Microsoft submits new patent: now watch as the number of well-endowed girls on the Internet declines

Some plucky researchers at Microsoft have just applied for a new patent, and it doesn't immediately come across as all that desirable. Its purpose: generating realistic avatars.

Your avatar is how you portray or display yourself on the Internet, be it on a forum or virtual world like World of Warcraft. An avatar usually takes the form of who you want to be, not who you are. Becoming someone else, if only for a short period, is part of the allure of the Internet -- it's escapism at its most pure.

It's interesting to see such a technology being worked on. You can see its appeal -- perhaps for family video games, like on the Wii -- but you can also imagine more nefarious uses. (Would all the blonde 15-year-olds from California suddenly disappear from the Internet?) Slashdot is reporting that its primary use will be to encourage users/gamers to exercise: your health records would be used to generate a fat avatar in a gaming environment. The theory is that it would drive the gamer to lose weight, with hopes of becoming a prettier Elf.

Imagine trying to pick up cute girls with a hideously over-weight avatar: it's a crazy idea, but, when you think about it, it might just work. (This is assuming that the cute girls are using the same technology to generate realistic-looking cute-girl avatars...)

[via TechFlash]

Tags: avatars, microsoft, online, patent, virtual-worlds