Game Talks: Stephen Barrass, University of Canberra

Games Talks - Stephen BarrassYou are invited to attend this talk hosted by the Exertion Games Lab entitled “SweatSonics” by  Stephen Barrass. Stephen will be visiting us in the lab from 17 – 24 March.
 
When: Monday 17 March 2014, 1:00pm – 2:00pm.
Where: Pavilion 2, Level 10, RMIT Design Hub (Building 100) 
Abstract:
The dance-aerobics of the 70s introduced music to enhance enjoyment and social synchronisation in fitness activities. In the 1980’s the Sony Walkman allowed joggers to chose their own music to enhance motivation and reduce fatigue. Music has proven effects on emotion, and for example the Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps listens to rap and techno before a big race to get into the ‘zone’. More recently, sportswear brands have introduced music apps on mobile devices that interactively select songs with tempo matched to jogging pace measured by a wireless sensor.
The advances in wireless sensor technology have led to an increasing interest in interactive feedback about movements and physiological condition directly to the athlete during the training session. The need to provide feedback in visually busy, hands-busy and attention-demanding sporting activities lends itself to sonic feedback through realtime data sonification.
In this talk, Stephen will
  • overview the state of the art in realtime sensor sonification in sports,
  • present experiments on the aesthetics of sonification in rowing,
  • present the open source Mozzi Sonification Synthesiser that allows rapid prototyping on the Arduino microcontroller,
  • discuss work in progress on sensor sonification at the Australian Institute of Sport.
 
Bio
Stephen Barrass is an Associate Professor in Digital Design and Media Arts at the University of Canberra. You can check his full bio here: http://stephenbarrass.com/about/
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Games Talks: “Playing Games without Visual Feedback” by Eelke Folmer

When: Thursday 12 December 2013, 4:00pm – 5:00pm.
Where: Pavilion 4, Level 10, RMIT Design Hub (Building 100)

“Playing Games without Visual Feedback” by Eelke Folmer

With compelling, realistic video graphics constituting such a major part of the game experience, it is hard to imagine playing games without any visual feedback. Though the web and email are largely accessible to individuals with visual impairments, commercial video games are not; as they require their players to respond to visual stimuli that indicate what input to provide and when. In this talk, Eelke will discuss some of the barriers that players with visual impairments face when playing video games. He will present a number of novel audio and haptic interfaces developed by his research lab, and which can make virtual worlds (SecondLife), and exercise games (Nintendo Wii and Kinect) accessible to players that are blind. He will also present a machine learning/crowdsourcing techniques for making user generated virtual world content accessible.

Bio:
Eelke Folmer is an Associate Professor in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Nevada in Reno. His research is focused on accessibility/assistive technology, wearable computing, haptics and video games. His research is largely motivated by the belief that a disability can be turned into a driver of innovation and that solving interaction design problems for users with “extreme” abilities allows for discovering interaction solutions that could benefit anyone. Eelke’s research is supported by the National Science Foundation, Microsoft Research and Google Research. He is joining the Exertion Games Lab as a visiting professor until January. An overview of projects can be found here: eelke.com/projects
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Talk: David Altimira: Tue, 22 May, 1-2pm

David Altimira from HitLab NZ is visiting the Exertion Games Lab for 1 week, and as part of this, he is giving a talk about HitLab NZ and his research there. In particular, he is interested in getting feedback on his current PhD on Exertion Games.

Tue, 22 May, 1-2pm, Exertion Games Lab, RMIT University, 9.1.27

Abstract:

Exertion games introduce engaging elements from traditional games to physical activity routines. They can help to encourage people into doing more physical exercise and therefore bringing the mental, health and social benefits. They have become popular due to the latest generation of gaming consoles which support more natural input. However, there are few theoretical frameworks or models for designing “good” exertion games. The goal of this PhD research is develop theoretical guidelines that can be used to easily develop effective exertion games. These guidelines will be developed by exploring the interrelationships between game and user experience within the context of sports focusing on (i) balancing play between people with/without disabilities in order to make the play more engaging and (ii) social play minimizing the negative effects associated with crowding, social pressure and shyness. Several prototype games will be designed based on these guidelines and user studies conducted to valid the model.

Bio:

David is a doctoral candidate at HIT Lab NZ and and his research interests are exertion interfaces, in particular exergames, full body interaction, gaming in general and computer vision. David studied Computer Science at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona where he also completed a master of Cognitive Systems and Interactive Media. In 2010 he went to Chicago to do some research in the Learning Technologies Group within the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Electronic Visualization Laboratories and in 2011 he did an internship at the HIT Lab NZ, where he started working with Kinect. In his spare time David enjoys doing any kind of sport such as basketball, tennis, running, swimming or biking and he likes to be in contact with the nature and do some hiking.


 

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The Lab’s CHI Experience

After having 8 publications and exhibiting 4 interactive projects, the Exertion Games Lab team who flew to Austin, TX for CHI 2012 is back in Melbourne to share their experiences with you! Visit the lab for a brief rundown of the trip and ask any questions you might have to prepare you for CHI next year. Everyone is welcome!

Where: Exertion Games Lab, RMIT (Building 9, Level 1, Room 27|32)
When: Wednesday 16th May, @ 3-4PM

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Talk by Ruth Huerga

Ruth Huerga will be giving a talk about her prior work on

Tuesday, 24 April, 1-2pm in the Exertion Games Lab.

Ruth Huerga is doing a Masters at RMIT and spends a lot of time in the lab as she brings in expertise in interactive storytelling and embodied poetry, currently working on a project with children in hospital.

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Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller is giving a guest lecture on Research and (Game)Design

Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller is giving a guest lecture in the Research and Practice lecture series organised by Chris Barker on Thu, 12 Apr 2012, at RMIT in Bldg. 13, Room 1, from 5.30-6.30pm. Floyd will be talking about how the Exertion Games Lab’s games are not as much ready-made solutions to problems, but rather research vehicles to generate knowledge. This knowledge then allows others, such as game designers to be guided towards their own solutions and inspires industry towards thinking outside their comfort zone.

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Lunch talk: 10 tips on how (not) to write a full paper

On Wednesday, 4 April 2012, Wouter will be giving a little talk about what he learnt from writing a full paper. He will pass on knowledge from others, which he “wilfully ignored in my own process but now wholeheartedly support”, as well as share his own lessons.

Feel free to bring your own sandwich, sushi roll or lunch salad. (Good) coffee + tea will be provided.
Also feel free to bring in personal questions and challenges around paper writing that you’d like to discuss.
The facts:
Where: Exertion Games Lab, RMIT University, Building 9, level 1, room 27
When: Wednesday, 4-4-2012, 1pm–2pm
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Harry talks about his experience at GDC (and SWSX)

Harry won a prestigious Spirit of Youth Australia award from Qantas to attend the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, USA and South by South West Interactive in Austin, USA. He will talk about his experiences and what he learned for his game design work in the Exertion Games Lab on Wed, 28th Mar 2012, from 1pm-2pm. Everyone welcome, bring your lunch!

 

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Tangible Play talk by Elise van den Hoven

On Thursday, 10 Nov 2011, the Exertion Games Lab proudly hosted a pizza-catered talk on Tangible Play by the brilliant Elise van den Hoven, which also marked the final day of her visit to the lab. We thank her for all the hard work she put in and all the insights she provided to each one of the projects in the lab. By having visiting researchers spending their sabbaticals in the lab, we ensure a holistic approach to research and international outlook on the current trends in the research community.

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Research Talk: Tangible Play + Pizza

Thursday, 10 Nov 2011, 5-6pm

Exertion Games Lab, RMIT 9.1.27 (exertiongameslab.org/about)

The Exertion Games Lab is fortunate to have Elise van den Hoven from the Netherlands visiting RMIT and talk about her design research on Tangible Interaction in Games and Play. Her talk is entitled Tangible Play and will cover the following three studies: 1- TouchMeDare (see picture below), an interactive festival installation, 2- Game balancing to help weaker players in a board game, and 3- Marbowl, a moving marble bowl.

To celebrate the occasion, we’ll provide free pizza (organized by our Italian Michele, thanks!)

Elise’s visit to Melbourne was supported by funds from the Interaction Design Group at the University of Melbourne, where she will also be talking on the 4 Nov 2011 (see below).

About Elise

Dr. Elise van den Hoven MTD received her PhD in 2004, based on design research into tangible interaction and remembering, executed at Philips Research. Since 2003 she has been assistant professor at the User-Centered Engineering group, Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands. Elise has been working on tangible interaction and remembering with a user-centered design research approach since 1999. In 2007 and 2008 she chaired the only dedicated conference on tangible interaction: Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction, and since then she has been on its steering committee.

Elise was the university’s representative in the Dutch Music Art Design-network and the president of the university’s Women’s network. Earlier this year she became program manager of the No Switches Allowed track within the Intelligent Lighting Institute, which focuses on innovative interaction styles with light and lighting of the future.

She was a visiting scientist at the Synaesthetic Media Lab, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, the Memoir project, University of Sheffield, UK, and currently at the Interactivation Studio, DAB, UTS. For more information, see: www.elisevandenhoven.com

Other talks  by Elise

Elise will also give the following talks:

Materializing Memories
Department of Information Systems Seminar Series
ICT Building Theatre 3, The University of Melbourne, Level 2, ICT Building, 111 Barry Street, Carlton.
11:15-12:30, Friday, 4th of November, 2011

Elise van den Hoven will talk about her design research into supporting everyday human memory through interactive systems. Her talk is entitled Materializing memories, which tries to convey the importance of the physical in combination with memory. The talk will cover three studies: 1- a digital photo browser using physical interaction (her PhD-project), 2- a study into time capsules for families, and 3- a design to facilitate communication about the past, between parents and teens.

Physical Interaction Design
IDEAS Lab, Department of Information Systems
The University of Melbourne, Level 4, ICT Building, 111 Barry Street, Carlton.
3:00-4:00pm. Friday, 4th of November, 2011

In this presentation, entitled Physical Interaction Design, Elise van den Hoven will focus on her design research into tangible and embodied interaction. She will present a selection of projects, including a study into supporting children learning sound concepts through embodied interaction, a recent study into designing for the periphery of the attention and the new field of tangible gesture interaction.

 

 

 

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Talk by Peter Wilson and Jonathan Duckworth

Date:: Tuesday 11 October
Time:: 12.30 – 1.30pm
Place:: Virtual Reality Lab, Bldg. 91, Ground Floor (NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE DUE TO LIVE DEMO)

Peter Wilson and Jonathan Duckworth will talk about their game for rehabilitation:

Re Spiel for Elements System

Patients with brain injury frequently exhibit impaired upper limb function. The Elements virtual reality system addressed this disability by using an intuitive desktop workspace that affords basic gestural control. The system design provides tactility, texture, and audio visual feedback to entice patients to explore their own movement capabilities in a directed and self directed fashion. Its effectiveness has been demonstrated in several studies.

http://www.zedbuffer.com/project%20elements%2001.htm

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Talk: Harry Ravenswood – Multiplatform Producer at the Australian Broadcasting Commission

 

Using the skills developed in a career as a lead designer at games developers such as Krome Studios Australia, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Kuju Games, London, Harry is now working with the Australian Broadcasting Commission helping them reshape the way they communicate with their audiences and defining the role that games play in this vision.

Time: 12.30pm-1.30 Tuesday – 27th September
Place: Building 14, level 11, Room 37

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Talk: Conor O’Kane: Tips and tools for small teams developing games on iPad

Date:: Tuesday 20 September
Time:: 12.30 – 1.30pm
Place:: Building 14, Level 11, Room 37 (Games Studio)

Title: Developing DroneSwarm Command for the iPad

Conor will discuss the challenges of developing a game on your own
and offer tips and tools for small teams. The presentation will also cover
techniques for promoting your game, working with a publisher (in this case
Chillingo) and testing.

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Talk by Simon Joslin from The Voxel Agents

Date: Tuesday 13 September
Time: 12.30
Place: RMIT, 14.11.37

Simon Joslin from The Voxel Agents explains the lessons they have
learnt about the business of indie games design.
How they funded their set up, the choices they made and the things that
they may have wished to do differently if they knew then what they know
now.

The Voxel Agents are developers of original hand-crafted games for
“on-the-go” fun times.  They are an independent team with five
core members and four part-time helpers.  They are one of the most
exciting indie teams in Australia, and are situated in the game
development hub of Melbourne.  Creators of the smash hit Train Conductor
series, The Voxel Agents are proud producers of addictive game
substances for millions of players worldwide.
http://www.thevoxelagents.com/

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Talk by Wouter Walmink and Eberhard Graether

Wouter Walmink will talk about his company Studio Ludens and Eberhard Graether about the Marble Run, the in-browser game that won the Mozilla Game On Challenge.

Date: Tuesday 6th September

Time: 12.30
Venue: 14.11.37

Wouter Walmink (walmink.com) just joined the Exertion Games Lab
(exertiongameslab.org) at RMIT, coming from the Netherlands; he has
previously worked at CSIRO in Canberra. He is an award-winning
interaction designer who creates design tools that help you “make
beautiful things”. He helps designers to work together with their users
in creating customized products (without ever meeting in person) and
allowing the general public to experience the joy of creating
firsthand. Wouter’s talk will focus on 2 points:
1. What have I learnt from 5 years of designing for creative
experiences? (examples & findings)
2. How can you make better games / interfaces that use creativity for a
general public? (linking it to the field of gaming)

Eberhard Gräther is student of MultiMediaTechnology at Salzburg
University of Applied Sciences. He is a visiting researcher at RMIT’s Exertion Games Lab.
Eberhard will talk about his study and his projects including Marble
Run, the in-browser game that won the Mozilla Game On Challenge.

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Flora Salim speaks

Flora Salim from the Spatial Information Architecture Lab at RMIT will talk on Tuesday 30 Aug 2011 at 12.30 in 14.11.37. Talk abstract:

Coding, hacking, and prototyping are fun, as well as playing, interacting, and social gaming! Can we insert the “fun” from gaming experiences into collaborative design projects solving real-world problems? Dr. Flora Salim (http://florasalim.com), a Research Fellow at Spatial Information Architecture Laboratory (SIAL), RMIT University, is interested in enabling transdisciplinary design teams to work collaboratively to produce exciting outcomes. With background in Computer Science, she is interested in applying computational approaches, particularly distributed and mobile computing, data analysis, augmented reality, and tangible interactions to architecture and urban design problems. She initiated the development of UbiMash (http://ubimash.com), an open source software platform for designing between physical and digital, enabling data exchange between physical and digital models using  game consoles, microelectronics, sensor devices, social networks, and the Web.

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