(Describer) Streams of light collide to create a globe filled with water. Title: Science Nation. 3D computer-animated people wear different clothes and hairstyles in a video game.
(male narrator)
They're called avatars--
electronic personae
that we present to the world
in cyberspace,
a chance for people
to reinvent themselves
virtually in an instant.
I always pick
short people.
Sometimes I choose to look
like a fun and bubbly character.
Sometimes I want
to look very serious.
(narrator)
But could our avatars
actually change us?
Jeremy Bailenson thinks so.
With support from the
National Science Foundation,
he has created the Virtual
Human Interaction Lab
at Stanford University
to study the power
avatars exert
on their real-world masters.
You can be ten years younger,
swap your gender,
you can be 30 pounds
heavier or lighter.
Any behavior or appearance
you can imagine,
you can transform
your avatar to embody.
(narrator)
There's evidence
that once you see it,
you start to become the
idealized person you imagine.
(Describer) The model of a man's face is aged.
(Bailenson)
For example, I use algorithms
to age a 20-year-old
undergraduate.
Then I give
that undergraduate
the opportunity to save money
or spend it frivolously.
The undergraduate
will put more money in savings
as opposed
to spending it partying.
(narrator)
It may also affect fitness.
In this test,
a woman wears
a head-mounted display
while running in place.
Her avatar runs too
and visibly loses weight.
When she stands still,
the avatar stops
and gets fatter.
As you might suspect,
it's important
that the avatar resemble
its creator.
(Bailenson)
Twenty-four hours later,
people exercise more
after watching the self run
than watching someone else run.
(narrator)
We tend to prefer
others who resemble us.
The researchers reached
that conclusion in 2004
when they subtly morphed
students faces
with those
of the presidential candidates.
Those students favored
the hybrid candidate
that included
their own features.
(Bailenson)
It's very powerful stuff.
In a world where I can make
myself resemble you,
how does that affect
my ability to influence you?
(narrator)
Bailenson believes avatars
will play an increasing role
in our lives online.
How we shape our own avatar
and interact with others
could have profound influences
on our behavior.
(Describer) The globe turns.
For Science Nation,
I'm Miles O'Brien.
