… I’m starting to write my thesis proposal.
Stand back…
Posted by richardhuskey on December 13, 2012
http://richardhuskey.com/2012/12/13/stand-back/
Communication Science – Evolution, Biology, and Brains
If you are headed to ICA in 2013 there are several pre-conferences you are probably interested in. I’d like to underscore the Communication Science – Evolution, Biology, and Brains pre-conference:
The goal of this pre-conference is to bring together scholars who are working across sub-fields of communication studies using evolutionary theory, neuroscience and other biological measures to address core questions in communication studies. A critical mass of scholars are now employing such methods to advance theory and application within communication studies. Furthermore, biological paradigms clearly include additional questions and methods that can be added to our research agenda, however, incorporation of biological explanations and methods can also highlight new questions. In addition to plenary talks given by invited senior scholars in the area, the pre-conference participants will share new data and ideas and discuss a vision for how communication studies can best leverage such new theorizing and study paradigms moving forward.
More information (e.g., costs, deadlines, agenda) is available here. Hopefully I’ll see you there!
Posted by richardhuskey on December 4, 2012
http://richardhuskey.com/2012/12/04/communication-science-evolution-biology-and-brains/
Pseudo-Famous
The Communication department at UCSB publishes a quarterly newsletter, The Gaucho Communicator. This newsletter generally contains useful information about the department, past/upcoming events, student opportunities, etc. The Fall 2012 issue features a brief profile of yours truly (page 6). <insertsnarkycommenthere>
UPDATE: Bio is on page 7. <insertevensnarkiercommenthere>
Posted by richardhuskey on October 16, 2012
http://richardhuskey.com/2012/10/16/pseudo-famous/
Discovery Channel – Rise of the Video Game
Rise of the Video Game is a five-part documentary on video games produced by the Discovery Chanel. Video, as well as descriptions of each episode, are shown below the fold.
Posted by richardhuskey on October 3, 2012
http://richardhuskey.com/2012/10/03/rise-of-the-video-game/
Discovery Channel – Gamer Generation
The Discovery Chanel hosted a two-part video series – Gamer Generation. While these videos are a bit dated, each still provides a useful overview of the industry, media effects, and video games research. Of particular note, Dr. Weber’s study Does playing violent video games induce aggression? Empirical evidence of a functional magnetic resonance imaging study is featured in the fourth video (starts at 7:20 and extends into the fifth video). Embedded videos shown below the fold.
Posted by richardhuskey on October 3, 2012
http://richardhuskey.com/2012/10/03/discovery-channel-gamer-generation-episode/
That Time of the Year
Finishing up my first week back at UCSB and this comic is all too accurate. Cheers to a new year!
Posted by richardhuskey on September 27, 2012
http://richardhuskey.com/2012/09/27/that-time-of-the-year/
A Future for Augmented Reality
This video comes via the folks at Ethical Technology. Creators May-raz and Lazo offer a glimpse into an augmented reality future that allows individuals to monitor and interpret everything from environmental to nonverbal cues. Taken at face value, having access to these capabilities seems exciting. However, there are potential issues. In Sight, the slimy protagonist uses augmented reality capabilities in an attempt to seduce his date. Creepy, but an interesting premise that highlights some of the potential drawbacks of an imaginable future.
Sight from Sight Systems on Vimeo.
Posted by richardhuskey on August 1, 2012
http://richardhuskey.com/2012/08/01/a-future-for-augmented-reality/
Avatars & Facial Tracking
Sony Online Entertainment is beta testing a new feature for EverQuest II, SoEmote. This sort of technology has been around for a while, but to my knowledge, this is the first time it has been incorporated into an MMO (and a popular one, at that). This is likely an interesting feature for players, even if the audio is a bit off-putting. The audio fonts are pitched as a feature for role-players, but is this something they even want? I’m not terribly familiar with EQ2, but voice chat (outside of instances and raids) never really took off in WoW (even then 3rd party software seems dominant). For me, the face-tracking feature is far more interesting. I’m often put-off when my character’s head movements and facial expressions are different from what I expect them to be. SoEmote seems to do a nice job capturing, and replicating, facial movements (be sure to watch the video in full-screen, check out all those points of reference on his mouth, eyes, and eyebrows).
I digress… What has me most excited is the opportunity this feature offers researchers. One can easily think of several studies that test immersion, nonverbal cues, realism, etc. According to Kotaku, SOE will demo SoEmote at E3. Exciting!
Posted by richardhuskey on June 1, 2012
http://richardhuskey.com/2012/06/01/avatars-facial-tracking/
Link List – Games, Cognition, & Virtuality
So far, I think this blog has struggled to find a voice. Maybe I’m plagued by this problem in areas beyond this blog. Who knows…
Anyway, here are a few links (and a video!) that have been thinking about this week. Maybe you will enjoy them, too.
- The Dunning-Kruger effect and multiplayer video games. Interesting idea that could easily be tested. While the article mostly considers competitive play, it could be interesting to assess this among collaborative or cooperative play (raid groups, anyone?).
- A few links here each discussing how “downtime,” or periods of boredom, in MMOs might be what fosters socialization. Read the blog post from TAG first, and then read Kelly Boudreau’s response post. I’m not convinced that SWTOR really offers the chance for socialization in the same way that EQ, or vanilla WoW did. SWTOR seems to allow for easy grouping, but nothing that really seems likely to spur long-term relationships. Maybe I’m wrong.
- ArsTechnica has an interesting post comparing arcade culture in the USA to Japan. I’m linking this mostly because I’ve been thinking about the literature on media effects and agression resulting from playing video games. If video games really make us violent, one would expect arcades to be a very dangerous place. =p
- Nature did a great news article on four possible futures for fMRI research. Check it out!
- Finally, there is a growing discussion among some academic circles that says we are all foolish idiots for thinking/talking about the Internet in terms of Cyberspace, or digital exceptionalism. Read John Carter McKnight’s post and then watch this talk (embedded below) from James Bridle. This talk is full on interesting ideas, but Bridle really nails the idea when he says “Space is a really bad metaphor for the Internet” (start at 4:30).
Posted by richardhuskey on April 11, 2012
http://richardhuskey.com/2012/04/11/link-list-games-cognition-virtuality/
Technology is the Competition?
I’m generally not one to link TED talks, but Sherry Turkle’s TEDxUIUC talk is worth watching. In sixteen minutes, Turkle outlines the second half of her latest book, Alone Together (this book is a terrific read, and absolutely worth the purchase). While I do not always agree with Turkle, I tremendous respect for her, and her work. This video demonstrates some of the things I think Turkle gets right.
Posted by richardhuskey on April 2, 2012
http://richardhuskey.com/2012/04/02/technology-is-the-competition/
-
Just A Game by Richard Huskey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.