AvatarMe: Go Into Quake 3
Games like The Sims and Quake 3: Arena enjoy massive online support from fans, but if a new company called AvatarMe has its way, gamers are going to get even more personal with their favorite PC titles.  Now available in a section of London’s Millennium Dome, AvatarMe allows users to enter a booth and have their photograph taken by four digital cameras.  While that’s nothing innovative, what comes next most certainly is:  AvatarMe allows users to go home to their PC, log onto a website, and download a custom 3D model of yourself, created from the photographs.  This digital model, which is made up of 40,000 polygons, can then be exported for instant use with Quake 3 and The Sims. 

While I haven’t had a chance to try out this program (maybe the 3D models look horrible), the concept sounds intriguing.  Some players might have issues with putting their own face into a game like Quake 3 (especially online) but wouldn’t it be great if this technology could be extended to scanning in objects for The Sims?  You could take your favorite toys and gadgets from home, go to an Avatar booth, and later import the objects into The Sims.  Before long, you really would have your own customized living environment.

AvatarMe promises that their technology will be available in North America later this year and while the idea is still in its infancy, I think there will be a huge market for gamers interested in putting themselves into a virtual world.  Mind you, it will also be interesting to see what ethical and moral considerations are raised by the fact you can conceivably launch rockets and plasma blasts at digital re-creations of real people in Quake 3.  Perhaps this technology is taking things a step too far?