Avatar height - why is there a discrepancy?

[Darius Habilis]

I've had a Be-Bar for over 2 years, and it has an avatar Height measurement function. I use it often on myself and avs around me. It states that I am 1.889m tall, or 6'2". This corresponds closely to readings given by various Height Check items around SL in stores and other locations. I happened to notice that when I enter "Appearance' Mode (at least in the Emerald Viewer) It tells me I am 6'9" (2.06m). For whatever reason, that bothered me, so I experimented by rezzing a phantom cube.. turns out.. I am 6'9" :-(

So, my question is.. why is there such a discrepancy... ??? Was there some kind of fundamental units change in SL?

[Dil Spitz]

Hello Darius,

in the SL viewer were an error, which measured the high to the head or middel of the persons hea.

So we all are something like 10% to high if we toke the linden viewer scale us.

Ciao

Dil

[Cerise Sorbet]

Hi Darius, there are many height detect scripts in Second Life and only the one made by Henri Beauchamp gives a result that is close to correct across all the shapes. There is a script function called llGetAgentSize that is a good start but it misses the spacing of the skeleton. If a script tells you the llGetAgentSize then it underreports by about 0.18 meter or 7 inches. Some of the size scripts try to multiply to fix the number but the multiplcation does not work right on very small shapes. Henri's script adds 0.17 and that is a very good estimate that works across shapes, Cool SL Viewer and Emerald use that too. Avatars do not really touch the ground so Snowglobe adds a little more to measure from the head to the floor.

[Pussycat Catnap]

Mine is accurate and free.

You can get it on my land in fietzo (see sig for cafe - click teleporter there to go to shop), or at Sarah Nerds, or you can get the script out of the forums here and drop it into a z-size 1m prim:

The script is here: https://blogs.secondlife.com/thread/9772

I measure prim height - your actual height. Most meters measure agent height. If you stand inside of my meter and use it, when it resizes itself, assuming you and it are on the floor and neither or you is partly below the floor... when it resizes itself, it will match itself to your height.

 

The factor to modify from agent height:

(*) Claims vary on whether the avatar is 1.1057 or 1.125 times taller than the agent. This meter uses the 1.1057 value based on my testing. Using 1.125 resulted in the meter resizing itself notably -above- the head of my avatar when she was small, medium, and tall in height; but 1.1057 always fit right to her.

 

However it is possible for an avatar with a notably disproportionate forehead to still not match no matter what meter adjustment is made agent height.

[Cerise Sorbet]

Hi Pussycat, I am sorry but your detector lost the bake off. Multiplcation is not the correct operation.

[Imnotgoing Sideways]

llGetAgentHeight is for your avatar's eye-height when firing weapons in Mouselook.  So, to start, it's not your avatar height at all.  But, all "Height Scripts" us it and embellish the value with an offset that, to date, almost nobody agrees upon. ()

Add to that, the default avatars have always been disproportionately tall.  So, add this debated offset to an already offset sense of scale and you have a whole new set of "corrections" of people defining "real" height. ()

Add to that, the camera leads to most indoors locations having very high ceilings... Further diminishing people's sense of visual scale and shifting opinions on what "real" height is. ()

Add to that, the oneupsmanship of people wanting to be taller and more intimidating than everyone else... Like a virtual height arms race, people would inch their sliders closer and closer to 100, just to be the bigger, badder, moar beauturphull avatar. (>_<)

... And, you get where we're at now. =^-^=

Add to that... Because of this mess, we have people honestly saying "A meter is not a meter here" with a straight face.  Even though Havok4 definitions of gravity and force are based on the meter.  People have decided that 1 does not equal 1.  ()

But, all isn't lost.  The Emerald client does have accurate meter-based height measurements in the avatar appearance dialogue.  And, more and more people are doing as you've done and actually visually referring to prims in order to determine the height of things. ()

In the end, it's all relative.  You determine what you want to be.  But, don't be surprized when someone calls you out if you claim to be 5' tall and actually measure up to 7'3" prim height. ()

I've gone as far as defining it in my estate covenant. =^-^=

 

This sim is to be constructed to-scale.  Meaning the meter will be honored as-is and "short" avatars will be considered proper adult height.  Avatars taller than 1.8 meters  in real prim height will be considered creatures of fantasy and lore and will NOT be used as reference in order to falsely accuse properly scaled avatars of being depictions of children.

 

That said; I'm 5'1". ()y

[Cerise Sorbet]

llGetAgentHeight is for your avatar's eye-height when firing weapons in Mouselook. 

Hi, this is not so. The camera origin is also too low, it is more close to the mouth than to the eye. There is no llGetAgentHeight function. llGetAgentSize uses a measurement of bones reported from the client. The bone measurements are mostly good. The head measure is an average of two parts but that compensation works well. The bones measurements do not account for animation and that is why the number is too low.

[Darius Habilis]

Thanx, Cerise,

This answer told me what I wanted to know - that basically so many of those measurement devices out there are faulty - not just inexact, but downright wrong!! Shame on those who distributed them without scientific testing!  I am 5'11" in RL and was quite comfortable THINKING I was 6'2" in SL, even tho a majority of Avs around me towered over me.  I am unwilling to 'shrink' to an accurate 6'2" height as I already get enough grief about looking too young.

I have almost completed my 5 stages of  Loss, and come to acceptance that I must be happy with a 'relative' value of a realistic height. It seems to me that furniture designers in SL would have tried to scale to Real World heights of tables, chairs, etc. - I guess I was wrong! :-(

[Imnotgoing Sideways]

It's all a matter of shopping.  There are plenty of to-scale places.  One of the finest examples is the RP place "Doomed Ship". ()y