RABINDRA
(ROBBY) AYYAN RATAN
To
contribute to the advancement of social media technologies,
particularly
virtual worlds and video games.
PhD Candidate:
Communication.
GPA:
3.933/4.0
Masters of Arts:
Communication. Focus - Human
Computer Interaction and Media Studies. Conferred 6/05
LONDON
SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS,
London, England (8/03)
Summer Term: Course in
Development of International
Political Economy.
Ratan,
R.A. & Hasler, B. (2009,
in press). Self-Presence
Standardized: Introducing the
Self-Presence
Questionnaire (SPQ).
Proceedings
of the 10th
Annual International Workshop on Presence. Los Angeles, USA.
Martins, N., D.
Williams, R. Ratan &
K. Harrison (2009, in press). A Content Analysis of Female Body Imagery
in
Video Games. Sex Roles.
Castronova, E.,
Williams, D., Huang, Y.,
Shen, C., Keegan, B., Ratan, R. (2009, in press). As real as real?
Macroeconomic behavior in a large-scale virtual world. New Media
& Society.
Xiong, L., R. Ratan
& D. Williams (2009, in
press). Location-Based Mobile Games: A Theoretical Framework for
Research. In
A. deSouza e Silva & D. Sutko (Eds.) Hybrid Reality Games:
Reconfiguring
Social and Urban Networks Via Locative Media. New York, New York: Peter
Lang
Publishers.
Ratan,
R. A. &
Ritterfeld, U. (2009). Towards a psychological classification of
serious games.
In U. Ritterfeld, M. Cody & P. Vorderer (Eds.), Serious
Games:
Mechanisms and Effects. New York, NY: Routledge.
Ratan,
R.A., Santa Cruz,
M., & Vorderer, P. (2007).
Multitasking,
Presence
& Self-Presence on the Wii. In L. Moreno (Ed.), Proceedings
of the 10th
Annual
International Workshop on Presence (pp.167 –
190). Barcelona,
Spain: Starlab Barcelona S.L.
Ratan, R., Chung,
J.E., Shen, C.,
Williams, D., Foucault, B., Poole, M.S. (2009). Schmoozing and
Smiting: Trust and Communication Patterns in an
MMO. Paper to be
presented at the Communication and Technology
Commission of the
International Communication Association, Chicago, USA.
Huh, S.,
Ratan, R. & Williams,
D. (2008). Going (Online) With the Flow: Modeling Flow Within a Large
Social
Online World. National Communication Association Conference. San Diego,
California.
Ratan,
R. A., Diaz, A.
& Nass, C. (2008). The Effect of
Voice Agent Choice on Users’ Experiences in Business and Entertainment
VUI
Contexts. Paper presented at the Communication and
Technology Commission
of the International Communication Association, Quebec, Canada.
Ratan,
R. A. (2008). The
Presentation of Self in Everyday Second Life: An Attempt to Relate
Psychological and Virtual Gender. Paper presented at the When Media
Environment
Become Real Conference, University of Berne, Switzerland.
Ratan, R. A. &
Bailenson, J. N. (2007). The
Effects of Behavioral and Facial Similarity on Persuasion in a
Collaborative
Virtual Environment. Paper presented at the Communication and
Technology
Commission of the International Communication Association, California,
USA.
Finalist
– Favorite Communication T.A.
-
Awarded by the Annenberg
Student Communication Association based on votes from student body.
Dissertation Research, ANNENBERG, USC, Los Angleles,
CA (05/09 – present)
Self-Presence:
Theory, Measurement and Validation
-
The theory of self-presence
broadly describes
how the self is present
(relevant) during media use.
o
The first
phase of this dissertation is to fully explicate this theory.
-
A Self-Presence Questionnaire
(SPQ) has been developed
and examined in a preliminary study.
o
A large-scale survey
will be conducted to establish construct validity for the SPQ.
o
A series of
experiments, using psychophysiological measures, will also help
establish
validity.
-
There have been some
interesting relationships found between self-presence and
social
measures.
o
The survey and
experiments will include such measures, including social presence,
social
capital, online/offline community involvement, trust, self-disclosure,
and text
vs. voice use.
Research Assistant to Professor
Dmitri Williams, ANNENBERG, USC, Los Angleles,
CA (09/07 – present)
Everquest
II Projects
-
Various projects that examine
a large set of behavioral and survey data from the MMOG Everquest II to
examine
relevant theories (economics, trust and communication patterns, and
self-report
bias)
Body
Imagery in Video Games
-
Comparison of body dimensions
for video game characters and a sample of healthy men and women.
Research Group Leader, ANNENBERG, USC, Los Angleles,
CA (01/07 – 10/07)
Examining
the Effects Self-Presence on Multitasking while playing the Nintendo Wii
-
How does self-presence affect
the ability to multitask?
-
Under the direction of
Professor Peter Vorderer and with a team of four undergraduate
students,
designed a study to examine how manipulations of self-presence affect
multitasking ability of participants playing the Nintendo Wii.
-
This study was presented at
the Presence conference in October, 2007 in Barcelona.
Research Assistant, ANNENBERG,
USC, Los Angleles, CA (01/07 – 01/08)
Creating
a Taxonomy of Serious Games
-
What are the various types of
serious video games that currently available?
-
Under the direction of
Professor Ute Ritterfeld and with the assistance of an undergraduate
researcher, conducted an extensive review of 600+ serious games in
order to
create a taxonomy of these games.
-
Research results presented at
the Serious Games workshop hosted by Annenberg in May 2007.
-
Paper published as a chapter
within the book Serious Games: Mechanisms and
Effects.
Research Assistant to Professor
Kwan Min Lee, ANNENBERG, USC, Los Angleles,
CA (8/06 – present)
Explicating
“Media Use”
-
How has the term “media use”
been used in the past 10 years of Communication research?
-
Under the direction of
Professor Kwan Min Lee, conducted extensive literature review of the
operationalization of “media use” in various communication journals.
-
Paper in process of being
written.
Research Assistant, Communication
Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Choice
of Voice-Agent for a Business or Entertainment Automated Voice System –
Group
Leader (1/06
– 06/06)
-
How does the ability to
choose an automated voice-agent affect user performance and attitude?
-
In collaboration with
Nuance Communications, Inc., designed study, implemented two automated
voice
systems, collected data from 40 participants in six conditions,
analyzed data.
-
Paper to be presented
at the ICA conference in Montreal in May, 2008.
Submissiveness
and Dominance in an In-car Voice Navigation System – Group Leader (4/06 – 06/06)
-
How does the personality of a
voice navigation system affect driver performance and attitude?
-
Designed 2 (agent
submissiveness or dominance) x 2 (participant submissiveness or
dominance)
study, programmed car simulator, collected data from 30 participants
(ongoing).
Throwing
Voices in a Car – Group Leader (4/06
– 06/06)
-
How does the source (speaker)
location of a car voice affect driver performance and attitude?
-
Redesigned the study
“Throwing Voices” (Takayama, in press) in the driving simulator
context,
collected data from 20 participants in two conditions.
Availability
of Mobile Phone Users (in collaboration with Karlsruhe University) –
Group
Member (09/05
– 10/06)
-
How can availability of
mobile phone users be measured and operationalized?
-
Aided in the design and
implementation of large-scale study, directed the first stage analysis
of data.
Research Assistant, Communication
Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Emotion
in Car Voices – Group member, ADVANCED
USER INTERFACES RESEARCH COURSE (10/04 – 06/06)
-
How do the emotions of two
car voices affect driver performance and attitude?
-
Designed study, programmed
car simulator, collected data from 48 participants in eight conditions,
analyzed data.
-
How does the arousal level of
music in cars affect driver performance and attitude?
-
Designed study, programmed
car simulator, collected data from 65 participants in six conditions
Similarity
Persuasion Study – Project Leader, VIRTUAL HUMAN INTERACTION LAB
(10/04 – 6/05)
-
How persuasive is information
presented by an avatar (virtual human), dependent on his physical and
behavioral similarity to the information consumer?
-
Conducted study in virtual
environment, collected data from 60 subjects in 4 conditions, analyzed
data.
-
Paper presented at the ICA
conference in May 2007 in San Francisco.
The
Evolution of Rap and Roll
-
How
is rap music’s evolution interrelated with its technologies, culture
and
history?
-
Spent
six weeks in London conducting interviews and observing local rap
community.
-
Used
field research in conjunction with literary sources to argue that the
evolution
of rap music as an art form has been largely engendered by the
technological
changes that surround the music, that these technological changes are
associated with strong cultural effects, and that within these
contexts, the
progression of rap music is similar to the progression of rock and roll.
Research Assistant, COMMUNICATION
DEPT– Stanford University,
Stanford, CA (8/05 – 06/06)
Provided
support to
Professor Nass and graduate students in the lab; directed and assisted
graduate
students with design and implementation of over five experimental
studies;
analyzed results and created first draft of paper for Emotion
Consistency in
Car Voices study; developed multiple driving simulator scenarios;
supported
lab’s corporate relations; and managed lab’s online experiment sign-up
system,
website and equipment.
Research Assistant, TOYOTA
INFO TECHNOLOGY CENTER, Palo Alto,
CA (7/05 – 12/05)
Prepared
online research
for study of elderly drivers, assembled literature review of current
research
on in-car technologies, developed multiple driving simulator scenarios,
directed and produced multiple videos for in-house presentations
portraying
research conducted using driving simulator, and configured technical
setup for
recording and editing research studies using driving simulator, video
projector, media converter, Apple G5 and Final Cut Pro software.
STANFORD STUDENT ENTERPRISES–
THE STANFORD STORE,
Stanford, CA (9/01–
6/04)
-
Director (9/03 – 6/04)-
Budgeted $150,000, achieved store’s highest profit in five years.
Negotiated 4
contracts worth $5,000 over 9 months with a web vendor and student
vendor.
Hired and directed four managers, ten sales associates, and three
interns. Supervised
eight major marketing events
estimated to have increased revenue by 30% over previous year. Advised
merchandising decisions to decrease COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) and
increase
Gross Margin by 5%. Supervised Web retail operations worth $7,000
(revenue)
over six-month period.
-
Operations Manager (9/02 –
6/03) - Hired, trained and managed
team of ten Sales Associates. Prepared annual evaluations. Ensured
efficient
operations and responded to immediate emergencies.
-
Online Manager (1/02 –
6/02) - Managed web site and
finances, ensured order delivery.
-
Sales Associate (9/01 –
12/01)- Worked
register, maintained store and communicated with customers.
YELLOW
PAGES INTEGRATED
MEDIA ASSOCIATION, Berkeley Heights, NJ
(7/01 – 9/02)
-
Intern
(7/02
– 9/02) – Member
Relations and Research Departments.
-
Intern
(7/01
– 9/01) – Accounting
Department, Assisted CFO in
preparation of budgets.
Intern, LUCENT
TECHNOLOGIES, BELL LABS RESEARCH, Murray
Hill, NJ
(7/98 – 9/98)
Used
Java programming methods for research in Multimedia Research
Department.
Hobbies: World travel, cyberpunk (science fiction), poetry writing, racquetball, and soon, being a dad.