Clifford Nass is currently the Thomas M. Storke Professor at Stanford University; he has been a professor at Stanford since 1986. His primary appointment is in Communication, but he also has appointments by courtesy in Computer Science; Education; Science, Technology, and Society; Sociology; and Symbolic Systems (cognitive science).
Nass's research focuses on (laboratory and field) experimental studies of social-psychological aspects of human-interactive media interaction. Specifically, Nass discovered that people use the same rules and heuristics when interacting with technology as they do when interacting with other people. This approach is called the "Computers are Social Actors" (CASA) paradigm or "The Media Equation" (media equals real life).
Nass founded and directs the Communication between Humans and Interactive Media (CHIMe) Lab. The specific domains CHIMe focuses on are:
Nass is also co-director of the Kozmetsky Global Collaboratory and Auto-X at Stanford University.
Nass is the author of three books:
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The media equation: How people treat computers, television, and new media like real people and places (with Byron Reeves; Cambridge University Press)
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Wired for speech: How voice activates and advances the human-computer relationship (with Scott Brave; MIT Press), which won the International Communication Association Outstanding Book Award for 2007 and the forthcoming
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The man who lied to his laptop: What computers can teach us about human relationships (with Corina Yen; Penguin/Portfolio)
He is also the author of over 125 papers on the psychology of technology and statistical methodology.
As a consultant, Nass has applied his research to over 250 media products and services forcompanies including Microsoft, Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Philips, Sony, Time-Warner, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, and Fidelity.