Anonymity, Avatars & Identity

## Identity

### **What is Identity?**

In today's' society the concept of identity is connected to race, gender, sexuality, nationality, ethnicity and culture. Some   people face the difficulty of choosing one culture to identify with because they self-identify themselves as being part of many cultures. Those people believe in the political philosophy of multiculturalism. Identity on the World Wide Web has been a problem with the rise of web 2.0. The growth of social networking sites has given users a virtual space for the portrayal of alternative identities. The alternative identity can be a far fetched illusion of the users personal self. The increasement of online alternative identities has given way to the growth of anonymity.
## Anonymity

### **Anonymity on the Internet**

Anonymity is the condition of being anonymous; a person that is non-identifiable, unreachable, or untraceable. The    information that was leaked by Edward Snowden, on NSA surveillance activity, has made many people question their right to privacy, both online and in the public eye. The concept of anonymity has been around long before the internet came to be. Democratic elections offer anonymity to all the voters.
> “William Shakespeare is probably a pseudonym [where another name than the real author is shown], and the real name of this famous author is not known and will probably never be known”.
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Pseudonym is a form of anonymity that is widely used in the world wide web. Many users incorporate a pseudonym in their avatars.
## Avatars

### **Origin of Avatars**

Avatar is a sanskrit word that refers to the descent of divinity from heaven to earth, and it is used in Hinduism to describe an incarnation of God. Sanskrit is the worship language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Sanskrit is also one of many official languages in India.

In Hinduism, the Avatar is someone that is freed from delusion and sent back to earth in order to help others. Ananda Sangha Worldwide, a spiritual website, states that
> “More traditional Hindus believe an avatar to be a direct manifestation of God, rather than a re-incarnation or re-appearance on earth of a soul that has been liberated. This is comparable to the understanding that many Christians have of Jesus Christ, who they consider as having never been in human form before he was Jesus Christ”.
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Jesus Christ, The Buddha, Krishna, and Mahavatar Babaji are some of the many avatars that are recognized by Hinduism and other religions.
> “Traditionally, the word avatar is sometimes limited to the different incarnations of Vishnu. In modern times, it is one of many Sanskrit terms that have been applied to everything from online computer identities to ‘avatar training,’ as if one could simply take a class and become an avatar!”
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The understanding and meaning of an avatar has evolved into one that is associated with technical advancements.
### **Avatars in Computing**

In computing, an Avatar is a personalized graphical illustration of a user’s alter ego, or character. An avatar can be in three-dimensional form or two-dimensional form. An avatar in three-dimensional form can be found in games or virtual worlds. An avatar that is in two-dimensional form will be found as an icon in internet forums and other communities accessible through a wired network. Some websites offer a generic non-customizable list of avatars. Those websites may offer an avatar that represents the product that is being sold, a character that is playable within a game, or an achievement that was previously unlocked in a  game or through the contribution in an online community.

Three-dimensional avatars in virtual worlds/games can interact with each other through many different means. The avatar in avirtual world walks within the programmed landscape for the user, manipulating the environment. Mouse and keyboard strokes move the character and cause it to perform a variety of actions. It might walk, run, jump, fight, fly, shoot, dance, yell, pick up objects, open doors, or even create objects. Second Life is a prime example of a virtual world in which any one can create an avatar and explore a virtual world.

### **Future Avatars**

The use of avatars is slowly expanding into the medical field in an attempt to help patients deal with their disorder. A system that can help people with schizophrenia control and silence the tormenting voices in their head is being developed by British Psychiatrists.

> "In a pilot study of 16 patients who underwent the British experimental treatment, known as ‘avatar therapy’, doctors found almost all of them reported a reduction in how often they heard voices and how severe the distress caused by them was.The first stage in the therapy is for the patient to create a computer-based avatar by choosing a face and a voice for the entity they believe is talking to them. The system then synchronises the avatar's lips with its speech, enabling a therapist to speak to the patient through the avatar in real time. The therapist encourages the patient to oppose the voice and gradually teaches them to take control of their hallucinations".
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The entity that the patients had an increasingly difficulty dealing with take on a virtual form. Instead of having to battle a voice in his/her head, the patient will fight back the commands of an avatar that sounds like that voice. The small pilot study was successful and this therapy method has been funded so that it could move on to a larger trial. If the larger trial is successful then the avatar therapy would become widely available in a few years. With the advancement into Web 3.0 avatars will be incorporated into every aspect of a user's internet experience. It will combine elements of virtual reality with those found in massive multiplayer online role playing games.  The user will be able to experience surfing the web in a completely different and unique way. Instead of surfing the world wide web through a mouse and keyboard, the user will be able to experience it from a first-person perspective or an avatar. Televisions, watches, and  clothing will be connected to the internet.
> “Each user's software agent will learn more about its respective user by electronically observing his or her activities”.
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 Search engines will be able to identify what the user is looking for before the user types it in. Data will be collected in order to construct a more personalized internet experience, which may lead to debates about Data privacy and Tracking.
## References

1. ↑ Wallace, Kathleen A. 1999. “Anonymity,” Ethics and Information Technology 1, 23-35; Nissenbaum, Helen. 1999. “The Meaning of Anonymity in an Information Age,” The Information Society, 15, 141-144; Matthews, Steve, 2010, "Anonymity and the Social Self," American Philosophical Quarterly, 47, 351-363.
2. ↑ Palme, J., & Berglund, M. (n.d.). Anonymity on the Internet. Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://people.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/society/anonymity.html
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Avatar. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2015, from http://www.ananda.org/glossary/avatar/
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lessig, Lawrence. Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace. Basic Books, 2000. ISBN 0-465-03913-8
5. ↑ What Is a Computer Avatar? (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2015, from http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-computer-avatar.htm
6. ↑ Kelland, K. (2013, May 29). Computer Avatars Could Help People With Schizophrenia Confront Tormenting Voices. Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/29/avatars-schizophrenia-computer-voices-in-heads\_n\_3352164.html
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Strickland, J. (n.d.). How Web 3.0 Will Work. Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-305.htm