Human Surrogates
Charles E. Hughes · 2014
A human surrogate is any object, virtual, physical or even a blend of virtual and physical, that acts as a stand-in for a human. Surrogates can be directly controlled or just given a specific task to carry out on behalf of a human. In the context of a virtual environment, a surrogate is more often referred to as an avatar, reflecting that it is intended to represent the person in some context, rather than just carrying out a specific task on his or her behalf. In essence, an avatar is a manifestation of the human who is "inhabiting" it. A person's avatar can look like the inhabiter or look like some other person, or even be a personification of some non-human character Generally, the inhabiter controls all critical actions, verbal and non-verbal, of his or her avatar, although the specific manifestation of the avatar may place constraints on how it carries out some of these desired behaviors.