Chien Lu(魯謙)

Chien.Lu@tuni.fi/ B2026/ 0503182588

I am a postdoctoral research fellow at Tampere University. My research focuses on Probabilistic machine learning, Bayesian data analysis, and their applications to game studies. I have also cooperated with researchers from other disciplines including business and management and software development.

Research

Probabilistic Machine Learning, Bayesian Data Analysis

Methodology development focusing on probabilistic representation learning problems such as multiple representations, underlying temporal dynamics, and heterogeneous data analysis.

Empirical Analysis, Collaborative Works

Currently, I mainly cooperate with researchers from CoE GameCult, we focus on issues such as player experiences, player typologies, game development, and gamification. I am particularly interested in how to leverage video games communicate tools for societal issues such as climate change and animal welfare

Education

Tampere University, Finland (2018-2023)

Doctor of Philosophy
Doctoral Programme of Computing and Electrical Engineering (DPCEE)
Dissertation: Shallow Representations, Profound Discoveries: A methodological study of game culture in social media [full text can be found in Trepo]

University of Tampere, Finland (2015-2018)

Master of Science
Master's Degree Programme in Computational Big Data Analytics (CBDA)
Thesis: An Improved Nearest Neighbor Based Entropy Estimator with Local Ellipsoid Correction and its Application to Evaluation of MCMC Posterior Samples [see in Trepo] (Extension work later published in AAAI 2020)

National Taiwan University, Taiwan (2007-2011)

Bachelor of Science
Public Health (with a focus on Biostatistics)

Teaching

Lecturer

Introduction to R (LUOYY027, [Tampere Summer School 2020])
Introduction to R (LUOYY027, [Tampere Summer School 2019])
Course materials can be found [here]

Publications

Methodology Development

Conference Papers

Chien Lu, and Jaakko Peltonen. Gaussian Copula Embeddings. Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), 2022.
Chien Lu, Jaakko Peltonen, Timo Nummenmaa, and Jyrki Nummenmaa. Nonparametric Exponential Family Graph Embeddings for Multiple Representation Learning. Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (UAI), 2022.
Chien Lu, Jaakko Peltonen, Timo Nummenmaa, Jyrki Nummenmaa, and Kalervo Järvelin. Cross-structural Factor-topic Model: Document Analysis with Sophisticated Covariates. Asian Conference on Machine Learning (ACML), 2021. [ best student paper award runner-up]
Chien Lu, Jaakko Peltonen, Jyrki Nummenmaa, and Kalervo Järvelin. Probabilistic Dynamic Non-negative Group Factor Model for Multi-source Text Mining. ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM), 2020.
Chien Lu, and Jaakko Peltonen. Enhancing Nearest Neighbor Based Entropy Estimator for High Dimensional Distributions via Bootstrapping Local Ellipsoid. AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), 2020.


Empirical Analysis

Journal Papers

Mika Vanhala, Chien Lu, Jaakko Peltonen, Sanna Sundqvist, Jyrki Nummenmaa, and Kalervo Järvelin. The Usage of Large Data Sets in Consumer Online Behaviour: a Bibliometric and Computational Text-mining-driven Analysis of Previous Research. Journal of Business Research (JBR), 2020.

Conference Papers

Chien Lu, and Lobna Hasson. Embraceable Virtual Paws: Player Experiences in Animal Shelter Simulators. International Conference on Videogame Sciences and Arts (Videojogos), 2023.
Chien Lu, and Jaakko Peltonen. Blooming Engagement in Flower: Computational Analysis of Player Experience on Steam. International Simulation and Gaming Conference (ISAGA), 2023.
Chien Lu, Giacomo Lauritano, Timo Nummenmaa, and Jaakko Peltonen. Human-Environment Relationships in Alba: A Typological Analysis of Player Engagement in Steam Reviews. Conference of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA), 2023.
Giacomo Lauritano, Valeria Marina Borodi, Chien Lu, and Jaakko Peltonen. Polarized Pills vs. Gaming Thrills: Empirical Exploration of r/TheRedPill and r/TheBluePill Users in r/gaming. Conference of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA), 2023.
Chien Lu, Giacomo Lauritano, and Jaakko Peltonen. Cryptokitties vs. Axie Infinity: Computational Analysis of Reddit Discussions of two NFT Games. EAI International Conference: ArtsIT, Interactivity & Game Creation (ArtsIT), 2022.
Chien Lu, Lobna Hassan, Oğuz Buruk, Timo Nummenmaa, and Jaakko Peltonen. "Switch" Up Your Exercise: An Empirical Analysis of Online User Discussion of the Ring Fit Adventure Exergame. International GamiFIN conference (GamiFIN), 2021.
Chien Lu, Elina Koskinen, Dale Leorke, Timo Nummenmaa, and Jaakko Peltonen. The World Is Your Playground: a Bibliometric and Text Mining Analysis of Location-Based Game Research. EAI International Conference: ArtsIT, Interactivity & Game Creation (ArtsIT), 2020.
Chien Lu, Xiaozhou Li, Timo Nummenmaa, Zheying Zhang, and Jaakko Peltonen. Patches and Player Community Perceptions: Analysis of No Man's Sky Steam Reviews. Conference of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA), 2020.
Chien Lu, Jaakko Peltonen, Timo Nummenmaa, Xiaozhou Li, and Zheying Zhang. What Makes a Trophy Hunter? An Empirical Analysis of Reddit Discussions. International GamiFIN conference (GamiFIN), 2020.
Miikka Lehtonen, Chien Lu, Timo Nummenmaa, and Jaakko Peltonen. Adoption of Requirements Engineering Methods in Game Development: a Literature and Postmortem Analysis. EAI International Conference: ArtsIT, Interactivity & Game Creation (ArtsIT), 2019.
Chien Lu, Jaakko Peltonen, and Timo Nummenmaa. Game Postmortems vs. Developer Reddit AMAs: Computational Analysis of Developer Communication. International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG), 2019.
Xiaozhou Li, Chien Lu, Jaakko Peltonen, and Zheying Zhang. A Statistical Analysis of Steam User Profiles towards Personalized Gamification. International GamiFIN conference (GamiFIN), 2019. [ best paper award]

Others

Chien Lu, Diego A Mejía-Alandia, and Jaakko Peltonen. Game Genres as Social Dimensions: a Computational Revisit. (Extended Abstract) Nordic Conference of the Digital Games Research Association (Nordic DiGRA), 2023.
Chien Lu. But Do Commit Messages Matter? An Empirical Association Analysis with Technical Debt. Joint Proceedings of the Inforte Summer School on Software Maintenance and Evolution, 2019.