When you’re playing video games with a 3rd person view, most especially FPS, movement and freedom is intuitive and natural.

But how would that translate if our OWN lives are viewed as such? Well, student Marc Owens has made such a device. He mounted a video camera on bars at the back of a padded suit. The wearer is also equipped with a video-visor. So his view of himself becomes exactly what you would see in such games such as Resident Evil or Crysis. The contraption is called the Avatar Machine.

Check out the video below

The virtual communities created by online games have provided us with a new medium for social interaction and communication. Avatar Machine is a system which replicates the aesthetics and visuals of third person gaming, allowing the user to view themselves as a virtual character in real space via a head mounted interface. The system potentially allows for a diminished sense of social responsibility, and could lead the user to demonstrate behaviors normally reserved for the gaming environment.