Mike Ambinder is an experimental psychologist currently working as an affiliate assistant professor at University of Washington. Best known for his tenure at Valve Corporation, his research is focused on user experience and HCI applied to video games. He has been part of the development of Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, Alien Swarm, and Portal 2. He is one of the pioneers in applying psychophysiological techniques in user experience assessment and adaptive systems in the game industry context. In February 2023, Ambinder announced that he had left Valve.[2]
Mike Ambinder | |
|---|---|
| Education |
|
| Occupation(s) | Experimental psychologist, game designer |
| Years active | 2005 - present |
| Known for | Brain computer interface related work at Valve[1] |
Ambinder holds a B.A in computer science and psychology from Yale University, and a PhD in psychology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has published in academic journals,[3] and presented at main game developer conferences.[4][5]
References
edit- ^ Takahashi, Dean (2019-03-24). "Valve psychologist explores controlling games directly with your brain". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
- ^ Ambinder, Mike (February 14, 2023). "Post". LinkedIn. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
- ^ Simons, D and Ambinder, M. (2005) Change Blindness Theory and Consequences. Current Directions in Psychological Science 14, 1, 44 -48.
- ^ Ambinder, M. (2009) Valve's Approach to Playtesting: the Application of Empiricism. Game Developer Conference 2009
- ^ Ambinder, M. (2011) Biofeedback in Gameplay: How Valve Measures Physiology to Enhance Gaming Experience. Game Developer Conference 2011