Trying more than just using faces in graphical 3D worlds, a British company called AvatarMe set up imaging booths in London's Millennium Dome last year that snapped a three-dimensional image of each user's entire body at no charge. About 270,000 avatars that could be used in online video games were created during the exhibition, which lasted a year.
Games are only one application, said Stephen Crampton, chief executive of AvatarMe. The company is working with clothing manufacturers so that consumers can use avatars to try on clothes without entering a store.
"It's sort of like a virtual mirror," Crampton said. "We expect people will tend to use it for basics like polo shirts, where they can try on different colors, rather than with more exotic clothes." Business meetings could also be conducted with the aid of avatars.
Chris Lane, 3Q's chief executive, also heads a company called 3dMD that makes imaging equipment for use by plastic surgeons. "There's no reason why there shouldn't be a 3D representation that is actually your medical record," Lane said. A representation of a patient's body could remain on file as a reference point for reconstructive surgery, say.".
BioVirtual of Britain has developed software that allows the user to build an animated 3D avatar of his face with a recorded voice message to be used in sending e-mail or in online activities. No booths are needed to use the software, called 3DMeNow.
Instead the user loads one or two digital pictures of himself, preferably a head-on photograph and another showing him in profile, and the program creates a 3D image. The user can manipulate his facial expression to complement the recorded message Backers of technology, argue that avatar photo booths can give users the best of both worlds by allowing them to start with their own image and to enhance and distort it as desired.
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