2019-2020 设计趋势 · Avatar角色篇

版权申明：本文出自“腾讯ISUX”原创，感谢“腾讯ISUX”的原创文章分享！

ISUX Design Trend Report

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在本文中，我们将分享对于最近又逐渐流行起来的角色服务的见解。随着IT世界成为新维度的社交场合，在虚拟世界中扮演和代表我的avatar的存在与重要性正在与日俱增。与现实相似，用户把时间和金钱花在装饰avatar上来获得自我满足感，或者为了吸引其他人，围绕虚拟空间移动他们的角色和他人见面与交流。随着智能手机的发展，用于特定游戏或门户网站配置文件里的 avatar，最近开始越来越接近我们的生活。

In this article, we will share our insights about avatar services which become popular again recently. As the IT world has become as a new dimensional social place, the presence and importance of avatar representing me in the virtual world is increasing day by day. Similar to reality, users invest time and money in decorating avatar to gain self-gratification or to appeal to others, move their avatar around the virtual space to meet and communicate with other users. The avatars which were partially used from a specific games or portal site profiles, has recently began to come closer to our lives according to the development of smartphones.

"Avatar"一词起源于印度教，代表陆地形态的"神"的下降（印度教的"神"普遍被认为没有形体，能够以任何形式来显现自己）。在大众媒体中，"Avatar"一词最早出现在1992年Neal Stephenson所写的科学小说《Snow Crash》中，意为在虚拟世界中虚构另一个我，又叫"虚拟实境"。在IT领域，"Avatar"是对计算机用户自身形式的描述。第一个线上游戏的Avatar是1985年由LucasArts发布的online RPG"Habitat"，这是第一个用户可以控制自己的Aavatar并与其它用户产生交互的案例。（维基百科，NamuWiki）

The word 'avatar' originates in Hinduism, where it stands for the 'descent' of a God in a earthly form. In mass media, the term 'avatar' was first used in 1992 in the science novel Snow Crash written by Neal Stephenson. It meant a one's fictional other self in the virtual world, named 'Metaverse'. In IT field, avatar means the visualized form of computer users themselves. The first avatar in online game was LucasArts' online RPG Habitat in 1985. This was the first case which many users could control their avatar and interact with other users. (Wikipedia, NamuWiki)

现在，从源头改变含义之后，在游戏或门户网站中能代表自己的人物形状被统称为Avatar。简而言之，Avatar是虚拟社会中代表用户的虚拟身体，也就是角色。角色过去主要用于网聊或网络游戏，现在它的使用范围扩展到网购中心、虚拟教育，以及虚拟办公（会议）。角色将现实世界与虚拟空间连接起来，并且兼备匿名性和自主性的特征。过去，用户着迷网络空间的匿名性，现在他们也渴望表达自己，满足了这两面的角色正在吸引人们的关注。(Naver知识百科) 

Now, after changing the meaning from origin, the shape of the person that represents oneself in a game or a portal site is collectively referred to as avatar. Avatars have been mainly used for chatting and online games, but now its usage is expanded to cyber shopping mall, virtual education, virtual office(conference). An avatar connects the real world with a virtual space, and has characteristics that exist between anonymity and autonym. In the past, users were fascinated by the anonymity of cyberspace, but now they also have the desire to express themselves, and the avatars that satisfy both sides are attracting the attention. (NAVER Encyclopedia)

角色与GUI的出现，还有显示技术和通信技术的发展同时发生。在IT行业早期，角色以粗糙像素的形式在小分辨率的屏幕上显示。然而，随着计算机性能和通信线路质量的逐步完善，它可以用更高质量的图形材料来呈现。2007年，高性能移动pc，智能手机的推出使得只在台式上的角色如今能够现于手机端。此外，随着智能手机摄像头和处理器，AR与VR技术的出现，已经可以达到用真实图像实时合成3D 角色的水平。

The avatar service coincides with the advance of technologies such as the appearance of GUI, the development of display technology and the development of communication technology. In the early days of IT industry, avatars were expressed in the form of rough pixels in a small resolution screen. However, since the performance of the computer and the quality of the communication line have been gradually improved, it is possible to express avatars using high quality graphic materials. In 2007, a high-performance mobile PC, smartphone, was introduced and we can meet high-quality avatars that were available only on the desktop in the hand nowadays. In addition, with the development of smartphone cameras and processors and the appearance of AR and VR technologies, it has reached a level where 3D avatars can be synthesized with real images in real time.

自2018年9月推出以来，ZEPETO在35个国家应用商店的免费应用类别中排名第一。自发布以来的短短三个月内，MAU（用户数量）增加了五倍，总下载量已超过1200万。（截至2018年12月20日）

Since it was launched in September 2018, ZEPETO was ranked # 1 in the free app category in app stores of 35 countries. In just three months after its release, MAU has increased five-fold and total downloads have exceeded 12 million. (As of December 20, 2018)

虽然与角色相关的业务在稳定发展，但2018年对角色服务而言是引人瞩目的一年。得益于智能手机与AR技术的发展，苹果和三星公布了结合人脸识别与AR功能的3D emoji，代表韩国角色服务发展的ZEPETO在亚洲广受欢迎，它们独特的特征和风格预示着角色行业竞争的激烈。随着各公司的发展能力在某种程度上趋于平稳， 吸引人的风格， 有趣的功能和用户便利性等差异将会成就或损坏他们的长期成功。

Although avatar related services have been steadily developed, 2018 was a particularly remarkable year for avatar services. Thanks to the development of smartphone devices and AR technology, Apple and SAMSUNG announced 3D emoji combined with face recognition and AR technology. And ZEPETO, an avatar service developed in Korea, attracted tremendous popularity in Asia. With their distinctive features and style, they herald a fierce competition in the avatar market. As the development capabilities of each company are leveled up to some extent, differentiated points such as attractive style, interesting functions, and user convenience will make or break their long-term success.

下表展示了目前主要角色服务的现状。

The table below shows the status of major avatar services now in service.

以下是根据视觉特征排列角色的定位图。