Social Calendar (Social VR Spring 2021)

The Making of TinBomb*（天棒）*

TinBomb (They/Them) are my doppelganger in the virtual world. The name comes from the pronunciation of the Chinese word *天棒（tiān bàng）*which originated from my hometown dialect. *天棒 （tiān bàng）*means a person who doesn't care about the consequences and limitations - they do whatever they want to do. When I was kid, I got the nickname *天棒 （tiān bàng）*from my peers, not because I was a super careless and courageous person but becasue my name also has the character "天（tiān）" in it. Treated it as a joke, I didn't take the nickname seriously back then. However, when I look back to my life and my growth over the years, I believe 天棒 （tiān bàng）- this unconstrained part of me who always ought to break the boundaries - is accompanying me all along.

Avatar Customization

The starting point for this avatar customization is simple: experimenting. I am relatively new to 3D environment, so during the process of creating my first avatar, most of time I was learning and getting used to Blender, and having fun with whatever I was able to manipulate. I first started with Bubblehead, Ready Player Me and then tried AvatarSDK. I had a lot fun changing my hair style and facial expression in AvatarSDK, and I downloaded the 3D model of my "head" and imported into Blender. Then I had a lot of experiments with the sculpting tools in Blender. I am always obsessed with the idea of Extraterrestrial life and human mutation etc., so I transformed my avatar into an alien-like or overly plastic character whose name is TinBomb.