Jessica Hammer is an assistant

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Early life and education

Hammer, who was a finalist in the

Regeneron Science Talent Search The Regeneron Science Talent Search, known for its first 57 years as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, and then as the Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) from 1998 through 2016, is a research-based science competition in the United Sta ...

, attended the

Maimonides School , image = Maimonides School Logo (Hebrew Only).png , alt = , caption = , streetaddress = 34 Philbrick Road , city = Brookline , state = MA ...

, in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...

. She is the daughter of

Michael Martin Hammer Michael Martin Hammer (April 13, 1948 – Sept 3, 2008) was a Jewish-American engineer, management author, and a former professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), known as one of the founders of the manageme ...

. She earned her B.A. in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, her MS from the

NYU Interactive Telecommunications Program New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-United States Secretary of the Treasu ...

and her Ph.D. in cognitive science at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, where she developed the game design course sequence and was a founding member of the

Teachers College A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

EGGPLANT game research laboratory.

Career

Hammer's research focuses on the psychology of games, focusing on the way specific game design decisions affect how players think and feel. While a graduate student at Columbia, Hammer helped create Lit, a mobile game designed to help individuals quit smoking. Hammer has worked on video games for the

National Institute of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late 1 ...

and for

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

. She also spent time in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, working with local partners to create game clubs that help girls acquire the social capital and the skills they need to solve their problems for themselves. In 2014 she was selected as a

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

Young Scientist. In his 1998 book, ''Why We Don 't Talk to Each Other Anymore: The De-Voicing of Society,'' biolinguist John L. Locke discusses the research produced by Hammer as a young researcher working with

Simon Baron-Cohen Sir Simon Philip Baron-Cohen (born 15 August 1958) is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the director of the university's Autism Research Centre and a Fellow of ...

. According to Locke, Baron-Cohen and Hammer found that the parents of individuals with

Asperger's syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behav ...

did less well than the general population on tasks involving the interpretation of emotional status of others by looking at the expression of their eyes, and better than the general population at identifying shapes embedded within complex designs. Since 2014, Hammer's recent projects include exploring live action role-playing games as a potential avenue for improving mental or physical health, and conducting research on how games may reduce opioid abuse after work-related injuries. Currently, Hammer works as an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, jointly appointed between the HCI Institute and the

Entertainment Technology Center The Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) is a department at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located at the Pittsburgh Technology Center. The ETC offers a two-year Masters of Entertainment Technology ...

. She teaches courses related to Game Design and Learning Media. Jessica Hammer started the OHLab with Amy Ogan along with their students, staff, and colleagues. The lab works at the intersection of culture, learning, play, and design in order to create brand new interactions and experiences. Through games, educational technologies, and new frameworks of interaction, the lab pushes on the edges of learning, empathy, and social empowerment.

References

External links

Hammer's personal homepageHammer's CMU home pageHammer's OHLab
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammer, Jessica American computer scientists American women computer scientists Human–computer interaction researchers Harvard University alumni Human-Computer Interaction Institute faculty Living people Carnegie Mellon University faculty New York University alumni Columbia University alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)