The Proteus Effect, Bias and Body Ownership (feat. Dr. Domna Banakou)

This week is an informative conversation with Domna Banakou on her research trajectory, the Event lab, and the future of avatar research.

About this week's guest
Domna Banakou is a researcher at the EVENT-LAB in Barcelona. Her research focuses on virtual environments, with a specific focus on how “body ownership illusions” affect people’s perceptions and views.

She has a background in Computer Science, receiving her BSc from the Ionian University. She has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology from the University of Barcelona and an MSU in Computer Graphics, Vision and Imaging from University College London.

Her research has resulted in the publication of many research papers. They cover a variety of topics including embodiment of avatars, virtual reality, implicit bias and more. Many of these topics are intertwined. You can check out a substantial amount of her work here.

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 at 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.