Afrofeminist Ethics Concerns in the Design and Use of Avatars

这项研究调查了女性主义在设计和使用化身方面的伦理问题，化身是当今数字空间中用户的3D视觉表现。它将化身理解为具有设计者和用户嵌入价值的技术艺术品，旨在探索这些价值是如何嵌入并反映在它们的创造和使用中的过程。与身份展示以及使它们成为可能的平台、设计师和用户相关的伦理挑战，在今天面临着化身，值得从非洲女权主义者的角度进行调查。西尔维娅·塔马莱将其定义为女权主义的一个版本，即“明确地寻求创造自己的理论和话语，与非洲现实的多样性联系在一起……夺回黑人妇女的丰富历史”，非女权主义对于揭示人们对化身的理解和影响以及创造解放的艺术品至关重要。这项研究旨在开发一个框架或工具，以帮助合乎道德的化身的设计和使用。使用参与性混合方法，包括推测性设计，该研究旨在吸引多个利益相关者参与，从相关文献中借鉴，以设计化身，以实现更好的负责任和包容性的未来。非洲女性如何看待虚拟形象及其负担能力？2.设计师的价值观如何植根于虚拟形象的设计和使用？3.非女权主义的法律和伦理框架会是什么样子？

This research investigates afrofeminist ethical concerns in the design and use of avatars, 3D visual representations of users in digital spaces today. Construing avatars as technological artefacts with designer and user-embedded values, it aims to explore the processes by which these values are embedded and reflected in their creation and use. Ethical challenges connected to identity presentation and the platforms, designers and users that enable them, confront avatars today and are worth investigating from an Afrofeminist viewpoint. Defined by Sylvia Tamale as a version of feminism that "distinctly seeks to create its own theories and discourses that are linked to the diversity of African realities... to reclaim the rich histories of Black women", afrofeminism is crucial to uncovering perceived understandings and impacts of avatars and to create liberatory artefacts. This research aims to develop a framework or tool to aid the ethical design and use of avatars. Using participatory mixed methods, including speculative design, the research aims at engaging multiple stakeholders, drawing from the relevant literature to design avatars for better responsible and inclusive futures.Research Questions1. How do African women perceive avatars and their affordances?2. How are designer values embedded in the design and use of avatars?3. What would an afrofeminist-informed legal and ethical framework look like?