Alex is a Professor in the University’s Department of Psychology with research interests in the neuroscience of vision, neuro-imaging and visual cognition in health and disease.
About Alex
Alex graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1994 with a BA in Natural Sciences. After completing a PhD in Neuroscience at University College London he moved to Stanford University to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship in human brain imaging specializing in the neural computations underlying our perception of colour. Continued this research as a Principle Investigator at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research.
Alex conducts research into the psychology of gaming and explores how a better understanding of avatar identities and behaviours can be harnessed to increase individual and social well being.
Alex’s recent project, What’s in an online game name? found the names gamers choose for themselves reveal a lot about a player’s personality. He spent three years deep-mining data from one of the world’s most successful tactical multiplayer games, League of Legends. Working with the game’s designers, Riot Games, Alex and his team found that user names have a bit more to them than just a random assortment of words and numbers. As well as helping Riot curb the excesses of the game’s more anti-social elements, his insights could also have more far-reaching applications.
Key words
Data, Human-computer interaction, Visualisation, VR