Back in the day, the males of the tribe would go out and scout for food. If they could identify animals from far away, they could choose the best meals, and more importantly, know when to avoid predators. Hence, those males who did this best survived best.
Cars are like animals. Their shapes are distinctive, they move in unique ways, and some of them are predators. This is why men are more interested and generally better at identifying cars.
Just to allay some of the sexism denunciations, I'm not saying that identifying cars is a good or bad skill or that women shouldn't do it, I'm simply explaining the general disparity I've noticed between males and females re car identification.
My wife asks why women are better at identifying shoes and clothing. She's so sexist.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Analyzing Avatar: An ancient word, awesome movie, and advancing scientific reality.
The movie Avatar is a sensational piece of entertainment, but it also offers a glimpse into real Communication research that will help us understand the impact of our current and future media landscape.
"Avatar" is 2000+ year old Sanskrit word which, in the religion of Hinduism, referred to the earthly (human) manifestation of a deity. This word entered modern use, referring to a person’s 3D representation on screen, in the 1985 online game Habitat (Castronova, 2002). However, the concept of an avatar as a highly malleable digital self-representation was not popularized until Stephenson's cyberpunk novel Snow Crash in the mid-nineties (Bailenson, Yee, Kim & Tecarro, 2008). Although the
concept has appeared repeatedly in literature, games, and movies since
before the word “avatar” became popular (e.g., Gibson's Neuromancer), the term has since expanded to include a variety of alternate embodied forms, from persistent virtual manifestations (e.g., Wachowskis' The Matrix), to robots (e.g., Rucker's Ware Trilogy), to biological beings (e.g., Morgan's Altered Carbon).
James Cameron's recently-released blockbuster hit, Avatar, follows in the line of this genre, telling the story of a character who transports his mind from one body to another, thereby immersing himself within a new environment. Although this sci-fi tale is wrought with beyond-our-grandkids’-lifetimes technology, there is an accessible reality to the avatars in Avatar. Researchers in the field of Communication have been studying this concept for over a decade, often using such sci-fi tales as a guide to important research questions (Bailenson, Yee, Kim & Tecarro, 2008). They have developed two relevant theoretical concepts, self-presence and physical presence, which can be examined within the context of the movie Avatar.
Self-presence essentially means embodiment in an alternate self, while physical presence essentially means immersion in an alternate environment. Avatar offers layers of self-presence and physical presence within both the story-line and the viewing experience.
The movie itself induces a high level of physical presence. Cameron's innovative 3D technique propels the images off the screen and into your lap (usually without abusing your startle reflex). Why go to Pandora when the flora and fauna come to you?
Further, the digitally-rendered and physically-filmed actors and objects are integrated seamlessly, at least to my untrained eye. Although I have never seen blue humanoids jumping from trees while shooting arrows, these actions are consistent with my visual expectations and thereby induce a feeling of physical presence. This effect is especially impressive on the non-human (Navi) actor's faces, who express emotion naturally without breaching the uncanny valley (note: this probably relates to social presence as well, but I won't get into that here).
Of course, the viewer's experience of physical presence is nothing compared to that of the human characters who transport their human minds into the Navi bodies (avatars). From a distant MRI-like chamber, they experience complete self-presence within this body and physical presence within the surrounding (often hostile) environment.
And the significance of these experiences extends beyond those moments during which they are connected to their avatars. After a few months of spending his daytime hours in his avatar, Jake Sully returns to his human body and narrates, "Everything is backwards now, like out there is real life and in here is the dream... I don't know who I am anymore." His frame of self-reference changes not only because of the technological experiences of self-presence and physical presence, but also because his (plot-driven) emotional experiences within the avatar are more valuable to him than those within his human body.
Going further, he realizes that all life forms on the planet (Pandora) are interconnected. This explains why the Navi can plug into the horses and flying banchees and then control these animals with their minds. This can be considered partial self-presence because the Navi are extending themselves into another body but are also in control of their own body. But it still represents a very high level of self-presence compared to the current video game character that we control with buttons and pointers.
And finally, after death, each living being's memories are reintegrated into the tree of souls. The substance of spirituality experiences a form of metaphysical presence within all life.
Although this last point is a bit of a stretch, all the other examples are clearly connected to the current theories of self-presence and physical presence. The scholars who develop these theories (including me) use current media technologies, such as video games, to examine whether the theories describe how people really use media. We send surveys to everyday players, run experiments in which people use mediated self-representations within virtual environments, and record various types of data, from behavioral metrics (e.g. how people interact with others in a game) to physiological information (e.g., heart rate, brain activity).
One goal for this research is to determine how to develop media that can induce the greatest levels of self-presence and physical presence. Another is to determine what effects these experiences have on users regarding learning, socialization, and health-related outcomes. If Jake Sully had not fully experienced self-presence or physical presence, would he have still been motivated to fight for the Navi against their militaristic oppressors? If a teenager plays an online game that induces a high level of self-presence or physical presence, is she more likely to build closer relationships with the friends she makes in the game? Do self-presence or physical presence improve the amount of math or science that students learn when they play
educational games? Do such experiences during exercise games compel players to exercise more frequently?
These are the types of questions that Communication scholars aim to answer through their research on self-presence, physical presence, and numerous other experiences during interactive media use. Although the movie Avatar is set far in the future, it highlights the importance of these questions in today’s media environments. Over 2000 years since the word “avatar” was coined, the concept has become an important
aspect of our real and virtual lives.
Rabindra (Robby) Ratan is a PhD Candidate at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication. As part of his dissertation work, he maintains www.self-presence.com.
References:
Bailenson, J.N., Yee, N., Kim, A., & Tecarro, J (2008, in press).
Sciencepunk: The influence of informed science fiction on virtual
reality research. In, Margret Grebowicz, ed. The Joy of SF: Essays in
Science and Technology Studies. Open Court Publishing
Castronova, E. (2002). On virtual economies. CESifo Working Paper
Series No. 752. http://ssrn.com/abstract=338500
"Avatar" is 2000+ year old Sanskrit word which, in the religion of Hinduism, referred to the earthly (human) manifestation of a deity. This word entered modern use, referring to a person’s 3D representation on screen, in the 1985 online game Habitat (Castronova, 2002). However, the concept of an avatar as a highly malleable digital self-representation was not popularized until Stephenson's cyberpunk novel Snow Crash in the mid-nineties (Bailenson, Yee, Kim & Tecarro, 2008). Although the
concept has appeared repeatedly in literature, games, and movies since
before the word “avatar” became popular (e.g., Gibson's Neuromancer), the term has since expanded to include a variety of alternate embodied forms, from persistent virtual manifestations (e.g., Wachowskis' The Matrix), to robots (e.g., Rucker's Ware Trilogy), to biological beings (e.g., Morgan's Altered Carbon).
James Cameron's recently-released blockbuster hit, Avatar, follows in the line of this genre, telling the story of a character who transports his mind from one body to another, thereby immersing himself within a new environment. Although this sci-fi tale is wrought with beyond-our-grandkids’-lifetimes technology, there is an accessible reality to the avatars in Avatar. Researchers in the field of Communication have been studying this concept for over a decade, often using such sci-fi tales as a guide to important research questions (Bailenson, Yee, Kim & Tecarro, 2008). They have developed two relevant theoretical concepts, self-presence and physical presence, which can be examined within the context of the movie Avatar.
Self-presence essentially means embodiment in an alternate self, while physical presence essentially means immersion in an alternate environment. Avatar offers layers of self-presence and physical presence within both the story-line and the viewing experience.
The movie itself induces a high level of physical presence. Cameron's innovative 3D technique propels the images off the screen and into your lap (usually without abusing your startle reflex). Why go to Pandora when the flora and fauna come to you?
Further, the digitally-rendered and physically-filmed actors and objects are integrated seamlessly, at least to my untrained eye. Although I have never seen blue humanoids jumping from trees while shooting arrows, these actions are consistent with my visual expectations and thereby induce a feeling of physical presence. This effect is especially impressive on the non-human (Navi) actor's faces, who express emotion naturally without breaching the uncanny valley (note: this probably relates to social presence as well, but I won't get into that here).
Of course, the viewer's experience of physical presence is nothing compared to that of the human characters who transport their human minds into the Navi bodies (avatars). From a distant MRI-like chamber, they experience complete self-presence within this body and physical presence within the surrounding (often hostile) environment.
And the significance of these experiences extends beyond those moments during which they are connected to their avatars. After a few months of spending his daytime hours in his avatar, Jake Sully returns to his human body and narrates, "Everything is backwards now, like out there is real life and in here is the dream... I don't know who I am anymore." His frame of self-reference changes not only because of the technological experiences of self-presence and physical presence, but also because his (plot-driven) emotional experiences within the avatar are more valuable to him than those within his human body.
Going further, he realizes that all life forms on the planet (Pandora) are interconnected. This explains why the Navi can plug into the horses and flying banchees and then control these animals with their minds. This can be considered partial self-presence because the Navi are extending themselves into another body but are also in control of their own body. But it still represents a very high level of self-presence compared to the current video game character that we control with buttons and pointers.
And finally, after death, each living being's memories are reintegrated into the tree of souls. The substance of spirituality experiences a form of metaphysical presence within all life.
Although this last point is a bit of a stretch, all the other examples are clearly connected to the current theories of self-presence and physical presence. The scholars who develop these theories (including me) use current media technologies, such as video games, to examine whether the theories describe how people really use media. We send surveys to everyday players, run experiments in which people use mediated self-representations within virtual environments, and record various types of data, from behavioral metrics (e.g. how people interact with others in a game) to physiological information (e.g., heart rate, brain activity).
One goal for this research is to determine how to develop media that can induce the greatest levels of self-presence and physical presence. Another is to determine what effects these experiences have on users regarding learning, socialization, and health-related outcomes. If Jake Sully had not fully experienced self-presence or physical presence, would he have still been motivated to fight for the Navi against their militaristic oppressors? If a teenager plays an online game that induces a high level of self-presence or physical presence, is she more likely to build closer relationships with the friends she makes in the game? Do self-presence or physical presence improve the amount of math or science that students learn when they play
educational games? Do such experiences during exercise games compel players to exercise more frequently?
These are the types of questions that Communication scholars aim to answer through their research on self-presence, physical presence, and numerous other experiences during interactive media use. Although the movie Avatar is set far in the future, it highlights the importance of these questions in today’s media environments. Over 2000 years since the word “avatar” was coined, the concept has become an important
aspect of our real and virtual lives.
Rabindra (Robby) Ratan is a PhD Candidate at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication. As part of his dissertation work, he maintains www.self-presence.com.
References:
Bailenson, J.N., Yee, N., Kim, A., & Tecarro, J (2008, in press).
Sciencepunk: The influence of informed science fiction on virtual
reality research. In, Margret Grebowicz, ed. The Joy of SF: Essays in
Science and Technology Studies. Open Court Publishing
Castronova, E. (2002). On virtual economies. CESifo Working Paper
Series No. 752. http://ssrn.com/abstract=338500
Saturday, December 12, 2009
My new webicenter
My sporadic postings on here are rarely on a topic that is consistent with my self-proclaimed media-man-ness. However, today I would like to shout to the world about how happy I am with my new webicenter, i.e., website. I used google sites, and it was sooooo easy compared to teaching myself how to fumble through a wysi(sometimes)wyg editor (been using komposer). Throughout the process, I found myself proclaiming aloud, numerous times, "I f-in love google!!" My wife knows about my google-rocks-the-world attitude, but she still gave me funny looks.
Anyway, my personal site (www.robbyratan.com) and the site dedicated to my dissertation research topic (www.self-presence.com) no longer look like I converted word docs to html and then pooped on them. Yay!
Anyway, my personal site (www.robbyratan.com) and the site dedicated to my dissertation research topic (www.self-presence.com) no longer look like I converted word docs to html and then pooped on them. Yay!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Are there subatomic particles in my head?
The brain is (much much much)^1000ish faster/more powerful than our current computers. As computing technology advances, the size of the computational units shrink, thus allowing computers to be put into smaller and smaller devices. In order to reach the brain’s speed/computational power at a size that could fit in a human head, a computer would need to conduct computations at a (very very very)^2000ish small unit. Subatomic?
Are human brains like quantum computers?
Really small things - subatomic particles - are integral to the fabric of space/time and may also be to human consciousness. Perhaps this explains why quantum physics seems to match well with various “occult” phenomena - when the brain seems to transcend space/time (e.g., telepathy, out-of-body experiences, etc.).
Alas, we don’t have the measurement tools that would show us how this works. The tools that do exist (I think) are used for physics research to develop an understanding of our universe. They are pointed at space and particle colliders. Hopefully, someone will refine these tools and then point them at brains. This research - a convergence between physics and psychology/neuroscience/communication - may facilitate an understanding of the connection between human consciousness and quantum mechanics, or even an (unseen) connection between humans.
While I would love to contribute a communication psych perspective to such an endeavor, this type of research probably won't happen for a (very very very)^3000ish long time. I guess I should just focus on my dissertation.
Are human brains like quantum computers?
Really small things - subatomic particles - are integral to the fabric of space/time and may also be to human consciousness. Perhaps this explains why quantum physics seems to match well with various “occult” phenomena - when the brain seems to transcend space/time (e.g., telepathy, out-of-body experiences, etc.).
Alas, we don’t have the measurement tools that would show us how this works. The tools that do exist (I think) are used for physics research to develop an understanding of our universe. They are pointed at space and particle colliders. Hopefully, someone will refine these tools and then point them at brains. This research - a convergence between physics and psychology/neuroscience/communication - may facilitate an understanding of the connection between human consciousness and quantum mechanics, or even an (unseen) connection between humans.
While I would love to contribute a communication psych perspective to such an endeavor, this type of research probably won't happen for a (very very very)^3000ish long time. I guess I should just focus on my dissertation.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Dissertation Prospectus Defense
BORING ALERT, BORING ALERT - this posting is BORING, meant mostly to serve as a bookmark for this milestone and a (public) record of my thinking at this time. Only big nerds should read on.
Today I defended my dissertation prospectus and was given the green light to move ahead (though I already have some pilot data that supports my theoretical framework of self-presence). My prospectus outlines my plan to develop and validate the Self-Presence Questionnaire (SPQ). This will involve a survey-based study and a few experiments. My committee was supportive and gave me great guidance. The most important points are as follows:
1. Don't just validate the SPQ and theory, examine the effects of self-presence. I had planned to do this, but they want more emphasis on the latter.
2. Self-presence is not likely to influence cognitive load and learning (I was possibly going to focus on these points), so consider other effects. There are two on the table, health-related behavior and interpersonal relationships. The former is a hot topic - Exergaming - but I have more experience with the latter. Also, my pilot data suggests a relationship between self-presence and social presence, which bodes well for an inquiry into the latter. Maybe I'll try to combine these and look at social exergaming!
3. Most importantly, I need to articulate why I care about self-presence and why it matters. I need to show my passion for developing an understanding of how people are extended into their virtual self-representations. Is it because I think the concept of the modern cyborg is cool? I do ruv technology. Is it because I think that this phenomenon is integral to our relationships with technology and thus can be utilized to guide the development of better tools? Sounds good to me. Can self-presence be used to promote world peace and unity? Possibly, but it's a stretch. So is this blog posting.
End boring transmission.
If you made it this far and would like to become unbored, you can watch this short film called Validation. I promise it has nothing to do with statistics.
Today I defended my dissertation prospectus and was given the green light to move ahead (though I already have some pilot data that supports my theoretical framework of self-presence). My prospectus outlines my plan to develop and validate the Self-Presence Questionnaire (SPQ). This will involve a survey-based study and a few experiments. My committee was supportive and gave me great guidance. The most important points are as follows:
1. Don't just validate the SPQ and theory, examine the effects of self-presence. I had planned to do this, but they want more emphasis on the latter.
2. Self-presence is not likely to influence cognitive load and learning (I was possibly going to focus on these points), so consider other effects. There are two on the table, health-related behavior and interpersonal relationships. The former is a hot topic - Exergaming - but I have more experience with the latter. Also, my pilot data suggests a relationship between self-presence and social presence, which bodes well for an inquiry into the latter. Maybe I'll try to combine these and look at social exergaming!
3. Most importantly, I need to articulate why I care about self-presence and why it matters. I need to show my passion for developing an understanding of how people are extended into their virtual self-representations. Is it because I think the concept of the modern cyborg is cool? I do ruv technology. Is it because I think that this phenomenon is integral to our relationships with technology and thus can be utilized to guide the development of better tools? Sounds good to me. Can self-presence be used to promote world peace and unity? Possibly, but it's a stretch. So is this blog posting.
End boring transmission.
If you made it this far and would like to become unbored, you can watch this short film called Validation. I promise it has nothing to do with statistics.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Finalist for favorite TA
The Annenberg student body recent voted for favorite prof, TA and staffer. I was a finalist! I guess all the bribery paid off.
Here's the announcement:
ASCA announces its favorite professor, TA and staff person
The Annenberg Student Communication Association held its annual Favorite Professor, TA and Staff Person Awards Banquet on April 23 in the Annenberg West Wing Lobby. Nearly 300 undergraduate Communication students voted for this year's favorites.
This year's Favorite Professor was Stacy Smith. Ken Sereno and Josh Kun were Favorite Professor Finalists. Favorite TA honors went to Richard Lawrence. Finalists were Robby Ratan and D. Travers Scott. Favorite Staff Person was Maryann Wu. Finalists were Annie Mateen and Sarah Holdren.
El Cholo donated food for the event. The funds ASCA gathered from donations, along with the money that would have paid for the Mexican delicacies from El Cholo, was donated to Troy Camp-- a student run philanthropy that holds a summer camp and mentorship program for underprivileged children in the LA community. The event raised almost $650.
Here's the announcement:
ASCA announces its favorite professor, TA and staff person
The Annenberg Student Communication Association held its annual Favorite Professor, TA and Staff Person Awards Banquet on April 23 in the Annenberg West Wing Lobby. Nearly 300 undergraduate Communication students voted for this year's favorites.
This year's Favorite Professor was Stacy Smith. Ken Sereno and Josh Kun were Favorite Professor Finalists. Favorite TA honors went to Richard Lawrence. Finalists were Robby Ratan and D. Travers Scott. Favorite Staff Person was Maryann Wu. Finalists were Annie Mateen and Sarah Holdren.
El Cholo donated food for the event. The funds ASCA gathered from donations, along with the money that would have paid for the Mexican delicacies from El Cholo, was donated to Troy Camp-- a student run philanthropy that holds a summer camp and mentorship program for underprivileged children in the LA community. The event raised almost $650.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
A 1988 take on Mario
I was there, but not aware.
Favorite line:
"Have you heard of Nintendo?"
"No, who is he?"
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Finally Dissertating
I passed my quals, and now I am A Big Dork (ABD).
Being A Big Dork means that I need to start working on my dissertation. The main focus will be my four-level framework of self-presence based on Damasio's 3-level conception of the self plus one level I added on my own. Here are the basics:
Proto Self-Presence: The extent to which a media tool is accepted as a familiar and stable augmentation of an individual's body schema.
Core Self-Presence: The extent to which mediated interactions cause emotional responses in individuals.
Extended Self-Presence: The extent to which individuals' mediated interactions are held in memory and thus influence their mediated identity.
Network Self-Presence: The extent to which individuals’ mediated identity is influenced by some mediated social network.
Now to turn this into a theory paper and submit it to a conference on Virtual Worlds (FaVE). I'm not sure I'm really ready to do this, but I'd like to go to Berlin this summer. :)
Being A Big Dork means that I need to start working on my dissertation. The main focus will be my four-level framework of self-presence based on Damasio's 3-level conception of the self plus one level I added on my own. Here are the basics:
Proto Self-Presence: The extent to which a media tool is accepted as a familiar and stable augmentation of an individual's body schema.
Core Self-Presence: The extent to which mediated interactions cause emotional responses in individuals.
Extended Self-Presence: The extent to which individuals' mediated interactions are held in memory and thus influence their mediated identity.
Network Self-Presence: The extent to which individuals’ mediated identity is influenced by some mediated social network.
Now to turn this into a theory paper and submit it to a conference on Virtual Worlds (FaVE). I'm not sure I'm really ready to do this, but I'd like to go to Berlin this summer. :)
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Intro to question about self and identity in CMC and Virtual Environment research
I like this intro, now I have to write the essay...
Although the fields of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and Virtual Environment (VE) research examine many similar concepts, their theoretical foundations and methodological approaches are often quite disparate. Arguably, there is a need for convergence between these fields because the media of CMC increasingly resemble VEs. The current paper addresses one area in which such a convergence is possible, the study of the self within mediated experiences. Broadly, CMC research treats the “self” as a complex formulation of identity, be it accurate or imagined. Alternatively, most VE research treats the self primarily as a physical entity, focusing on its sensory and motor connections to the VE. Drawing from research in both fields, a theoretical framework of self-presence is offered that has the potential to facilitate a confluence of CMC and VE theory and methodology. Specifically, this framework incorporates the complexity of CMC’s approach to identity as well as the neurophysiologically-grounded approach to the experience of self. Within the scope of this framework, a discussion of potential effects of current changes in our media landscape leads to a series of research questions that could provide insight into such effects.
Although the fields of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and Virtual Environment (VE) research examine many similar concepts, their theoretical foundations and methodological approaches are often quite disparate. Arguably, there is a need for convergence between these fields because the media of CMC increasingly resemble VEs. The current paper addresses one area in which such a convergence is possible, the study of the self within mediated experiences. Broadly, CMC research treats the “self” as a complex formulation of identity, be it accurate or imagined. Alternatively, most VE research treats the self primarily as a physical entity, focusing on its sensory and motor connections to the VE. Drawing from research in both fields, a theoretical framework of self-presence is offered that has the potential to facilitate a confluence of CMC and VE theory and methodology. Specifically, this framework incorporates the complexity of CMC’s approach to identity as well as the neurophysiologically-grounded approach to the experience of self. Within the scope of this framework, a discussion of potential effects of current changes in our media landscape leads to a series of research questions that could provide insight into such effects.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Your face: A new measure of video game effects
This article about the Immersion Project describes a research dataset (also art collection) that is comprised of images of children's faces as they play videogames of varying violence. The article describes the project better than I can, but the takeaway point for me is that this is a creative measure of video game effects. If such facial expressions can be reliably (and automatically) coded by Ekman's Facial Action Coding System (FACS), maybe I can include a similar measure in my explorations of self-presence. Of course, psychophysiology has been wise to facial EMG measures to determine emotional valence for quite some time. But perhaps the FACS provides for a greater range of interpretations (i.e., not just positive/negative valence, but specification of the emotion). This is something to think about when I dig in for the dissertation, but right now I need to return to thinking about my quals (starting on Friday!!).
Here's the vid from the Immersion Project website:
Here's the vid from the Immersion Project website:
Saturday, October 25, 2008
...that is the question
TO BE
to blog post
to twitter
to update facebook status
to post a youtube video
to put up a picasa album
to yelp a bizznass
to review this seller
to review that product
to C-list missed connections (or casual encounters ;)
to send spam
to extend information tendrils into your environment
or NOT TO BE
to watch tv
to listen to radio
to read the paper
to sit on the sidewalk and watch the world go by
to blog post
to twitter
to update facebook status
to post a youtube video
to put up a picasa album
to yelp a bizznass
to review this seller
to review that product
to C-list missed connections (or casual encounters ;)
to send spam
to extend information tendrils into your environment
or NOT TO BE
to watch tv
to listen to radio
to read the paper
to sit on the sidewalk and watch the world go by
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Raratan's projects (still does not include crack)
I just decided to link to Mediaman Raratan from my wedding blog, so perhaps I should post something new here. The Mediaman Raratan blog is vaguely focused on things that are directly or indirectly related to my research interests. Taking a step back, I'd like to list all of the many projects that are currently piled-high upon my plate:
Everquest 2 Projects: various projects (I'm involved in at least 3) that draw from a large dataset on EQ2 and examine relevant theories (e.g., Flow, Social Capital, Economics). This is why I've been playing EQ2. I'm at level 27 now!!
SIDE effects of Being a Gaymer: Surveys of gay and straight gamers about their gaming habits, feelings of community (online and offline) and self-reported willingness to stand up against homophobia while gaming - analysis based on SIDE theory.
Male Bodies in Video Games Project: a comparison of body dimensions between male video game characters and a military sample of men from 1988.
Communication and Psychophysiology - Class project: Putting together a brief survey of Communication research that has utilized psychophysiological methods.
Taxonomy of Media Use: Analysis of 10 years of Communication journals to create a taxonomy of media use. This paper is 100+ pages and I've been struggling with it for quite awhile now. Too long to be a paper, too short for a book.
VHIL Second Life study: The VHIL lab at Stanford is conducting a ground-breaking research project on Second Life (among others). I can't describe it in detail here, but I helped them construct a Self-Presence scale for the study and I will be contributing to some of the data analysis.
Self-Presence and Racial Discrimination in Wii Avatars (Miis): My friends and colleagues at the University of Bern (Switzerland) are designing a study on the topics described in the title. I am helping with SP scale and will hopefully replicate the study in California.
Book Chapter on Classifying Serious Games - just finished, expecting publication within the year.
The Effect of Voice Agent Choice on Users’ Experiences in Business and Entertainment VUI Contexts: Presenting this paper at the International Communication Association conference in Montreal in May, 2008.
Quals: I'm planning to take my qualifying exams either at the end of 2008 or early 2009. Next task: assemble a 100+ item reading list.
Dissertation: Currently, I'm planning to do something related to Self-Presence in virtual worlds and online games. I would also like to find some way of relating this project to social network analysis and psychophysiology. Any ideas?
Website development: Turning my advisor's webpage into a research portal that would be accessible and informative for academics as well as *normal* people.
UpCode USA: This company is doing very cool things with 2D barcode technology. I'm helping out with a bit with their research and marketing. They're calling me their "Media Psychology and Research Specialist", or something like that.
Last and certainly not least (stressful): Wedding Planning!!
I told you my plate was piled high. ...I feel like a greedy (and probably rotund) kid at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Perhaps one day when I'm more accustomed to eating at nicer restaurants with large plates and small, artistically-arranged portions, I'll look back at this time and chuckle. Or perhaps I'll be twice as busy - squeezing two plates onto my little tray and piling them up like twin towers. Either way, if you have any ideas on how I can increase the rate at which I shove copious forkfuls into my face - or you would like me to slide a bit from my to your plate - please don't hesitate to holla.
Everquest 2 Projects: various projects (I'm involved in at least 3) that draw from a large dataset on EQ2 and examine relevant theories (e.g., Flow, Social Capital, Economics). This is why I've been playing EQ2. I'm at level 27 now!!
SIDE effects of Being a Gaymer: Surveys of gay and straight gamers about their gaming habits, feelings of community (online and offline) and self-reported willingness to stand up against homophobia while gaming - analysis based on SIDE theory.
Male Bodies in Video Games Project: a comparison of body dimensions between male video game characters and a military sample of men from 1988.
Communication and Psychophysiology - Class project: Putting together a brief survey of Communication research that has utilized psychophysiological methods.
Taxonomy of Media Use: Analysis of 10 years of Communication journals to create a taxonomy of media use. This paper is 100+ pages and I've been struggling with it for quite awhile now. Too long to be a paper, too short for a book.
VHIL Second Life study: The VHIL lab at Stanford is conducting a ground-breaking research project on Second Life (among others). I can't describe it in detail here, but I helped them construct a Self-Presence scale for the study and I will be contributing to some of the data analysis.
Self-Presence and Racial Discrimination in Wii Avatars (Miis): My friends and colleagues at the University of Bern (Switzerland) are designing a study on the topics described in the title. I am helping with SP scale and will hopefully replicate the study in California.
Book Chapter on Classifying Serious Games - just finished, expecting publication within the year.
The Effect of Voice Agent Choice on Users’ Experiences in Business and Entertainment VUI Contexts: Presenting this paper at the International Communication Association conference in Montreal in May, 2008.
Quals: I'm planning to take my qualifying exams either at the end of 2008 or early 2009. Next task: assemble a 100+ item reading list.
Dissertation: Currently, I'm planning to do something related to Self-Presence in virtual worlds and online games. I would also like to find some way of relating this project to social network analysis and psychophysiology. Any ideas?
Website development: Turning my advisor's webpage into a research portal that would be accessible and informative for academics as well as *normal* people.
UpCode USA: This company is doing very cool things with 2D barcode technology. I'm helping out with a bit with their research and marketing. They're calling me their "Media Psychology and Research Specialist", or something like that.
Last and certainly not least (stressful): Wedding Planning!!
I told you my plate was piled high. ...I feel like a greedy (and probably rotund) kid at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Perhaps one day when I'm more accustomed to eating at nicer restaurants with large plates and small, artistically-arranged portions, I'll look back at this time and chuckle. Or perhaps I'll be twice as busy - squeezing two plates onto my little tray and piling them up like twin towers. Either way, if you have any ideas on how I can increase the rate at which I shove copious forkfuls into my face - or you would like me to slide a bit from my to your plate - please don't hesitate to holla.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Good thing I'm not studying crack
My most recent research project is focused on the MMORPG Everquest 2, hence I have begun playing the game. If I'm going analyze data from the game, I should know the game well. This seems to be a fairly standard practice for most scientific endeavors. However, I realized yesterday that if I really want to understand the players of the game, I need to experience it as real players do. Unfortunately, according to some research and popular press, many of these real players are addicted to playing. So, I have made a conscious decision become addicted to Everquest 2.
I told my fiancee about this decision and she understood my motivation, but seemed a little concerned about my ability to cut myself off at the end of the research project. She is certainly justified in her concern. As an undergrad, I would often come home from a night of partying and play Counterstrike until the sunrise. Scratch that. Sometimes I would skip a night of partying to stay home and play Counterstrike until the sunrise. Luckily, as an undergrad I could afford to sleep through half of my classes. I have a feeling that my professors these days would not be so forgiving. But perhaps they will understand that I am just very dedicated to my research. Fat chance.
The downward spiral has already begun. Last night after working on a paper I had planned to play EQ2 before I went to sleep. Unfortunately, after finishing my work I realized that EQ2 had 2 hours of updates to download. So, I hit the hay, woke up at 3am and played until 5am. Is that normal?
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
I proposed in a rap
This doesn't have much to do with media, besides that it was video-taped, but I thought I'd post it anyway.
Watch my proposal here.
Watch my proposal here.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Playing on Virgin America
I recently had the pleasure of flying Virgin America between LA and SF. WOW!
Not only were the seats leather, the lights pink/purple, and the staff fashionably clad, but the media experience was AWESOME!!
I don't have much time to describe all the fun I had in detail, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.
One interesting thing I'd like to point out is that they offered a game called "Mad Bomber".
My question: if I had started a chat room and asked the other passengers if they knew that I was the best Mad Bomber on the plane, would I be in jail right now?
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Back to reality
I recently spent a couple great months in the virtual world called summer vacation. It was an amazingly realistic environment - the people, the places, the parties - all of it seemed to happen to me as if I was really there. Furthermore, the world was rendered in a way that kept me from feeling any stress or anxiety. Visit some friends here, go sight-seeing and museum hopping there, relax and watch movies anywhere - it was as if I was free of all worldly responsibilities.
BOOM!! I was transported out of that virtual world, dropped into the cold bathtub of reality, still wearing my tennis shorts and a goofy this-can't-be-happening smile.
Anyway, I haven't posted in awhile because, as you can guess, there were few opportunities in my blissful virtual world to enter the lesser, responsibility-ridden digital virtual worlds. The simple purpose of this post is to bring back a souvenir from the former - an artifact I came across during one of my leisurely moments, enjoying a science fiction podcast (on Escapepod - my favorite SciFi source) - my newest near-favorite quote:
"We love television because television brings us a world in which television does not exist." Barbara Ehrenreich
We, of course, is our society, not me. I don't need TV to live in a world without TV *I profess unabashedly*. TV is a virtual world that I do not find to be so enriching, for various reasons. In my lovely summer world there was no TV. Actually, even in my reality there is no TV. That's not the point, though. The irony is that, according to Ehrenreich, all of us - the TV haters and lovers - in a way feel the same about TV.
I do, however, love SciFi podcasts. I feel like the short-story form complements the genre very well. There is enough space to get the new sciency idea out, but not too much room that it becomes muddled in a complicated plot. Further, consuming SciFi is kind of like research for me. It gives me ideas about technology and psychological approaches to media. And most of all, listening to podcasts is a great way to pass the time on a long drive. So, thanks EscapePod! You were a wonderful complement to my virtual summer world and you've given me something to keep me smiling through reality.
If anyone is interested in the particular story I was listening to, it was called Eight Episodes and it's a very well written tale about the power of virtual worlds. Stephen Eley, the podcast's daddy, reads the Ehrenreich quote at the end.
BOOM!! I was transported out of that virtual world, dropped into the cold bathtub of reality, still wearing my tennis shorts and a goofy this-can't-be-happening smile.
Anyway, I haven't posted in awhile because, as you can guess, there were few opportunities in my blissful virtual world to enter the lesser, responsibility-ridden digital virtual worlds. The simple purpose of this post is to bring back a souvenir from the former - an artifact I came across during one of my leisurely moments, enjoying a science fiction podcast (on Escapepod - my favorite SciFi source) - my newest near-favorite quote:
"We love television because television brings us a world in which television does not exist." Barbara Ehrenreich
We, of course, is our society, not me. I don't need TV to live in a world without TV *I profess unabashedly*. TV is a virtual world that I do not find to be so enriching, for various reasons. In my lovely summer world there was no TV. Actually, even in my reality there is no TV. That's not the point, though. The irony is that, according to Ehrenreich, all of us - the TV haters and lovers - in a way feel the same about TV.
I do, however, love SciFi podcasts. I feel like the short-story form complements the genre very well. There is enough space to get the new sciency idea out, but not too much room that it becomes muddled in a complicated plot. Further, consuming SciFi is kind of like research for me. It gives me ideas about technology and psychological approaches to media. And most of all, listening to podcasts is a great way to pass the time on a long drive. So, thanks EscapePod! You were a wonderful complement to my virtual summer world and you've given me something to keep me smiling through reality.
If anyone is interested in the particular story I was listening to, it was called Eight Episodes and it's a very well written tale about the power of virtual worlds. Stephen Eley, the podcast's daddy, reads the Ehrenreich quote at the end.
Friday, June 1, 2007
but she means nothing to me ...she's just an avatar
An interesting article from MSNBC, Is a virtual affair real-world infidelity?, takes up the issue of whether virtual infidelity is RL cheating. The story describes an affair between two female avatars who were most likely married men in RL. Is this cheating? If so, does it matter that it's a 3d virtual world (with sex animations) or would such an affair be similarly wrong if facilitated by another medium?
According to the MSNBC.com/iVillage Lust, Love and Loyalty survey, 53 percent of men and 73 percent of women think it's cheating to send a sexually flirtatious e-mail to a co-worker. Further, 57 percent of men and 77 percent of women think online talk or “Webcamming” is cheating. Unfortunately, the survey did not ask about SL sex.
The other day I was in SL asking random people their opinions on this matter. The majority said that such a relationship would be cheating, though some did say it would be okay as long as your RL partner knew about it and approved. Well, of course! Some people have "open" relationships in RL, don't they? The only difference is level physical engagement, right? One way to test this would be to compare people's opinions about RL infidelity and virtual infidelity. I would hypothesize that more people are down with the latter than the former and if you're down with the former you're more likely to be down with the latter. In this world of STDs and psychopaths, it's probably safer to spread your virtual seed anyway.
And on a completely different note, if the two married men weilding female avatars knew that the other was actually a man in RL, does that make them lesbians in SL and gay in RL?
According to the MSNBC.com/iVillage Lust, Love and Loyalty survey, 53 percent of men and 73 percent of women think it's cheating to send a sexually flirtatious e-mail to a co-worker. Further, 57 percent of men and 77 percent of women think online talk or “Webcamming” is cheating. Unfortunately, the survey did not ask about SL sex.
The other day I was in SL asking random people their opinions on this matter. The majority said that such a relationship would be cheating, though some did say it would be okay as long as your RL partner knew about it and approved. Well, of course! Some people have "open" relationships in RL, don't they? The only difference is level physical engagement, right? One way to test this would be to compare people's opinions about RL infidelity and virtual infidelity. I would hypothesize that more people are down with the latter than the former and if you're down with the former you're more likely to be down with the latter. In this world of STDs and psychopaths, it's probably safer to spread your virtual seed anyway.
And on a completely different note, if the two married men weilding female avatars knew that the other was actually a man in RL, does that make them lesbians in SL and gay in RL?
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Virtual-Self dependent memory
I would really love some feedback on this thought.
General Preamble:
I have been thinking about memory. It's often assumed to be infallible - if it weren't then how could we believe that our conception of reality is really real? But, of course, memories fade, our minds play tricks, and confabulation happens. So, I believe that one of the major purposes of technology is to improve our feeble human memory device. Perhaps this is something that I will work toward with my research.
Specific Preamble:
It has been shown (source?) that when something is learned in a particular context, it is more easily recalled in that context. For example, if I learn math in a classroom, I am likely to do better on a math test in that classroom than in the library (all other factors, like noise, lighting, etc., remaining constant).
Question:
Is it possible that the same applies for the context of virtual self? In other words, if I learn something as a particular self (e.g., using my dolphin avatar in SL), will I recall it more easily when I am acting as that particular self than another (e.g., my pirate avatar)?
Meta-Question:
Does it make sense to ask this question or is virtual-self really just a context like a classroom?
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Mind Readers
I had no idea this technology was so close to market. These devices rely on EEG readers and can be worn dry (no gel), according to an article from the Economist. Apparently, the neuroksy device only uses 1 electrode and will cost about $20. While much of the media hype is geared toward using these things to control other media/technology (e.g., games, software) with your mind, I think they are going to be extremely useful for less conscious activities, such as making sure you are paying attention at critical moments while driving. While most of my research so far has been focused on virtual as opposed to augmented reality, I think this is an area that I would like to pursue.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
more virtual identity humor
This video highlights some of the humorous (and scary) ways that facebookers use and abuse the technology. The "Facebook Stalker" is humorous because of the way that he confuses, transposes and violates his crush's real and virtual identities. If the facebook stalker was not using this digital one-stop-stalking-shop (e.g., using the phonebook, old year books, etc.), I imagine that we would be more frightened that tickled. Yet, the facebook allows (encourages) people to reveal so much information about themselves that it's hard to blame the facebook stalker for being a creep. We laugh because this act of stalking, which was previously rare and looked down upon in the status quo, is now becoming the norm of a generation. Thanks facebook!
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