interested in the art style or whatever of the images.

CAR ZONE said...

I never seen anything like this. Communication through computers though can be like lying on a dating website. You don't have to look like how you really are. Its not safe for something like this to be out there?

C Robinson 32 said...

This is so creepy. Not going to lie.

Her eyes are the weirdest part. I hope they don't use these things for blind dating websites or anything because that could end up very badly for someone haha. The only difference is that people would be able to hide their faces when speaking as opposed to a webcam.