Diving into Peter Plantec's brave new world of virtual humans

Purpose To review Peter Plantec's book Virtual Humans: A Build it Yourself Kit. Design/methodology/approach This book is meant to be read by one willing to actively engage with the technologies that Plantec introduces. While the technology that enables virtual agents is stable, many agents are annoyingly non‐humanlike in their interactions. Plantec encourages his readers to enter the world of virtual humans by providing the resources and coaching necessary to create a digital agent. He challenges the reader to throw off the notion that she is creating a technical implementation, a piece of software, and instead persuades her to approach the task as a scriptwriter would in creating a character. Findings Only through the application of artifice can developers hope to create deeply engaging virtual humans with recognizable, engaging personalities. But once people start to believe in their virtual companions, where might it lead them as a society? Originality/value Provides information about virtual humans

Coaching · Creativity · Human–computer interaction · Originality · Task (project management · Value (mathematics · Virtual world · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Digital Games and Media · Engineering · Psychology · Social Psychology