Meaningful Play, the GEL Lab, Will Winn Games, and Plunder Panic (ft. Prof. Brian Winn)

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 and industry/creative game design and what to expect for the Meaningful Play 2022 conference (Oct 13-15) — which is totally awesome, you should submit/attend. And Brian talks about his new game studio, Will Winn Games, producer of Plunder Panic, a game of up to 12 players which supports mixed local/online and human/AI teams!Take the SPARTIE-Cast survey and let us know what you think of the podcast!Want to live stream or video chat with your own avatar? Try Animaze for free! And if you want to subscribe, use code “spartielab” at checkout for 50% off all subscriptions. The free-to-use software is available on Steam and the Apple App Store. Code expires January 1, 2022. Thank you Animaze for sponsoring this episode!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.