Cross-Platform Avatars From Ready Player Me (feat. Timmu Tõke)

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 was founded in 2014 to build world-class avatar systems. They also created Ready Player Me, a cross-game avatar platform where users can make an avatar to use across more than 200 mobile, desktop, web and VR apps and gamesTõke is also a 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. 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 of media technologies (e.g., avatars, agents, automobiles) influences meaningful outcomes (e.g., education, health/safety, persuasion).The SPARTIE Lab is part of the greater academic community at the College of Communication Arts & Sciences at Michigan State University. More information on the lab's research projects, staff, and work can be found on the SPARTIE Lab website.About the host:Dr. Rabindra (Robby) Ratan, Ph. D., is an associate professor and AT&T Scholar at Michigan State University’s Department of Media and Information and is the director of the SPARTIE Lab.He is also an affiliated faculty member of the MSU Department of Psychology, the MSU College of Education’s program in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology, and the MSU Center for Gender in a Global Context. Ratan received his Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, his M.A. in Communication from Stanford University, and his B.A. in Science, Technology and Society, also from Stanford University.Dr. Ratan conducts research on the effects of human-technology interaction, examining how media technologies (e.g., avatars, agents, automobiles) influence meaningful outcomes (e.g., persuasion, education, health/safety).  He is particularly interested in the Proteus effect, media-rich transportation contexts, perceptions of media as self-representations and/or social others, avatarification for health and education, and gender stereotypes in gaming contexts.Dr. Ratan lives near Lansing with his family. More information on his work can be found on his website.