the Proteus effect

• coming to identify with an online/virtual avatar
• noted academically in earlier ‘avatar’ styles of the 2000s (think: second life)
• but becoming increasingly relevant with more realism, personality and emotional connection in video games, as well as VTubers and similar ‘puppeteered’ avatars
• will be interesting to see how this evolves with more AI generated avatars (think: those profile pictures of historical setting/outfit with your face)
• seeded by ai generated influencers.mp4