avatar

noun

1. 1

   An incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu.

   Fish, Boar, Snake, Lion [footnote] The four first Avatars, or Incarnations of the Divine Spirit.

2. 2

   A representation within a dimension of an entity that exists outside of that dimension. One which serves to act in place of or on behalf of the entity; a simulacrum.

   Last year, a 14-year-old boy died by suicide after falling in love with a chatbot from Character.AI. The last thing he did was have a conversation with an AI avatar that, possibly failing to recognize the severity of the situation, reportedly encouraged him to go through with his plan to “join her”.

   Devices now track and record our every move and, whether we like it or not, each one of us will bequeath to posterity a virtual avatar, a digital being whose calls, messages, transactions, loves and losses will live on in a vast, unregulated cyberspace. The afterlife has arrived, at least for our cyberbeings.

3. 3

   A representation within a dimension of an entity that exists outside of that dimension. One which serves to act in place of or on behalf of the entity; a simulacrum. The embodiment of an idea or concept; an instantiation, especially an incarnation or personification.

   ...that a new avatar of Mrs. Siddons has appeared at Covent Garden, in the shape of her niece Fanny Kemble...

   And honest Alan, who was a grim fire-eater in his day, has in this new avatar no more desperate purpose than to steal some young gentleman's attention from his Ovid, […]

4. 4

   A representation within a dimension of an entity that exists outside of that dimension. One which serves as the means through which the entity interacts with its environment; a player character or host.

   The people are pieces of software called avatars. They are the audiovisual bodies that people use to communicate with each other in the Metaverse.

5. 5

   A representation within a dimension of an entity that exists outside of that dimension. One which serves as the identifying token for the entity within the dimension. A graphical representation of a user or persona; used in reference to any digital environment, but especially nonmetaversal ones.

6. 6

   A representation within a dimension of an entity that exists outside of that dimension. One which serves as the identifying token for the entity within the dimension. A character model, used virtually as an emulation of a user or their persona.

   A virtual intelligence is an advanced form of user interface software. VIs use a variety of methods to simulate natural conversation, including an audio interface and an avatar personality to interact with.

Forms

plural

avatars