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A Brief Look at Icons and AvatarsHow Sacred Religious Images Evolved into Digital Alter EgosIcons are everywhere--on T-shirts, billboards, and business cards. In the online world, icons have developed from small graphical user interfaces to life-like avatars.
In the Beginning: Religious IconsWhere did icons begin? In the original Greek language, icon meant an image, or representation. Icons were created and worshiped in ancient Greek culture, as well as in Buddhism and the Hindu religion. Other religions, such as Islam and later, Protestant Christianity, shunned the use of icons in worship, and even applauded the destruction of images used to worship in other faiths (iconoclasts). However, beginning in the first few centuries A.D., the Catholic and Orthodox streams of the Christian Church developed a strong tradition of creating and venerating icons. Many beautiful works of art, including jeweled carvings, illuminated manuscripts, lifelike statues, and paintings on wood panels overlaid with gold, were created to honor Jesus Christ, Mary and the saints. The idea behind icons was that, just as Christ himself was a physical representation of God the Father, so these physical objects represented the saints. Icons were meant to bring them often to mind, and in some way, connect worshipers with the spiritual reality that the icon represented. A Political IconAccording to the American Heritage College dictionary, Fourth Edition, “icon” means an important, enduring symbol, or an object of great attention and devotion. In politics, then, an icon can be either a person and/or a small pictorial image of a person of great prominence, such as George Washington. Political icons may also include symbols for a moral or political cause, such as the pink ribbon for breast cancer research, or the yellow ribbon for our troops overseas. Icons can also represent apolitical ideas, such as a serpent on a pole symbolizing medicine; a bus meaning a bus stop; or the ubiquitous smiley face, meaning “Have a nice day.” Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) In the 1970s, software researchers developed graphical user interfaces to help non-techies operate the new desktop computers. These digital icons were small symbols representing a command, file or program in an easily understood way. The icons served as hyperlinks, where the user points and clicks to activate a specific programming language command. As personal computers exploded in popularity, the need for icons grew. Because they are language-independent, icons became indispensable in international commerce and communication. Now, icons have become the keys to navigating the digital universe. Developing Digital Icons To develop computer icons, graphic artists focus on visual metaphors that show only a part of the idea, but which bring to mind the idea itself. An envelope means a message in an electronic mailbox, and an arrow means “proceed to the next step.” Icon designers simplify visual concepts using straight horizontal or vertical lines, or 45-degree diagonal lines, avoiding many curves or angles. Typically isometric drawings, rather than more realistic perspective drawings, are used. These work best on the computer screen’s regular pixel grid. Online AvatarsAn avatar is a digital icon chosen by an individual to represent him- or herself in the online world. The term “avatar” comes from a Sanskrit word that means “incarnation.” Digital avatars began as three-dimensional characters in computer games. The technological complexity required to create and operate an avatar has been so simplified that children (and non-techie adults) can fully participate in online game worlds where they easily design their characters’ clothes, hair and skin color. The avatars walk, talk, earn money, build houses, fight wars and even show emotions. Talking Alter Egos Avatars used by bloggers and online forum contributors show a person’s photo, or an important aspect of themselves, such as a talent, political conviction, or spiritual belief. Dynamic avatars constantly change before the viewer’s eyes. The latest avatar advances allow an IM user to select a tiny icon, which uses a text-to-speech technology to show the character actually speaking the words being messaged in the chat box. With the Internet, icons play a significant role in our global culture, just as they have in many cultures through the ages. As they become more and more life-like, and as our “online lives" gain importance, icons and avatars are becoming a major way to communicate, rivaling face-to-face interaction. Digital icons have replaced 3-D artifacts as the "spiritual connectors" of humankind.
The copyright of the article A Brief Look at Icons and Avatars in Computer Software is owned by Holly Bigelow Martin. Permission to republish A Brief Look at Icons and Avatars in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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