“In Hinduism, Avatar or Avatāra refers to a deliberate descent of a deity from heaven to earth, and is mostly translated into English as “incarnation”, but more accurately as “appearance” or “manifestation”.

Well as I have created some years ago my avatar in Second Life, I haven’t had the feeling to come from heaven to the earth. But yes – first I have dealt with my appearance in this world :0)))

I was a bit gray and  it has needed some time for this metamorphose.

“The Sanskrit noun avatāra is derived from the verbal root tṝ “to cross over”, joined with the prefix ava “off , away , down”……Related to the concept of avatar is that of vibhūti, that is, the idea of manifestations of the divine in various aspects of human life and the natural world.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar

Yes we create us in the virtual worlds and this lets feelings in us and also the Divine in us.

But what do we want to be in this worlds? There are so many possibilities.

“Digital media allows us to make both dramatic and subtle changes to our self-representations with an ease not available elsewhere. These changes can greatly affect how we interact with others in virtual environments. For example, facial and behavioral mimicry can make us more likeable and persuasive. In addition to gaining social advantages, our avatars (digital representations of ourselves) can also change how we behave. This occurs via conforming to expected behaviors of the avatar – a process referred to as the Proteus Effect….”

“….I conducted a series of four pilot studies that explore the Proteus Effect. In the first study, I found that participants in attractive avatars walked closer to and disclosed more information to a stranger than participants in unattractive avatars. In the second study, I found that participants in taller avatars negotiated more aggressively in a bargaining task than participants in shorter avatars. In the third study, I demonstrated that the Proteus Effect occurs in an actual online community. And in the final study, I showed that the Proteus Effect persists outside of the virtual environment. Placing someone in a taller avatar changes how they consequently negotiate in a face-to-face setting.”

http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001569.php

Over time I have learned to create my own skins and shapes. Every avatar has his or her own character and every character has changed also my behavior a bit and I have expressed new sides of me. My avatar has taught me more about me, than I ever could imagine and sure it is the creation of us in virtual worlds also a very personal art.

From time to time I see now a avatar in a skin, I have created. Sure they are familiar to me, but also they bring much new in this character, which lets me always smile. It seems, we give our avatar a soul – “from heaven to earth”.

If you would like to make your own skins, have a look at the great free templates, which the brilliant creator Eloh Eliot has made:

http://sites.google.com/site/another/resources

Don’t miss, to watch the 1000 avatar project:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwihVB2g8Eo&feature=youtu.be&a

Greetings,
Tesira