Second-person avatars

A method of providing a second-person avatar in order to facilitate manual instruction, comprising:

• displaying at least a portion of the second-person avatar in a volume of space that encapsulates at least a portion of a target user;
• translating a set of instructions from a text-based instruction manual into a virtual handbook of avatar actions for the second-person avatar to perform a task, wherein at least one instruction of the set of instructions is translated based upon one or more physical features of the target user identified in an image of the target user;
• modifying the second-person avatar to reflect the one or more physical features of the target user;
• and
• illustrating the second-person avatar performing the avatar actions in a sequence to complete the task while the user-interface component tracks the target user.

One or more hardware memory devices having embodied thereon computer-usable instructions which, when executed by one or more processing devices, facilitate a method of providing a second-person avatar in order to facilitate manual instruction, the method comprising:

• displaying at least a portion of the second-person avatar in a volume of space that encapsulates at least a portion of a target user;
• translating a set of instructions from a text-based instruction manual into a virtual handbook of avatar actions for the second-person avatar to perform a task, wherein at least one instruction of the set of instructions is translated based upon one or more physical features of the target user identified in an image of the target user;
• modifying the second-person avatar to reflect the one or more physical features of the target user;
• and
• illustrating the second-person avatar performing the avatar actions in a sequence to complete the task while the user-interface component tracks the target user.