Jessica Hammer

Hammer, who was a finalist in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, attended the Maimonides School, in Brookline, Massachusetts.{{cite news|last1=Saltus|first1=Richard|title=4 Mass. pupils are US science contest finalists|publisher=Boston Globe|date=26 January 1994|id={{ProQuest|294836274}}}}

She is the daughter of Michael Martin Hammer.{{cite news|last1=Rosenblatt|first1=Gary|title=A Lifelong Friend Who Challenged The Status Quo|url=http://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/a-lifelong-friend-who-challenged-the-status-quo/|accessdate=16 January 2017|publisher=The Jewish Week|date=12 September 2008}}

She earned her B.A. in computer science at Harvard University,{{cite web|url=https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2020/04/hammer-earns-nsf-career-award|title=Harvard Alumni News Brief: Hammer earns NSF CAREER Award|website=harvard.edu}} her MS from the NYU Interactive Telecommunications Program and her Ph.D. in cognitive science at Columbia University,{{cite news|title=Newsmaker: Jessica Hammer|url=http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/6855651-74/hammer-university-cmu|accessdate=16 January 2017|publisher=Pittsburgh Tribune-Review|date=12 October 2014}} where she developed the game design course sequence{{Cite web|url=https://cmsw.mit.edu/jessica-hammer-what-games-mean-and-how/|title=Podcast: Jessica Hammer, "What Games Mean (And How They Mean It)"|last=Whitacre|first=Andrew|date=2012-01-25|website=cmsw.mit.edu}} and was a founding member of the Teachers College EGGPLANT game research laboratory.{{cite web|url=http://replayable.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Hammer_CV-1.pdf|title=Jessica Hammer's Curriculum Vitae|website=dropboxusercontent.com}}{{cite news|last1=Ryan|first1=Janice Paul|title=Youngsters will Tech It UP at UWF camp this summer|publisher=Pensacola News Journal|date=30 May 2006|id={{ProQuest|435993673}}}}{{cite news|last1=O'Leary|first1=Amy|title=In Virtual Play, Sex Harassment Is All Too Real|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/us/sexual-harassment-in-online-gaming-stirs-anger.html?_r=0|accessdate=16 January 2017|work=New York Times|date=1 August 2012}}

Hammer's research focuses on the psychology of games, focusing on the way specific game design decisions affect how players think and feel.{{cite news|last1=Leonard|first1=Kimberly|title=Gaming the System|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/05/29/can-video-games-solve-public-health-problems|accessdate=10 February 2017|publisher=U.S. News & World Report|date=29 May 2015}}

While a graduate student at Columbia, Hammer helped create Lit, a mobile game designed to help individuals quit smoking.{{cite web|url=https://lit2quit.wordpress.com/team/consultants/jessica-hammer/|title=Jessica Hammer|date=26 May 2010|website=wordpress.com}} Hammer has worked on video games for the National Institute of Health and for Nokia.{{cite news|title=How hard is it to make a video game in 24 hours?|agency=AP|publisher=The Capital|date=19 March 2006|id={{ProQuest|232717183}}}}

She also spent time in Ethiopia, 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.{{cite web|url=https://killscreen.com/articles/ethiopia-one-game-design-professor-believes-young-girls-hold-key/|title=In Ethiopia, one game design professor believes that young girls hold the key - Kill Screen|date=3 July 2013|website=killscreen.com}}

In 2014 she was selected as a World Economic Forum Young Scientist.{{cite web|url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_YoungScientists2014.pdf|title=World Economic Forum Young Scientists 2014|website=weforum.org}}

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. According to Locke, Baron-Cohen and Hammer found that the parents of individuals with Asperger's syndrome 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.{{cite book|last1=Locke|first1=John L.|title=Why We Don 't Talk to Each Other Anymore: The De-Voicing of Society|date=1998|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=0684843331|page=[https://archive.org/details/devoicingofsocie00lock/page/82 82]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/devoicingofsocie00lock/page/82}}

Since 2014, Hammer's recent projects include exploring live action role-playing games as a potential avenue for improving mental or physical health,{{cite web|url=https://hcii.cmu.edu/research/transformative-live-action-role-playing|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106220431/http://hcii.cmu.edu/research/transformative-live-action-role-playing|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 6, 2015|title=Transformative Live-Action Role-Playing - Human-Computer Interaction Institute|website=hcii.cmu.edu}} and conducting research on how games may reduce opioid abuse after work-related injuries.{{cite web|url=https://www.hcii.cmu.edu/research/games-pain|title=Games for Pain - Human-Computer Interaction Institute|website=www.hcii.cmu.edu|access-date=2019-02-11|archive-date=2018-11-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181102014916/https://hcii.cmu.edu/research/games-pain|url-status=dead}}

Currently, Hammer works as an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, jointly appointed between the HCI Institute and the Entertainment Technology Center. 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.

Hammer co-designed the 2022 tabletop role-playing game Rosenstrasse.{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Chase |date=2023-06-21 |title=Root creator Cole Wehrle, indigenous RPG Coyote & Crow among finalists for 2023 Diana Jones Award |url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/topics/diana-jones-award/news/diana-jones-award-finalists-2023 |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=Dicebreaker |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2024-09-30 |title=This Canadian-made Holocaust game spotlights German housewives who stood up to Hitler and saved their Jewish spouses |url=https://thecjn.ca/podcasts/rosenstrasse-holocaust-game-created-by-a-canadian-honours-famous-protest-by-german-wives-who-saved-their-jewish-husbands-in-1943-berlin/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=The Canadian Jewish News |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Network |first=Historical Games |date=2022-02-02 |title=Gestapo (1976) and Rosenstrasse (2022): Challenges and lessons for Holocaust-themed TRPGs |url=https://www.historicalgames.net/gestapo-rosenstrasse-challenges-and-lessons-for-holocaust-themed-trpgs/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=Historical Games Network |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Pedagogy--Rosenstrasse, Embodied Learning through Role Play |url=https://www.associationforjewishstudies.org/publications-research/ajs-perspectives/the-body-issue/pedagogy-rosenstrasse-embodied-learning-through-role-play |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=www.associationforjewishstudies.org}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://replayable.net Hammer's personal homepage]
• [https://www.hcii.cmu.edu/people/jessica-hammer Hammer's CMU home page]
• [https://ohlabcmu.wordpress.com/ Hammer's OHLab]

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Category:American computer scientists

Category:American women computer scientists

Category:Human–computer interaction researchers

Category:Harvard University alumni

Category:Human-Computer Interaction Institute faculty

Category:Indie role-playing game designers

Category:Living people

Category:Carnegie Mellon University faculty

Category:New York University alumni

Category:Columbia University alumni

Category:Teachers College, Columbia University alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)