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< Back Andrew Martin Queen Mary University of London iGGi Alum Applications in game development for programming language theory and AI Modern game development is highly iterative. Iteration is usually discussed in terms of a team completing design iterations, but can also be considered at the level of an individual developer attempting to complete a task, or experimenting with some ideas. At this level, the feedback loop provided by the tool becomes critical. Programming environments in particular often have a very poor feedback loop. Programming feedback can be thought of in terms of how quickly and seamlessly the user is able to observe the results of their work. This process is usually plagued with manual tasks and long pauses. It is common that a user will need to recompile, relaunch their program, and then manually recreate whatever state is required to observe the behaviour that they are working on. Frameworks like Elm, React and Vuejs are establishing a new norm of automatic hot-reloading with state preservation. These systems represent a branch of programming language research that is strongly focused on developer experience. In order to improve upon this work for game development, we must overcome the unique challenges that game development entails. Although the systems mentioned are all quite recent, there is a rich vein of research to draw on, which can be traced through dataflow programming, Smalltalk, Erlang, functional-reactive programming, Lisp and more. Predictive completions are considered by many to be a natural next-step in the evolution of live programming environments. An AI programming assistant would propose program fragments as completions or alternatives. The agent may seek to anticipate the user’s intent, or to provide creative suggestions. There is much relevant research in the fields of program synthesis, inductive logic programming, machine learning and genetic programming. One significant problem is how to smoothly and safely integrate a system like this into the user’s workflow. Many of the properties useful for safely enabling live programming features, such as isolation of side-effects, will also permit an AI agent to safely generate and execute code. Andy graduated from Imperial College London with an MEng in Computing in 2011. Following this he worked on game engine tools and technology at a startup called Fen Research, and then as a senior developer at a software consulting firm called LShift. In 2016 he spent six months working as a Research Associate in the Computational Creativity group at Goldsmiths, before starting his PhD. Please note: Updating of profile text in progress Email Mastodon Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Game AI - Previous Next

< Back Dr Maximilian Croissant University of York iGGi Alum I’m a psychology researcher, writer and game designer, exploring our emotional connection with games and creating games with purpose. Coming from a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in psychology and neuroscience, I’m now at the intersection of emotion research, design, and human-computer interaction and try to build design-oriented solutions for adapting game content to affective data. My project will include theoretical groundwork, investigating the emotional relationship between player and games and from there build an affective fear-focused VR horror game with specific and practical solutions in terms of emotion measurement, modelling, and adaptation. The ultimate goal is to help fill knowledge gaps that currently hold us back on making commercially viable affective games and provide tools to design games for a deep emotional impact. I’m also the Co-Founder of Vanilla Noir, a small studio working on applied games that aim to promote well-being and satisfying user experiences. For me, games are a great tool to explore psychological phenomena through interactions and the design and development of games based on applied psychology has great potential to help make the world a bit of a better place. mc2230@york.ac.uk Email http://www.maximilian-croissant.de/en Mastodon https://www.vanilla-noir.com Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/maximilian-croissant LinkedIn BlueSky https://gitlab.com/MaximilianCroissant Github Supervisor(s) Dr Cade McCall Featured Publication(s): Advancing Methodological Approaches in Affect-Adaptive Video Game Design: Empirical Validation of Emotion-Driven Gameplay Modification Using Virtual Reality to Investigate the Influence of Sleep Deprivation on In-the-Moment Arousal During Exposure to Prolonged Threats Affective Systems: Progressing Emotional Human-Computer Interactivity with Adaptive and Intelligent Game Systems An appraisal-based chain-of-emotion architecture for affective language model game agents Emotion Design for Video Games: A Framework for Affective Interactivity Theories, methodologies, and effects of affect-adaptive games: A systematic review A data-driven approach for examining the demand for relaxation games on Steam during the COVID-19 pandemic Endocannabinoid concentrations in hair and mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors Progress in Adaptive Web Surveys: Comparing Three Standard Strategies and Selecting the Best Themes Design & Development Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Océane Lissillour University of York iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement I started my journey as an undergrad in psychology specialising in ergonomics. It was then that I realised that I could study video games for a living. This led me to relocate myself to the south of France to, mostly enjoy the sun, but also undertake my dream MSc in Technological Innovation and Cognitive Psychology. As part of my master’s internship I had the pleasure to work in collaboration with researchers from the CLLE, a laboratory branch of the national research centre. This helped me develop my knowledge and awareness of video games and motivational processes and convinced me that if I could survive the bureaucracy of the French Government I could probably do a PhD. Afterwards, I moved on to work in Aeronautics for a brief time but landed back to academia in 2024 to join the wonderful iGGI community as a postgraduate researcher. A description of Océane's research: My research focuses on the act of taking a regular activity and ‘gamifying’ it by applying mechanics commonly found inside video games (such as points). This technique has been widely applied within research but its psychological aspects have seldom been studied. The aim of this thesis is to assess the efficacy and applicability of this technique, particularly the score element mechanic. It focuses on understanding the functionalisation of numerical values in games as this has not been studied previously in the literature. This research hopes to contribute to the better understanding of the impact of the design of points on motivation and behaviour. It has been proposed in precedent literature that the use of gamification will provide a partial solution to the critical decline in learners’ motivation and engagement the schooling system faces today. oceane.lissillour@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon Other links Website http://www.linkedin.com/in/oceane-lissillour LinkedIn BlueSky Github Supervisors: Dr Abi Evans Prof. Sebastian Deterding Themes Design & Development Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Dr Claudio Guarnera University of York Supervisor You can get more out of your site elements by making them dynamic. To connect this element to content from your collection, select the element and click Connect to Data. Once connected, you can update it anytime without affecting your design or updating elements by hand. Add any type of content to your collection, such as rich text, images, videos and more, or upload it via CSV file. You can also collect and store information from your site visitors using input elements like custom forms and fields. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. claudio.guarnera@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://www.cs.york.ac.uk/cvpr/member/claudio/ Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/giuseppe-claudio-guarnera LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Applied Games Creative Computing - Previous Next

< Back Dr Sarah West University of York Supervisor Sarah West is an interdisciplinary researcher and practitioner working to bring diverse voices into research through participatory approaches, including citizen science. Sarah is currently Director of SEI York, a Centre of the Stockholm Environment Institute, a science-to-policy research institute, whose York Centre is at the University of York in the Department of Environment and Geography. She has used citizen science approaches to address topics as diverse as air pollution, biodiversity, parenting, and exploring community responses to Covid-19. Her projects mainly take place in the UK and Kenya. Sarah has spent over a decade designing, running and evaluating citizen science projects, and together with other SEI colleagues has written reports for Defra, UK Earth Observation Framework and journal articles exploring who participates in citizen science, their motivations for participation, and how volunteers can be recruited and retained. She is particularly interested in exploring how different messaging and communication affects participation in citizen science projects. sarah.west@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://www.york.ac.uk/sei/staff/sarah-west/ Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-west-59b82690/ LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Accessibility Design & Development Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Dr David Gundry University of York iGGi Alum Using Applied Games to Motivate Speech Without Bias (Industry placement Lightspeed Research) Eliciting linguistic data faces several difficulties such as investment of researcher time and few available participants. Because of this, many language elicitation studies have to make do with few subjects and coarse sampling rates (measured in months). It would be ideal if a game could crowd-source relevant linguistic data with frequent, short game sessions. To this end, David’s research is looking into how games shape and elicit players’ linguistic behaviour. The established design patterns of gamification do not apply to a domain that lacks a ‘correct’ answer like language or personal beliefs and attitudes. David’s research shows how a player’s strategic goals will systematically bias data collection. It also shows how to design around this. The conclusion: The player’s choice of how to express a given datum must be strategically irrelevant in the game. David can remember the halcyon days when he had the free time to play games. Now he’s doing a PhD and has a one-year-old. He has an background in linguistics. He loves writing expressive code and designing clever little games. He wants to show that research games can be fun, not just effective. Please note: Updating of profile text in progress Email Mastodon Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Featured Publication(s): Trading Accuracy for Enjoyment? Data Quality and Player Experience in Data Collection Games Designing Games to Collect Human-Subject Data Validity threats in quantitative data collection with games: A narrative survey Busy doing nothing? What do players do in idle games? Intrinsic elicitation: A model and design approach for games collecting human subject data Themes Applied Games - Previous Next

< Back Dr Daniel Berio Goldsmiths iGGi Alum AutoGraff: A Procedural Model of Graffiti Form. (Industry placement at Media Molecule) The purpose of this study is to investigate techniques for the procedural and interactive generation of synthetic instances of graffiti art. Considering graffiti as a special case of the calligraphic tradition, I propose a "movement centric" alternative to traditional curve generation techniques, in which a curve is defined through a physiologically plausible simulation of a (human) movement underlying its production rather than by an explicit definition of its geometry. In my thesis, I consider both single traces left by a brush (in a series of strokes) and the extension to 2D shapes (representing deformed letters in a large variety of artistic styles). I demonstrate how this approach is useful in a number of settings including computer aided design (CAD), procedural content generation for virtual environments in games and movies, computer animation as well as for the smooth control of robotic drawing devices. Daniel Berio is a researcher and artist from Florence, Italy. Since a young age Daniel was actively involved in the international graffiti art scene. In parallel he developed a professional career initially as a graphic designer and later as a graphics programmer in video games, multimedia and audio-visual software. In 2013 he obtained a Master degree from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (Netherlands), where he developed drawing machines and installations materializing graffiti-inspired procedural forms. Today Daniel is continuing his research in the procedural generation of graffiti within the IGGI (Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence) PhD program at Goldsmiths, University of London. Please note: Updating of profile text in progress Email Mastodon Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Featured Publication(s): Optimality Principles in the Procedural Generation of Graffiti Style SURFACE: Xbox Controlled Hot-wire Foam Cutter The role of image characteristics and embodiment in the evaluation of graffiti Emergence in the Expressive Machine The CyberAnthill: A Computational Sculpture Sketch-Based Modeling of Parametric Shapes Artistic Sketching for Expressive Coding Calligraphic stylisation learning with a physiologically plausible model of movement and recurrent neural networks Sequence generation with a physiologically plausible model of handwriting and Recurrent Mixture Density Networks AutoGraff: Towards a computational understanding of graffiti writing and related art forms Kinematics reconstruction of static calligraphic traces from curvilinear shape features Interactive generation of calligraphic trajectories from Gaussian mixtures Sketching and Layering Graffiti Primitives. Kinematic Reconstruction of Calligraphic Traces from Shape Features Expressive curve editing with the sigma lognormal model Dynamic graffiti stylisation with stochastic optimal control Computer aided design of handwriting trajectories with the kinematic theory of rapid human movements Generating calligraphic trajectories with model predictive control Learning dynamic graffiti strokes with a compliant robot Computational models for the analysis and synthesis of graffiti tag strokes Towards human-robot gesture recognition using point-based medialness Transhuman Expression Human-Machine Interaction as a Neutral Base for a New Artistic and Creative Practice Themes Game AI - Previous Next

< Back Steph Carter University of York iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Steph is a psycholinguistics graduate from the University of York with a background in language teaching and SEND teaching. Their research focuses on second language acquisition, human-computer interaction, and gamification. Their research interests also include accessibility in games, disability representation, and games with a purpose. Outside of research, they have worked as a freelance accessibility consultant and occasionally take part in game jams with their colleagues. Steph’s project explores how game design can improve participants’ experiences in second language learning experiments while still enabling the collection of high-quality, controlled data. Although games and gamification are increasingly used in educational contexts, particularly for language learning, their potential in experimental design for second language acquisition research remains underexplored. This project investigates how incorporating game elements into psycholinguistic tasks can impact the participant experience and maintain data quality. The findings aim to inform the design and development of gamified data collection tools for both language learning and cognitive research, while also providing some practical guidance for researchers interested in gamifying their experimental methods. steph.carter@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://linktr.ee/steph_carter Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/steph-carter-742891123/ LinkedIn BlueSky Github Supervisor(s): Dr Abi Evans Themes Accessibility Applied Games Design & Development Game Data Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Prof. Nick Bryan-Kinns Queen Mary University of London Supervisor Nick Bryan-Kinns is Professor of Interaction Design and Director of the Media and Arts Technology Centre at Queen Mary University of London. He is Distinguished Professor at Wuhan University of Technology, and Guest Professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China. He is Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Fellow of the British Computer Society, Senior Member of the Association for Computing Machinery, and leads the Sonic Interaction Design Lab in the Centre for Digital Music. He has published international journal papers on cross-cultural design, participatory design, mutual engagement, interactive art, and tangible interfaces. His research has been exhibited internationally and reported widely from the New Scientist to the BBC. He chaired the Steering Committee for the ACM Creativity and Cognition Conference series, and is a recipient of ACM and BCS Recognition of Service Awards. He is interested in supervising students with HCI, Interaction Design, or AI backgrounds on research into the intersection of Sonic Interaction Design, play, and AI. Especially project which involve designing and evaluating computer mediated experiences for human participation and collaboration. Research themes: Game Audio and Music Games with a Purpose Computational Creativity Player Experience Gamification n.bryan-kinns@qmul.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~nickbk/ Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Applied Games Creative Computing Game Audio Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Dr Alan Pedrassoli Chitayat University of York iGGi Alum Available for post-PhD position Alan is a researcher that focuses on audience experience within esport broadcast. His Machine Learning background allows him to extract complex patterns from game and game related data in order to derive meaningful insights that can be utilised in broadcast. Having worked in the esport industry, both as a software engineer as well as researcher, Alan has experience with both technical and research problems. His research aims to explore the factors that improve the audience experience within esports. This is catered to esport broadcast of all levels, from highly produced professional tournaments to regular streams by content creators and it could be in the form of: Measuring and representing different forms of audience engagement. Exploring the different ways to visualise and utilise Machine Learning to enhance and integrate existing broadcast pipelines. Investigating how community-led narratives can be generated through data. alan.pchitayat@york.ac.uk Email https://linktr.ee/alanpchitayat Mastodon https://alanpchitayat.com/ Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-pchitayat/ LinkedIn BlueSky Github Supervisors: Dr James Walker Prof. Anders Drachen Featured Publication(s): How Could They Win? An Exploration of Win Condition for Esports Narratives Applying and Visualising Complex Models in Esport Broadcast Coverage From Passive Viewer to Active Fan: Towards the Design and Large-Scale Evaluation of Interactive Audience Experiences in Esports and Beyond Beyond the Meta: Leveraging Game Design Parameters for Patch-Agnostic Esport Analitics Data-Driven Audience Experiences in Esports Metagaming and metagames in Esports What are you looking at? Team fight prediction through player camera Echo Suite of Software (Showcase Brochure) Automatic Generation of Text for Match Recaps using Esport Caster Commentaries WARDS: Modelling the Worth of Vision in MOBA's DAX: Data-Driven Audience Experiences in Esports Themes Design & Development Esports Game Data - Previous Next

< Back Dr Christian Guckelsberger Queen Mary University of London iGGi Alum + Supervisor Intrinsic Motivation in Computational Creativity with Applications to Games. (Industry placement at Splash Damage and Microsoft Research) This research investigates how we can engineer artificial systems that are creative in their own right. Christian addresses this challenge with computational models of intrinsic motivation (IM). Intrinsically motivated agents perform an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for some instrumental outcome. A classic example is to act in order to satisfy one’s curiosity. In both theoretical and applied studies, he demonstrates that models of IM can give rise to general, robust and adaptive creative systems. Christian has shown how models of IM can be used to create highly general non-player characters. Such characters can potentially be used in a wide range of games without previous knowledge of the game mechanics, reducing costs and effort in game development while increasing robustness and behavioural variety Christian’s ongoing research stretches beyond video games, investigating the role of computational models of IM for intentional agency, open-ended development and creativity in minimal lifeforms and artificial systems. Christian studied Computer Science, History of Art and Business in Germany and the UK and is now based in London, working towards a PhD in Artificial Intelligence. His work challenges the question how computers could ever become genuinely creative with a highly interdisciplinary approach based on Computing, Cognitive Science and Philosophy. Over the last few years, he published papers on a wide range of topics, held a tutorial on intrinsic motivation in video games, organised workshops on computational serendipity and spent three months at NYU’s Game Innovation Lab for a research collaboration. Christian has substantial industry experience, looking back at three years in the R&D department of SAP SE and a recent internship at Microsoft Research Cambridge. He enjoys working in an international environment with open-minded, passionate people. Please note: Updating of profile text in progress Email Mastodon Other links Website https://linkedin.com/in/christianguckelsberger LinkedIn BlueSky Github Featured Publication(s): Not All the Same: Understanding and Informing Similarity Estimation in Tile-Based Video Games Predicting game difficulty and engagement using AI players Embodiment and computational creativity Intrinsic Motivation in Computational Creativity Applied to Videogames. PhD Thesis. 306 pages. The Relationship of Future State Maximization and von Foerster's Ethical Imperative Through the Lens of Empowerment On the Machine Condition and its Creative Expression. Understanding and Strengthening the Computational Creativity Community: A Report From The Computational Creativity Task Force. Action Selection in the Creative Systems Framework Measuring perceived challenge in digital games: Development & validation of the challenge originating from recent gameplay interaction scale (CORGIS) Generative design in Minecraft: Chronicle challenge Towards Mode Balancing of Generative Models via Diversity Weights Automating Generative Deep Learning for Artistic Purposes: Challenges and Opportunities Themes Game AI - Previous Next

< Back Sam Hughes University of York iGGi Alum Affect and Emotion using Immersive Sound in Intelligent Games. (On Industrial Placement with Remedy Entertainment) Recent advances in high definition video displays and 3-D headsets, coupled with motion tracking and biosensor technologies, have enabled video games to reach unprecedented levels of visual immersion and interaction. There is little research however on how the aural feedback of the player, which can help assess their emotional state, can be used to inform the game intelligence and affect the emotive impact of the game. Furthermore, improvements in domestic surround sound and binaural technology are paving the way for fully enveloping and realistic soundtracks that extend the gameplay beyond the visual and can significantly enhance the emotive experience. This research project therefore addresses how current sensor and tracking technologies can be enhanced through analysis of player aural reactions such that the game intelligence can in turn provoke a conditional response via the reproduced soundtrack. In other words, how can the emotional impact of a spatial soundtrack during gameplay be enhanced by the user aural response alongside other physiological detections such as heartbeat and movement? Sam is a sound designer and voice actor who founded the audio journalism site, The Sound Architect™. Sam was selected as one of the first to ever receive the Prince William Scholarship from both BAFTA & Warner Bros. to study MSc Post Production with Sound Design at The University of York where he graduated with a Distinction and a Departmental Award for achieving the Highest Overall Average Grade. Sam has been highly active in the community for years including writing for BAFTA Guru, sitting on the BAFTA Youth Board, running Game Audio North and being an active member of BAFTA Crew Games. Most recently Sam has worked regularly with game audio company Sweet Justice on a variety of titles that include mobile and AAA. Sam’s recent credits include Injustice 2 and Madden NFL 2017. Please note: Updating of profile text in progress Email Mastodon Other links Website https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thesoundarchitect LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Player Research - Previous Next