A virtual human is a graphical representation of a human being; BTexact Technologies is actively working in the field of virtual humans, particularly avatars. The idea of an avatar became synonymous with a graphical representation of oneself in a computer-generated environment, after the science-fictional novel Snow Crash was launched, written by Neil Stephenson [1], an author whose ideas were ahead of their time. BTexact Technologies has taken the concept of an avatar a step forward, by enabling people to project their own body image on to their avatar, and create personal avatars.

Chapter Contents:

• 16.1 Introduction
• 16.2 Overview
• 16.3 The AvatarBT Exhibit
• 16.4 Vandrea - The Virtual Newscaster
• 16.5 AvatarBT Applications
• 16.6 User Evaluation of AvatarBT
• 16.7 The Future of Personalised Virtual Humans

Inspec keywords: avatars; personal computing

Other keywords: graphical representation; BTexact technology; digital home; personal virtual human; computer generated environment; Snow Crash; avatar; human being

Subjects: Virtual reality