from http://embyquinn.tripod.com/history.html

KiSS is an acronym for Kisekae Set System. "Kisekae" is a Japanese word
used in reference to changing clothes. "Kisekae ningyo" is the Japanese
term for what we call in America a "fashion doll" (such as Barbie).

In 1991, a Japanese computer programmer known as MIO.H released a
viewing platform and related image archives, or "kisekae sets",
specifically designed to bring the "fashion doll" concept into the
digital world. The result is something of a cross between a paper doll
and a computer game. With the appropriate viewer for their operating
system, a computer user could download various doll "sets" and play with
them on their desktop.  The Kisekae Set System, or KiSS, was originally
inspired by the dress-up games young girls play with fashion dolls. The
KiSS computer game found a much broader audience, and today there are
KiSS sets for every age, taste and orientation. Some KiSS sets weren't
even dolls--there were puzzles, board games, maps, even virtual models
like the Space Cruiser Yamato. These came to be called "Aberrant KiSS"
to distinguish them from the regular doll sets.