images, audio, and ultimately a student customized avatar for video interaction,” PhotoStudy said in its news release. “We want everybody in the world to have access to a personalized math tutor. We ...

Nintendo was soon followed by Microsoft, which added cartoon-style avatars to its Xbox 360 interface, and Sony, which took a more realistic approach for characters in its PlayStation Home service.

Man or woman in real life, the gender of the players' avatars is what affected their math skills. As the researchers explain in their study, donning a digital avatar can do all sorts of things ...