SIM Lab @ SIUE

About the Lab

01 — Overview

Who We Are

Dr. Alex P. Leith, Director of the SIM Lab @ SIUE

The SIM Lab @ SIUE is the research home of Dr. Alex P. Leith and his student collaborators at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The lab creates a shared umbrella for research in social and interactive media — allowing Leith and other Mass Communications faculty to pursue diverse funding opportunities while advancing project-specific work.

Dr. Leith is an Associate Professor (Tenured) in the Department of Mass Communications at SIUE and was Co-PI on a completed $1.6 million NSF initiative (2021–2025) studying virtual reality and the future of work, in collaboration with the Beyond Meet Space research collective.

02 — People

The Team

Recruiting Students

We welcome students from all levels and disciplines to participate in social and interactive media research. There are roles in data collection, analysis, literature review, design, and more.

Get in touch

Past Students

Graduate

  • M. Onuche

Undergraduate

  • S. Baker
  • O. Buente
  • D. Creech
  • E. Gheen
  • K. Kasper

03 — Funding

Grants & Support

External Funding — Completed

External Funding — Pending

  • Future CoRe (HCC): Distributed AI Agents for Scalable Interaction Modeling and Feedback Aggregation in Technical Learning NSF PI — $496,521 (2026–2030)
  • AI- and IoT-Driven Innovations for Malaria and Insect Vector Surveillance and Control Wellcome/UNZA Co-I — $800,044 (2026–2030)
  • Collaborative Research: Improving Equity and Wellbeing in Virtual Classrooms via AI-Enhanced Avatars NSF PI (SIUE site) — $49,999 (2025–2028)

Internal Funding

04 — Research Output

Publications

  • Beyea, D., Foxman, M., Ratan, R., Klebig, B., Leith, A. P., & Chen, V. H. H. (2025). Metaverse-mediated communication: A call for theory-driven XR research (Editorial). Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications, 37(2), 61–63. doi:10.1027/1864-1105/a000465

  • Leith, A. P., Lim, C., Foxman, M., Beyea, D., & Jeong, D. C. (2025). Stress and coping in VRChat: A mixed-method case study of the use of VRChat as a coping tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 20(100843). doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2025.100843

  • Douzek, D., Foxman, M., Lim, C., & Leith, A. P. (2025). Balancing fun and professionalism in game development: The dark and light side of play in virtual meetings. Frontiers in Communication, 10. doi:10.3389/fcomm.2025.1609776

  • Beyea, D., Lim, C., Lover, A., Foxman, M., Ratan, R., & Leith, A. P. (2025). Zoom fatigue in review: A meta-analytical examination of videoconferencing fatigue's antecedents. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 17(100571). doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2024.100571

  • Lim, C., Leith, A. P., Ratan, R., & Bouzek, D. (2025). Meeting needs: How social interaction anxiety, zoom fatigue, relatedness, and demographics predict virtual meeting feature preferences. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 18, 100673. doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2025.100673

  • Lim, C., Ratan, R., Foxman, M., Beyea, D., Jeong, D., & Leith, A. P. (2025). Examining attitudes about the virtual workplace: Associations between Zoom fatigue, impression management, and virtual meeting adoption intent. PLOS One. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0312354

  • Ratan, R. A., Lin, Q., Lim, C., Park, R., Lover, A., Han, E., Jang, D., Leith, A. P., & Bailenson, J. N. (2025). Time matters in VR: Students benefit from longer VR class duration, but certain outcomes decline after 45 minutes, with large individual variance. Computers & Education, 14(3), 466–477. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2025.105328

  • Foxman, M., Beyea, D., Leith, A. P., Ratan, R. A., Chen, V. H. H., & Klebig, B. (2022). Beyond genre: Classifying virtual reality experiences. IEEE Transactions on Games, 14(3), 466–477. doi:10.1109/tg.2021.3119521

  • Leith, A. P., & Gheen, E. (2022). Twitch in the time of quarantine: The role of engagement in needs fulfillment. Psychology of Popular Media, 11(3), 275–280. doi:10.1037/ppm0000372

  • Leith, A. P. (2021). Parasocial cues: The ubiquity of parasocial relationships on Twitch. Communication Monographs, 88, 111–129. doi:10.1080/03637751.2020.1868544

  • Ratan, R. A., Fordham, J., Leith, A. P., & Williams, D. (2019). Women keep it real: Avatar gender choice in League of Legends. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 22, 254–257. doi:10.1089/cyber.2018.0302

  • DeGroot, J. M., & Leith, A. P. (2018). R.I.P. Kutner: Parasocial grief following the death of a television character. OMEGA — Journal of Death and Dying, 77, 199–216. doi:10.1177/0030222815600450

  • Leith, A. P., Ratan, R. A., & Wohn, D. Y. (2016). The (de-)evolution of evolution games: Analyzing the accuracy of evolution depiction in video games. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 25, 655–664. doi:10.1007/s10956-016-9620-x

  • Lim, C., Leith, A. P., Foxman, M., Ratan, R., & Klebig, B. (2025, January). The Hyperpersonal Model of Communication in virtual meetings: Exploring the roles of fatigue, social interaction anxiety, muting, and avatar use in meeting engagement. Proceedings of the 58th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. PDF

  • Milik, O., Jang, D., Foxman, M., Klebig, B., Beyea, D., Leith, A. P., & Ratan, R. (2024, November). Focusing on virtual groups: A method for focus group interviews in XR/VR group settings. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2024.

  • Foxman, M., Bouzek, D., Lim, C., Ratan, R., Klebig, B., Leith, A. P., & Beyea, D. (2024, July). Making a virtual playground: Values-based game design in meeting platforms. Abstract Proceedings of DiGRA 2024 Conference: Playgrounds. Link

  • Lim, C., Foxman, M., Leith, A. P., Meshi, D., & Ratan, R. (2024, July). Wanting playfulness to counter fatigue from virtual meetings: Associations with social interaction anxiety and workaholism. Abstract Proceedings of DiGRA 2024 Conference: Playgrounds.

  • Foxman, M., Bouzek, D., Rata, A., & Leith, A. P. (2023, June). Virtually limited: Boundaries of play in virtual reality production. Abstract Proceedings of DiGRA 2023 Conference: Limits and Margins of Games.

  • Leith, A. P., Foxman, M., Onuche, M., Ratan, R., & Lim, C. (2023, June). Mixed feelings and realities: Joyful to nauseating sentiments about VR on Twitter. Abstract Proceedings of DiGRA 2023 Conference: Limits and Margins of Games.

  • Foxman, M., Leith, A. P., Beyea, D., Klebig, B., Chen, V. H. H., & Ratan, R. (2020, November). Virtual reality genres: Comparing preferences in immersive experiences and games. CHI PLAY '20: Extended Abstracts of the 2020 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 237–241). ACM. doi:10.1145/3383668.3419881

  • Leith, A. P. (2019, October). Playing games for others: Constructing a gameplay livestreaming taxonomy. Proceedings of Meaningful Play 2018 (pp. 372–379). ETC Press. doi:10.1184/R1/9995969

  • Leith, A. P., Lim, C., Foxman, M., Beyea, D., & Jeong, D. (2025, June). Stress and coping in VRChat: A mixed-method case study of the use of VRChat as a coping tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 75th Annual Conference. Denver, CO.

  • Leith, A. P., Foxman, M., Lim, C., & Beyea, D. (2025, June). What ASD finds in VRChat: The potential for VR to address the communication barriers faced by individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 75th Annual Conference. Denver, CO.

  • Mlikik, O., Ratan, R., Chen, V., Swati, S., Foxman, M., & Leith, A. P. (2025, June). Looking beyond Meet Space: Presenting a research platform in VRChat. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 75th Annual Conference. Denver, CO.

  • Beyea, D., Lim, C., Lover, A., Foxman, M., Ratan, R., & Leith, A. P. (2024, June). Zoom fatigue? A meta-analytical examination of research on the antecedents of videoconferencing fatigue. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 74th Annual Conference. Gold Coast, QLD.

  • Foxman, M., Bouzek, D., Lim, C., & Leith, A. P. (2024, June). Playing from home: Identity, cohesion, and communication for remote game makers. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 74th Annual Conference. Gold Coast, QLD.

  • Lim, C., Foxman, M., Ratan, R., Beyea, D., Jeong, D., & Leith, A. P. (2024, June). Touch-up my Zoom fatigue: Positive attitudes about online meeting platforms are negatively associated with virtual meeting fatigue and positively associated with using impression management features. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 74th Annual Conference. Gold Coast, QLD.

  • Foxman, M., Leith, A. P., Ratan, R., & Bouzek, D. (2023, May). Playfully virtual: Finding authentic communication in videoconferencing and online meetings. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 73rd Annual Conference. Toronto, ON.

  • Leith, A. P., Foxman, M., Onuche, M., & Bouzek, D. (2023, May). Diffusion of gratification: The reception of VR as a modality for remote work and meetings. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 73rd Annual Conference. Toronto, ON.

  • Leith, A. P., Foxman, M., Ratan, R., & Lim, C. (2023, May). Feelings for meetings: A sentiment analysis of videoconferencing platforms a year apart. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 73rd Annual Conference. Toronto, ON.

  • Foxman, M., Leith, A. P., Sulzdorf-Liszkiewicz, A., Beyea, D., Klebig, B., Graciano, L., Bouzek, D., & Ratan, R. A. (2022, October). Playing at work: Finding and designing play into virtual meetings. Presented at the 2022 International Conference on Meaningful Play. East Lansing, MI.

  • Foxman, M., Beyea, D. G., Leith, A. P., Ratan, R. A., Chen, V. H. H., & Klebig, B. (2021, May). Hardly just hardware: Understanding games and genres in virtual reality experiences. Presented at the International Communication Association 71st Annual Conference. Virtual.

  • Leith, A. P. (2020, May). When watching isn't enough: Human agents and their influence of gameplay and gamespace through synchronous chat. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 70th Annual Conference. Gold Coast, AUS.

  • Leith, A. P. (2019, August). The affective messaging of gameplay livestream viewers. Paper presented at the 2019 Digital Games and Research Association Conference. Kyoto, Japan.

  • Fordham, J., Leith, A. P., & Ratan, R. A. (2017). League of Legends: Summoning a league of their own. In J. Banks, R. Mejia, & A. Adams (Eds.), 100 greatest video game franchises (pp. 102–104). Rowman & Littlefield.

  • Leith, A. P., & Fordham, J. (2017). Assassin's Creed: Leap of faith through historiophoty. In J. Banks, R. Mejia, & A. Adams (Eds.), 100 greatest video game franchises (pp. 11–12). Rowman & Littlefield.

  • Leith, A. P., & Ratan, R. A. (2017). Super Smash Bros.: Fight with the one that brung ya. In J. Banks, R. Mejia, & A. Adams (Eds.), 100 greatest video game franchises (pp. 178–180). Rowman & Littlefield.

05 — Open-Source Software

Software

TASS

Text Analysis & Sentiment System — a Python/R NLP package for word count and sentiment analysis with extensible custom dictionaries.

Python / R · 2024–present

View on GitHub

The Cage

MassComm Checkout System — a full-stack Next.js / TypeScript production web app with dual-database architecture, Docker Compose, and Microsoft Entra SSO.

Next.js / TypeScript / PostgreSQL · 2024–present

mccoursepack

R package for reproducible course delivery — bundles textbook chapters, assignment templates, and the unified music dataset for MC-451.

R · 2025–present

View on GitHub

Open WebUI Launcher

One-click Python/Docker tool automating local LLM setup via Ollama and Open WebUI with hardware checks and classroom-safe defaults.

Python / Docker · 2025–present

View on GitHub

MC Careers Dashboard

Interactive SvelteKit dashboard mapping Mass Communications career paths, salary data, and skill requirements for student career planning.

SvelteKit · 2025–present

View on GitHub

DeepSeek-R1 Monorepo

Multi-model deployment configuration and Open WebUI tools built for research and instructional AI workflows.

Open WebUI · 2025–present

View on GitHub

06 — Research Datasets

Datasets

Large-scale datasets collected under IRB approval and governed by platform terms of service. Access is restricted.

Twitch Chat Corpus

321,189,309 chat messages from 117,943 channels collected December 17, 2018 – January 17, 2019.

Restricted Access · ToS / IRB Governed

VRChat Tweets

1,434,367 original English-language tweets about VRChat collected January 16, 2014 – May 25, 2023.

Restricted Access · ToS / IRB Governed

Remote Work Tweets

1,409,966 tweets from 887,888 unique users about remote work and virtual meetings, collected April 2020 and April 2021.

Restricted Access · ToS / IRB Governed