Jack Ratermann Engineer · Researcher · Storyteller

Seven chambers
in the dark.

Bring the torch. Every chamber you enter stays lit.

{{ litCount }} of 7 lit Move the torch · Click a chamber · Esc returns

Seven chambers, one path down.

Tap a chamber to enter. The ones you've visited stay lit.

  1. {{ c.n }} · {{ c.sub }} {{ c.name }} {{ c.teaser }}
{{ activeN }} / VII
Chamber I · Start

Camp

“Pull up a log. The fire's warm and the map is yours to fill in.”

Character sheet Jack Ratermann
Personalities 3
Class
Researcher & Engineer
Home
Reno, Nevada
Languages known
Spanish · Japanese (in progress)
Specialty
HCI × natural language
Guild
University of Nevada, Reno
M.S. Computer Science · May 2027
Party role
70% player · 30% DM
Side quest: Aldrath Side quest: cafés Side quest: travel

I'm Jack. I build software and study how people learn through it. My research sits where HCI meets natural language, specifically games that teach languages. I'm finishing an M.S. in Computer Science at the University of Nevada, Reno, in May 2027.

Away from the terminal I'm writing Aldrath, a dark fantasy series, rolling dice at the D&D table, practicing Spanish and Japanese, and looking for the next good café. A coworker once said I have “the personality of 3 people.” The other chambers are where you meet them.

Chamber II · Research

The Archive

“Shelves of field notes on one question: can a game teach you a language?”

Quest I · Main questline Published · IEEE/ACIS SNPD 2026

Almas Hechizados

A 3D Spanish RPG for beginners.

Unity DOTS Ink Pilot study
Premise
Beginners rarely get to use a new language somewhere that feels alive. Could a small open world give them that?
What I did
Built a 3D role-playing game in Spanish for beginners, with Unity DOTS running the world and Ink driving the dialogue, then ran a pilot with players.
Outcome
75%of pilot players learned new words. The pilot also surfaced a tension: open-world freedom pulls against the guidance novices need.
Quest II · Team quest Speech · LLMs

Pronunciation Feedback

Actionable feedback for language learners.

Speech-to-phoneme LLM LoRA
Premise
Learners get scores and phonetic symbols. What helps is advice in plain language.
What we did
Paired speech-to-phoneme models with an LLM that turns detected errors into plain-language coaching.
Outcome
LoRA fine-tuning did not help at our scale. A negative result, logged so the next party doesn't take the same tunnel.
Chamber III · Engineering

The Forge

“Where things get built from the metal up.”

Quest I · Compilers

NyxLang

Zig C11 RISC-V
Premise
Take C11 source all the way down to RISC-V.
What I did
Wrote a C11 compiler in Zig that targets RISC-V.
Outcome
[ log entry to come ]
Quest II · Runtimes

Bytecode Interpreter

Rust Virtual machine
Premise
Run a language one instruction at a time.
What I did
Built a bytecode interpreter in Rust.
Outcome
[ log entry to come ]
Chamber IV · Fiction

The Scriptorium

“Ink, candle stubs, and a world that keeps asking who is watching.”

A series in progress

Aldrath

Dark fantasy Series Drafting

A dark fantasy series about culture, belonging, and who gets watched.

No excerpts and no spoilers in this room. The manuscript stays on the desk until it's ready.

Chamber V · Off the clock

The Waystation

“A table for dice, a stamp for every border crossed.”

At the table

Dungeons & Dragons

70% player 30% DM
Español

Uruguay & Spain

Spanish, practiced on the ground in Uruguay and in Spain.

日本語 · in progress

Japan

Learned kana on the flight to a conference in Japan. The rest of the language is still a work in progress.

Rest stops

Cafés

Wherever the road goes, the first stop is a good café.

Chamber VI · Résumé

The Ledger

“The clerk is still copying it out. Check back soon.”

The full CV is coming soon. Until then, the Messenger can send you a copy.