June 04, 2007
The Bush Soul + Emergence
Embodying our Avatars
"We are told that in the not so distant future we will spend hours immersed in three dimensional virtual worlds. These worlds will include "avatars", virtual representations of ourselves in the form of computer generated characters. Our soul, our consciousness, will somehow be embodied in an avatar. The avatar becomes our other body, another container for our spirit.
What is the relationship one has with his or her avatar? Do we control it like a puppet, or is an avatar like a child, containing the spirit of its parents but with its own set of behaviors? What part of "us" is in our avatar? Is part of our soul in this computer generated character?
The psychologist C.A. Meier, equates the soul to our most intimate identity, our conscious ego (Meier 1986). When writing about the localization of consciousness Meier refers to the observations of Mary Kingsley, an ethnologist who lived with West African tribes in the 1890's.
Kingsley stated that the West Africans believe that a person has more than one soul and that there is a certain type of soul, called the "bush soul", that dwells within a wild animal of the bush. A person's bush soul lives inside an animal though that animal also has a life of its own (Kingsley 1899).
An avatar could serve as a place for the bush soul; following the guidance of the person attached to it, but "alive" with is own set of behaviors. I am leading a research project that is exploring the role of the avatar and other issues of aesthetics in cyberspace design. We are building a PC-based system, called "Emergence", that will support an active, responsive, networked, virtual world.
Environments and their inhabitants are rendered in real-time as three dimensional, texture-mapped polygons. The users (called "participants") are represented as avatar models. The virtual inhabitants' unique behavior emerge from a set of parameters. In the case of the avatar, its behavior is combined with input from the participant.
We are experimenting with forms of communication that rely on symbolic gestures, movements and behaviors. Our focus is on motion, the "life" of the environment, and the role of artificial life in the creation of an art form which includes the interactive experience.
Many cultures believe that everything has some form of a soul. We carry this idea into our virtual world where every object is instilled with some form of artificial life. Driven by its internal code or in response to its environment, an object may change its shape and color, make a sound or begin to move.
In our virtual world relationships can be formed between all elements. Movement and interaction enhance the emergence of a rich environment populated by engaging inhabitants. An intriguing place for a traveling bush soul." -- Rebecca Allen
Emergence is a PC-based software system, designed for the creation of interactive art. In this system, three dimensional, computer generated environments and autonomous, animated characters are displayed in real-time. People who enter this world are represented as "avatars".
Through a scripting language one can utilize techniques of Artificial Life to specify behaviors and relationships between characters and objects. This system allows for the creation of muliparticipant virtual worlds that are "alive", responsive and interactive. Complex social environments can evolve from the interaction of simple behaviors.
Additional animation and sounds such as voice, music or ambient effects can be attached to objects and characters in the environment. Activities and events emerge, including performances and non-linear stories and music, depending on the relationships and interactions between the avatar and the artificial life forms.
With this system, we are experimenting with forms of communication that rely on symbolic gestures, movements and behaviors. The focus is on the "life" of the virtual environment. Through the avatar a person enters a world that encourages exploration, participation and the development of relationships.
"Emergence" provides the opportunity to explore the role of artificial life and human presence in the creation of an art form which includes the interactive experience.
Posted by jo at June 4, 2007 11:06 AM
