(Social) Architects of the Metaverse (feat. Founders Sonya Seddarasan and Dr. Pierre Gerard)

SPARTIE-Cast with Dr. Robby Ratan

The Founders of Upworlds and Metaxu, Sonya Seddarasan and Dr. Pierre Gerard, respectively, describe their endeavors to support the community of Metaverse developers and users to host Robby Ratan.

Upworlds provides a platform for virtual builders to gain useful skills (e.g., cross-platform development) and monetize their work through a peer-to-peer marketplace, special events, rentals and custom commissions. Metaxu is a design studio that hosts regular events, such as design office hours, to help developers learn about designing virtual architecture. Metaxu also hosts exhibits and live performances where virtual artists display and even sell their virtual work as NFTs.

During the episode we visit one of these exhibit spaces — you’ll have to watch the video to see the killer snail. In addition to their exciting contributions to the Metaverse community, they also discuss the meaning and history of the Metaverse, the need for user-centered architecture-informed design in virtual spaces, and the potential for the Metaverse to expand access to arts and cultural events ...and avatars. Of course Robby brings up avatars.

Metaxu hosts a real time event every last Tuesday at 5 p.m. BST (12 p.m. EST)

Upworlds goes live on Discord every Thursday 5 p.m. BST (12 p.m. EST)

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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.