Our guest, Dr. Marianne Brandon, is a clinical psychologist who focuses on relationships and sex in the modern age. Two SPARTIE lab students -- Jack Waier and Anthony Zheng -- and I had a fascinating conversation about how her work as a sex therapist might inform the research we conduct on social interactions with agents, AI, robots, and real live …

In this episode, Robby delves into the topic of iSchools and privacy risks in a post-covid world with Dr. Vitak, an associate professor at the University of Maryland. Together, they discuss the issue of workplace surveillance and how the line between peoples' homes and workplaces are blurring together. They also talk about the dangers of predictive…

In this episode, Robby speaks with Dr. Andrew Gambino, an assistant professor at the University of Delaware, to delve into the fascinating world of chatbots and AI. They explore CASA and the distinctive ways in which individuals interact with AI and computers in contrast to human interactions. Moreover, they probe the features of ChatGPT and Bard t…

Robby joins Bill Heinrich as a guest speaker on the podcast Mindset in Motion to discuss “what (the heck) the metaverse is,” and how it may modify the learning experience through a range of new virtual experiences, avatar identities, and accessibility in post-secondary education. About the SPARTIE Lab: The Social and Psychological Approaches to Res…

This is a recording of a talk Robby gave at Carnegie Mellon University this month. Can you guess one truth against the two lies in this talk title? [Spoilers ahead] The meatverse may have become enamored with the concept of the metaverse during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the term “metaverse” is three decades old and the concept even older. What is …

Games have been serving up killer apps for new tech since the early days of model railroads, maybe longer. It’s 1982, what do I do with this home computer thing? …mostly play some games! Thus, it should come as no surprise that the video games of recent decades have provided foundational technologies for the impending less-gamey, more-workey metave…

Laura Sawyer, ICA’s Executive Director, describes her path to leading the organization (she used to be an actor!!), offers some useful tips for students and junior scholars interested in ICA, provides behind-the-scenes insights into the multifaceted foundations of a successful Conference, explains how the organization is structured and run under th…

Dr. Vasileios Stavropoulos describes his fascinating research about using cyber-phenotypes (e.g., uses of and attitudes about games, avatars, etc.) to predict health markers of depression (e.g., reduce sleep, appetite, interest in other activities). He eloquently explains how the effects of gaming are not uniform, but depend on individual differenc…

For over 30 years, Dr. Carrie Heeter has been studying virtual reality and waiting for it to be the next big thing. And now it actually seems to be! However, these days she focuses more on internal than external simulations — meditation. During this episode, she talks about her research on meditation with virtual reality, such as a scenario she bui…

Our guest this episode is Dr. Steve Yelon, who has been teaching people how to teach since the 1960s. He speaks about the history of distance learning (all the way back to the 1920s!), his work with Sesame Street and the Secret Service, some early distance learning technologies that he utilized (overheads, audio tapes!), the importance of pedagogy …

Dr. Jakki Bailey, assistant professor and director of the Immersive Human Development Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, shares her expertise on childrens' uses of virtual reality technology. She shares some humorous moments from her research (e.g., “I wish I could do this [in VR] for forever”), describes some potential concerns about safety…

Dr. Allison Eden, associate professor at Michigan State University, and Robby delve into her recently published research on media habits and well-being during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. They discuss how media use changed between the Spring and Fall of 2020, why some social media platforms were better suited as a hedonic distraction …

This episode, Robby speaks with Professor Brian Winn, his colleague in the Department of Media and Information here at Michigan State University, about his unique path into academia and directing the Games for Entertainment and Learning (GEL) Lab. They discuss how the Meaningful Play conference came to be as a marriage of academic games research an…

Dr. Dad is back again for an encore episode with Robby! They discuss the early days of supporting remote work at Bell Labs, the potential for virtual reality technologies (and the metaverse writ large) to influence the dynamics of remote work in the near-term future, Robby’s recently funded NSF on topics of equity and inclusion within virtual meeti…

CROSSOVER EPISODE! When approached by Roxana Girju, professor of linguistics (and more, see below), requesting an interview for her podcast about the Metaverse, Robby thought, “Let’s kill two virtual birds with one grey oblong NFT!” In other words, the interview is being cross-posted and Robby finally gets to blah blah blah on his own podcast! Seri…

The Founders of Upworlds and Metaxu, Sonya Seddarasan and Dr. Pierre Gerard, respectively, describe their endeavors to support the community of Metaverse developers and users to host Robby Ratan. Upworlds provides a platform for virtual builders to gain useful skills (e.g., cross-platform development) and monetize their work through a peer-to-peer …

In this episode, host Robby Ratan speaks with Yiming Skylar Lei, a Ph.D. student in the Information and Media program at Michigan State University, and a very productive member of the SPARTIE Lab. They discuss her childhood curiosity about gaming and how it led to her pursuit of a Ph.D. in game studies. She shares some advice for potential students…

In this episode, host Robby Ratan speaks with Dr. Kelly Tran, a professional game designer and researcher working on a game to improve players’ social and emotional learning. She discusses her transition from academia to industry, the importance of aligning game mechanics with the impactful (or “serious”) intent of the game, the value of games as t…

This week host Robby Ratan had a truly enlightening conversation with Dr. Sarah Hays, a practicing clinician who uses video games and avatars in the therapy she provides to her clients. She also works at Take This and Queer Women of Esports. The two discuss the Geek Therapeutics movement (super cool idea Robby had never heard of), the exciting pote…

In this episode, host Robby Ratan speaks with Dr. Jorge Peña, associate professor at the University of California, Davis. They cover themes in "Westworld," "Black Mirror" and countless video games. And relate the themes to his research on a virtual recreation of the Milgram shock experiments, a study on how avatar identification affects acceptance …

In this episode host Robby Ratan speaks with Cecilia D'Anastasio, the games journalist at WIRED. They talk about her writing on identity exploration through avatars, the potential for video games to foster empowerment of marginalized communities and skepticism about the vision of the Metaverse being touted by CEOs. To wrap up, they geek out about t…

In this episode, Dr. Edward Downs describes his research applying the MAIN (Modality, Agency, Interactivity, & Navigation) Model to learning in virtual reality, connects these concepts to themes from "Ready Player One," discusses some concerns about using “moral panic” too loosely, asks host Robby Ratan a question about the origins of digital avata…

In this episode, host Robby Ratan and Dr. Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn discuss the concept of the Metaverse, the Korean Netflix original “Memories of Alhambra,” and how both relate to her 10+ years of research on virtual/mixed reality (VR/XR.) Ahn describes her amazing research lab where she can run experiments with 10 simultaneous participants in VR, her N…

In this episode, Dr. Andrea Stephenson Won and host, Robby Ratan, analyze the film Pacific Rim (SPOILERS!) as it relates to her research in the Virtual Embodiment Lab at Cornell. We discuss the idea of many-to-one avatars (e.g., two-pilot Jaegers,) the psychological effect of proximity perceptions (e.g., does it matter if the pilot is in a mech or …

In this episode, Dr. Maxwell Foxman discusses the connections between his interest in history, journalism and game studies. We dive into his early research, Foursquare (OMG he still uses it!) and his approach to helping journalists understand how to present stories on media (e.g., virtual world use during the pandemic). He explains why virtual real…

This week’s guest, Adam Sulzdorf-Liszkiewicz, talks about his path from philosophy and avant-garde art, to developing absurdist virtual reality games, to becoming an assistant professor preparing future generations to abstract upon his footsteps. Links to media featured in the interview: https://liszkiewicz.info/projects/Scan.html https://www.youtu…

In this episode, host Robby Ratan has a chat with Dr. Casey O'Donnell, a game developer and associate professor at Michigan State University. They chat about Casey's background in science and technology research, game development, MSU's top-ranked game design program for undergrad and professional students, serious games, and -- of course -- avatar…

In this episode, host Robby Ratan has a conversation with Ryan Feldman, the senior unity developer XR specialist for Immersed, about his work on a virtual reality office space for at home workers. Immersed is a virtual reality company developing technologies to make a productive workspace in virtual reality. About this week's guest: Ryan Feldman is…

In this episode, host Robby Ratan talks with the Clinical Director of Take This, Raffael Boccamazzo (Dr. B,) about working to destigmatize mental health in the gaming industry and community and providing support for those who need it. About this week's guest: Dr. Raffael Boccamazzo is a doctor of psychology and the clinical director of Take This, a…

In this episode host, Robby Ratan, speaks with the CEO of WOLF3D, Timmu Tõke, about their avatar platform Ready Player Me and their vision to support avatars across multiple platforms from desktop games to virtual reality to video conferences for business meetings. About this week's guest: Timmu Tõke is the CEO and co-founder of WOLF3D. The company…

This week host Robby Ratan speaks with his dad, Dr. Ramesh Lakshmi-Ratan, about his perspective on avatars. They also cover his more than three decades in communications at companies like Bell Labs/AT&T, VocalTec and YellowPages. About this week's guest: Dr. Ramesh Lakshmi-Ratan spent over three decades in communications. He worked at companies lik…

In this episode, host Robby Ratan and master's student Anna Praetorius talk in-depth about the Proteus Effect and research around avatars. About this week's guest: Anna Praetorius is the first author of "How Avatars Influence User Behavior: A Review on the Proteus Effect in Virtual Environments and Video Games," and a master's student at Reutlingen…

In this episode, Jeremy Whiting, general manager of Michigan State University's student-run radio station, Impact 89FM, talks about his radio journey, running a college radio station and creating impactful audio work. About this week's guest: Jeremy Whiting is the general manager at Impact 89FM, Michigan State University's student-run radio station…

In this episode, host Dr. Robby Ratan talks all things SPARTIE-Cast while reviewing the first nine episodes and alluding to what's to come. About the SPARTIE Lab: The Social and Psychological Approaches to Research on Technology-Interaction Effects (SPARTIE) Lab performs research on the effects of human-technology interaction, examining how the use…

This week is an informative conversation with Domna Banakou on her research trajectory, the Event lab, and the future of avatar research. About this week's guest Domna Banakou is a researcher at the EVENT-LAB in Barcelona. Her research focuses on virtual environments, with a specific focus on how “body ownership illusions” affect people’s perceptio…

This week Dr. Robby Ratan speaks with Scott Galloway, a New York University Stern Professor of Marketing, founder of the business ed startup, Section4, author of "THE FOUR, THE ALGEBRA OF HAPPINESS" and "Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity," blogger of "No Mercy / No Malice" and the host of the podcast the "Prof G Show." He’s also been Ratan's …

We are excited to dedicate this episode to two students who have been working with the SPARTIE Lab for most of their time at Michigan State University. In this episode, they discuss some of their lab experiences and what they expect in their future careers. About this week’s guests: Ann Desrochers is a student and Alumni Distinguished Scholar at Mi…

This week, host, Dr. Robby Ratan, performs a rap he wrote for the March for Science in Lansing a few years back as part of a small band (He plays the saxophone). They were kind enough to allow me to insert a nerdy rap into "When the Saints Go Marching." About the SPARTIE Lab: The Social and Psychological Approaches to Research on Technology-Interac…

Host, Dr. Robby Ratan, decided to switch things up and record a rap (which he sometimes does at the end of research talks) for the podcast. He wrote this Proteus effect rap while on sabbatical in 2019 in Singapore. Shout out to Nanyang Technological University and his many awesome colleagues there for helping his creative juice flow. About the SPAR…

In this episode, Dr. Stephanie Buisine chats about her research on the Proteus effect, touching on a study that shows inventor-like avatars (versus street-clothes avatars) lead to more creativity in a brainstorming task ...a personal favorite! About this week’s guest: Dr. Stephanie Buisine is a Research Director at CESI Graduate School of Engineeri…

This week, Dr. Robby Ratan speaks with his esteemed guest, Dr. Sonny Rosenthal, about Rosenthal’s research on live composite video lectures, touching on his recent publication on the topic and offering insight into current and planned studies. About this week’s guest: Dr. Sonny Rosenthal, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Wee Kim Wee School o…

Dr. Rabindra Ratan speaks with his guests, Dr. Dmitri Williams & Dr. Mia Consalvo, about the history, present, and future of game studies within the current academic and socio-political climates. About this week's guests: Dr. Dmitri Williams, Ph.D., is an associate professor at USC Annenberg, where he teaches courses on technology and society, game…

In the inaugural episode of the SPARTIE-Cast, Dr. Rabindra Ratan speaks with guest, Dr. Rachel Kowert, about the origins and toxic behaviors in gaming communities: harassment, bullying and gatekeeping, among others. They discuss the social and political ramifications of such behaviors, as well as potential remedies that could be pursued through ind…