Alex P. Leith, PhD

#overview

SIM Lab @ SIUE

SOCIAL & INTERACTIVE MEDIA LAB @ SIUE

Welcome to the website for the Social & Interactive Media Lab @ SIUE. The SIM Lab is the house for the research of Dr. Alex P. Leith and their student assistants. Dr. Leith is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mass Communications. A portion of Leith's work is done in conjunction with the Beyond Meet Space research collective. Their work includes a $1.6 million NSF grant studying virtual reality and the future of work.

#topic 01

Virtual Environments

Our research in virtual environments examines social interaction and behavior within immersive digital spaces, including virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR). We investigate topics ranging from videoconferencing fatigue and team cohesion in virtual meetings to the use of social VR platforms like VRChat for social support.

#topic 02

Gameplay & Livestreaming

This research area is focused on video game players and the communities that form around gameplay, particularly on livestreaming platforms like Twitch. We study a variety of topics, including avatar gender choice in games like League of Legends , parasocial relationships with streamers , and community dynamics within synchronous chat.

#topic 03

Human-Computer Interaction

Our work in human-computer interaction (HCI) focuses on the design and evaluation of interactive computing systems for human use. This includes creating open-source software for educational and career-planning purposes and studying user experience in virtual environments to enhance well-being and equity.