Virtual Body Language : the History and Future of Avatars : how Nonverbal Expression is Evolving on the Internet

Download or read book Virtual Body Language : the History and Future of Avatars : how Nonverbal Expression is Evolving on the Internet written by Jeffrey Ventrella and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2011 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why does the tail wag the brain? What is virtual autism? Why can't our avatars walk hand-in-hand? Will a nonverbal Babel fish save the world? Jeffrey Ventrella, a seasoned virtual worlds programmer and visual language expert, reviews the history of avatars, smileys, and other expressive forms, and considers a future of spectacular creativity. This book combines thoughtful scholarship with amusing anecdotes from the trenches of Silicon Valley. Virtual Body Language presents a thorough analysis of the neurological, linguistic, aesthetic, and technical aspects of how nonverbal communication can be distributed over the internet. Based on nearly a decade of avatar development, Ventrella has the practical foundation on which to justify even the most outrageous claims, regarding what "avatar" might mean in the future.