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31. October 2008 by admin.
Research Group on the Creation and Formation of
Cinematographic and Theatrical Institutions (GRAFICS) from the
University of Montreal and the NT2 Laboratory on Hypermedia Art and
Literature from the University of Quebec in Montreal, solicits your
proposals for the bilingual (French/English) international conference
titled «Thinking after Dark: Welcome to the World of Horror Video
Games». This conference will be held in Montréal from April 23 to 25, 2009.
Call for papers
As fear is the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind (Lovecraft),
human beings have always taken a malicious pleasure in frightening
themselves. If literature and cinema were and still represent good means
for the expression of horror, nowadays, the experience of fear is as
intense in video games.
While academia has been studying horrific literature and films for a few
decades, such an interest for the videoludic side of horror has not,
until now, showed up. Yet, since the cinematic staging of fear in Alone
in the Dark in 1992, the Survival Horror has become a prolific genre
offering a wide selection of significant games such as the Resident
Evil, Silent Hill and Fatal Frame series. Because it is at the
crossroads of diverse cultural heritages and the latest technological
developments, and because it exhibits the ins and outs of the matrix
that governs all but a few games (spatial navigation and survival),
horror video games require a deeper study.
This international conference wishes to study horror video games (not
necessarily labeled survival horror) from an eclectic range of critical
and theoretical perspectives. It aims to fill a gap in game studies
between general theory and analysis of particular genres and games.
Possible Topics
Here are some examples of relevant themes we wish to explore in this
conference:
Historical approach
- Origins and history of horror video games
- Impact of the technological evolution on horror video games
Theoretical approach
- Simulation of horror, fear, terror
- Narratives and themes of horror video games
Transmedial approach
- Transmedial study of horror video games (Games/Films/Literature)
- Remediation in films, literature and video games
Socio-cultural approach
- Transnational analysis of horror video games (United States/Japan)
- Social and cultural meanings of horror video games
- Horror video games and censorship
Analytical approach
- Aesthetics of horror video games (lighting, sound, editing, 1st/3rd
person perspective)
- Study of specific games or series (Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil,
Fatal Frame, etc.)
The organizing committee remains open to proposals that respect the
general spirit of this call for papers.
Please submit your proposals no later than January 15, 2009 at the
following e-mail address: <thinking.after.dark@ca.inter.net>. Acceptance
and rejection notifications will be sent by the beginning of February.
Your proposal must include:
1. The title of your paper and an abstract (no more that 500 words).
2. Your academic status, your institutional affiliation, your department
and your contact information (mailing address, telephone number, fax
number and e-mail address)
3. A short biography underlining your work related to the themes of the
conference (no more than 250 words).
A selection of papers will be published in a special issue of Loading…,
the journal of the Canadian Game Study Association.
For further information, please visit our website:
<http://conference2009.ludicine.ca>.
Organizing committee
Bernard Perron, Conference Head, Associate Professor, Department of Art
History and Film Studies, University of Montreal
Martin Picard, coordinator, research group Ludicine, University of Montreal
Richard Bégin, Invited Professor in Film Studies, Literatures
Departement, Laval University.
Carl Therrien, research group Ludicine, University of Montreal
Dominic Arsenault, research group Ludicine, University of Montreal
Guillaume Roux-Girard, research group Ludicine, University of Montreal
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29. October 2008 by admin.
The 11th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services will be held between September 15-18th, 2009 at the University of Bonn in the city of Bonn in Germany, organized by Fraunhofer FIT and the University of Siegen, in cooperation with ACM SIGCHI and ACM SIGMOBILE. The MobileHCI 2009 is supported by the B-IT Research School and the UMIC Cluster on Mobile Communications at RWTH Aachen.The RSS feed here.
Theme
The 11th conference in the MobileHCI series provides a forum for academics and practitioners to discuss the challenges and potential solutions for effective interaction with mobile systems and services. It covers the design, evaluation and application of techniques for all mobile and wearable computing devices and services.
Suggested topics include but are not limited to:
The 11th mobileHCI in Bonn has introduced a new category for submission - Future Innovations – encouraging to submit late breaking ideas with potential to shape the future of mobile Human Computer Interaction.
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28. October 2008 by admin.
HCI Educators 2009
22nd to 24th April 2009
University of Abertay Dundee
Dundee
SCOTLAND, UK
HCIEd 2009 is the annual international conference of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) educators. The theme of this year’s conference is PLAY – education through play, play through education. Play is enjoyed by all and in terms of HCI education it is a concept that can be considered from many viewpoints.
Initiated by the BCS Interaction SG (previously the BCS HCI Specialist Group) in 2001 as an informal workshop amongst HCI educators, the workshop has since grown into a small conference with strong participation from various national and international HCI organisations. This year the event is organised by the University of Abertay, Dundee and co-sponsored by IFIP WG 13.1 Education in HCI and HCI Curriculum and the BCS Interaction SG.
HCIEd 2009 will seek to extend the discussions of previous conferences and continue the remit of HCIEd 2008 to consider “Architecting the Future”. In previous years the roles of inventivity and creativity have been the focus of the discussions and presentations and we believe that continuing varied discussions across these issues creates a virtuous circle of educational pedagogy. We therefore cordially invite educators, researchers, developers, artists and practitioners to take part in this event and to contribute original work from any relevant perspective that reflects on their own practice.
HCI education continues to look at a variety of areas, methods and issues. As previously, we encourage papers that wish to discuss any novel and interesting aspects of teaching HCI. This year we also particularly welcome contributions that specifically address the theme of play and so topics of particular interest in this call include, but are not limited to:
HCI education needs to consider the importance of Play as a tool to aid our teaching, but also presumably must ensure that interfaces and interaction styles of play are part of the curriculum. We therefore also encourage papers that describe methods for teaching the concepts of Play at the interface, in terms of design, developing, interaction styles, users, etc. To emphasise the wide remit of this call we view the following areas as of relevance:
The conference proceedings will be published by the Abertay University Press and electronically by the BCS. A post conference publication of selected papers is envisaged through Springer. We welcome long papers, short papers/posters
Long Papers
Long Papers should present studies that contribute to our understanding of HCI education as an engaging experience, critical and reflective approaches to the design of interactive technology, research on how to approach the concept, development and evaluation of innovative as well as mundane artefacts related to Play or other interesting concepts related to HCI Education.
Deadline: 7th January 2009
Short Papers
Short papers and posters can be based on case studies or reports of best practices showing the process by which the concept of Play or other aspects of interest to HCI education can be encouraged and experienced by HCI students. Also, these may report small experiments or techniques in a concise format.
Deadline: 7th January 2007
All papers will be double blind refereed and should respect the ACM SIGCHI two-column format (see http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html)
Full papers must be no longer than 8 pages in the prescribed format and short papers no longer than 4 pages, including all the additional materials such as references, appendices, and pictures.
Full research papers must include a title, sufficient space for the author names, contact information and affiliations, abstract, keywords, body, and references. The abstract must be no longer than 150 words and must be included in the paper; it must clearly state the paper’s contribution to the conference subject. All references must be complete, accurate and accessible to the public, formatted in the prescribed ACM format style.
Please send your submissions via the conference website (below)> If you have any queries related to the submission system, please email j.archibald@abertay.ac.uk
It is anticipated that a number of workshops will be offered which will explore the use of playful interaction as an educational tool for HCI.
KEY DATES
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22. October 2008 by admin.
Dear Colleagues:
http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn
Keynote/Invited Speakers: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/speakers
You are invited to the most unique e-learning conference ever held. This promises to be one of the most interesting and engaging conferences you could ever attend. Not surprisingly, the E-Learn Conference has already surpassed its record for registrants!
10 Facts about E-Learn Keynote/Invited Speakers;
Attend E-Learn and Learn More from These Speakers
This Speaker:
1. Led the efforts to create an internationally known online repository called Connexions that is used by millions of people each year. In 2006, he gave a talk on open source learning at famous TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) Conference in Monterey, California just prior to singer Peter Gabriel. Come get “Connexted.”
2. Is developing innovative learning applications for the iPhone. For more than two decades, he has been one of the most engaging and entertaining presenters on the planet. Come hear his invited talk with his colleague from Texas that promises to start the E-Learn Conference off with a bang and be disruptive to K-20 education as we know it!
3. Taught her entire class last fall in YouTube; come here the results!
4. Developed a new learning theory called ‘Connectivism’ and is now teaching a class on it with 2,000 participants, only a few of whom are actually enrolled in the course.
5. Helped start the field of learning objects and is on the advisory of the Peer 2 Peer University announced today in the Chronicle of Higher Education. This invited presenter is also the world’s first Chief Openness Officer (COO) at Flat World Knowledge.
6. Created a popular podcast show for learning Mandarin that is currently listened to by more than 300,000 people per month. Not only is he the voice of ChinesePod, but he also has started similar podcasts for teaching English, Spanish, Italian, and French. The invited talk from this Irishman from Shanghai is certain to be quite fascinating!
7. Became famous a few ago after translating Lord of Rings to Chinese. He then used his royalties to translate MIT courses to traditional and simplified Chinese. This month, he is on the cover of a Taiwanese magazine as a symbol of the current generation. He will tell about his vision for the future of open education and edutainment.
8. Authored several online learning books and is an internationally known consultant with IBM Global Services.
9. Will be speaking to us from a sailboat off the coast of Central America. Yes, at E-Learn, we plan to make some waves this year!
10. Co-authored the 2000 National Academy Press volume How People Learn and is now Director of the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning which has just received an NSF grant on mobile learning.
E-Learning in Asia Preconference Symposium:
http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/symposium2008.htm
————————————————-
To add to the conference experience, the E-Learn 2008 Program Chairs would like to invite you to the E-Learning in Asia Symposium that has been added to the already excellent program.
Monday, November 17th; 8:30 am-4:45 pm with a special reception: 5-6 pm
This 1-day, preconference Symposium will feature 12 invited speakers from 12 different countries giving their perspectives and insight into the E-Learning environment, trends, and opportunities. E-learning is exploding in Asia. This is your chance to learn from those who have been developing, delivering, and researching new online programs there. Meet them all and hear their stories, challenges, opportunities, and adventures firsthand. It promises to be a highly interactive and informative event!
Included in the symposium will be a continental breakfast, beverage breaks, lunch, and a reception following the event. Cost: $165.
If you already have registered for E-Learn 2008, you may add this one day Symposium by contacting Tracy Jacobs (business@aace.org). She can add the event to your existing registration. Or until Nov. 3, you still can register online for the Conference and Symposium at: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/registration
Best regards,
Curtis J. Bonk, Mimi Miyoung Lee, and Tom Reynolds
E-Learn 2008 Program Chairs
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22. October 2008 by admin.
WIN VR 09* on the 25 and 26 February 2009
in Chalon- sur- Saône (the Burgundy region of France)
Additional information is available on the conference website:
http://www.asmeconferences.org/WINVR09/.
The main topics of WIN VR’09 include but are not limited to the following areas:
*- **Trends in Virtual Reality: Towards low-cost approaches*
*- Innovative Virtual Reality for SME’s: Development & Application*
*- Virtual Reality Technologies, Methods and Applications*
*- Advanced Interfaces*
*- Virtual reality in Industrial Systems Design*
*- Virtual Reality Applications: Human Factors Issues*
*- Augmented Reality & Mixed Reality*
*- Collaborative Virtual Reality*
*- Virtual Reality in Education and Training*
*- Investment Management of Virtual Reality Systems*
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21. October 2008 by admin.
December 3rd - 5th, 2008 in Yokohama, Japan
Entertainment is one of the important magical ingredients in the 21st Century
society. ACE 2008 is an annual international conference devoted to computer
entertainment to provide a premium forum for researchers, developers,
practitioners, artists and designers to present and discuss new problems,
solutions, content design and technologies in entertainment areas. The
conference is sponsored by ACM Chapter (Singapore) in cooperation with VRSJ
SIG-A+E and IPSJ SIG-EC.
Early registration deadline is October 31 24:00 (JST) .
Register now at http://www.ace-conf.org/ace2008/registration.html
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17. October 2008 by admin.
Organizers of The 6th International Conference on Cybernetics and Information Technologies, Systems and Applications (CITSA 2009) have put out a call for papers and abstracts, with an emphasis this year on works with a computer games development topic.
Authors may submit original and unpublished works of analogy-based thinking hypothesis, innovations, experience-based reflections and ideas, specific problems requiring solutions, case studies, and position papers, in the fields of computer, communication and control and their social and industrial applications, as well as in the relationships between two of these areas or among all of them.
The deadline to submit is October 28. The authors of accepted works will be notified by January 14, 2009, and camera-ready papers must be delivered by February 25, 2009.
Submitted papers or extended abstracts will have three kinds of reviews: double blind (by at least three reviewers), non-blind, and participative peer-to-peer reviews.
Authors of accepted papers who register for the conference can have access to the reviews made to their submission so they can accordingly improve the final version of their papers. Non-registered authors may not have access to the reviews of their respective submissions.
Awards will be granted to the best paper of those presented at each session. The best 10 to 20 percent of the papers presented at the conference will be selected for publication in the Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics.
The conference’s stated purpose is to provide researchers, practitioners, developers, consultants, and end-users of computerized, communications and control systems and technologies, as well as their industrial and social applications in the private and the public sectors, an opportunity to join in a common place sharing experience and knowledge. It is intended to be a forum to expose and share current and future research work and innovations in these areas, as well as in the relationships among them.
One of the primary objectives of the 2009 conference is to promote and encourage learning and sharing of research across disciplines. And intellectually, the conference is meant to promote systemic thinking and practices, including the analogical thinking that characterizes the Systems Approach.
Additional details for submitting papers and abstracts area available online.
The conference will take place in Orlando, Fla., July 10 through 13, 2009.
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15. October 2008 by admin.
IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games
Since the dawn of computing, games have posed
fascinating challenges for AI and machine learning research.
In recent years there has been increasing interest in this
field, both in traditional games such as Go, and also in
video games, where more convincing AI is a priority for
next generation games. As the physics models in games
become ever more realistic, they also offer a convenient
testing ground for many types of robotics research.
This increased interest is reflected by the new conferences
in the area (e.g. IEEE CIG, and AIIDE), together with
workshops, special sessions and tutorials at major neural
network and machine learning conferences (e.g. NIPS, ICML, WCCI, PPSN).
There is now an important new journal to provide a focus for
archival quality research in the area:
IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games
http://ieee-cis.org/pubs/tciaig/
The journal is now open for submissions, with the first issue
due to be published in March 2009.
Scope
The IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND AI in GAMES
(T-CIAIG), published four times a year, publishes archival journal
quality original papers in computational intelligence and related areas
in artificial intelligence applied to games, including but not limited
to video games, mathematical games, human-computer interactions in
games, and games involving physical objects. Emphasis will also be
placed on the use of these methods to improve performance in and
understanding of the dynamics of games, as well as gaining insight into
the properties of the methods as applied to games. It will also include
using games as a platform for building intelligent embedded agents for
the real world. Papers connecting games to all areas of computational
intelligence and traditional AI will be considered.
Given the importance and vibrancy of the field, the support of eight
IEEE societies, and a strong research base, IEEE T-CIAIG is expected to
rapidly become the leading journal in the field, with a correspondingly
high impact factor.
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15. October 2008 by admin.
Registration Open for IE2008
Early bird cutoff is 10th November, 2008
LOCATION:
The primary component of the conference will be located at the Gardens Point campus of QUT. This campus is nestled between Queensland Parliament House, the City Botanical Gardens and the Brisbane River with easy access to a variety of accommodation. It is also just a short walk to South Bank and the Central Business District where each have a wide range of restaurants and shopping facilities.
Exhibitions and the Great Debate will be held at the Creative Industries Precinct at Kelvin Grove campus of QUT. “The Creative Industries Precinct is Australia’s first site dedicated to creative experimentation and commercial development in the creative industries. It provides a unique opportunity for designers, artists, researchers, educators and entrepreneurs to easily connect and collaborate with others to create new work, develop new ideas and grow the creative industries sector in Queensland.”
PROGRAM INCLUDES:
Invited Speakers (both local and international): John Passfield (Pandemic Studios), Ken Forbus (Northwestern University, US), Caryl Shaw (Spore)
Papers: See list of papers under http://ieconference.org/ie2008/program/
Panels Sessions: with representatives from the arts and the technologies
Debates: where industry meets academia
Exhibition: Working title - An interactive entertainment research product / outcomes space - come and play with works in progress
ASSOCIATED ACTIVITIES OF INTEREST:
Premier of Queensland’s National New Media Art Award: “This exhibition features the work of leading new media artists invited to participate in the inaugural Premier of Queensland’s National Art Award in New Media.”
Game On: “Game On tracks the development of video games from the first computer game to arcade-era hits and the very latest from today’s billion-dollar industry. With more than 100 playable games, as well as rarely seen consoles, controllers and collectables, this is a showcase of games history like no other.”
http://www.ourbrisbane.com/whats-on/events/1405930.game-on
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13. October 2008 by admin.
Over the last month every day we turn on the news and hear more devastating news about the economy. Companies are closing, layoffs are becoming more frequent and our 401K statements are simply too painful to open. I’m sure all of us are wondering how this is impacting the video game industry and more specifically how this will impact the industry in Chicago. Is it true that video game companies fare well in a depressed economy? Are their segments of the industry that will become more stable than others? Is development in Chicago increasing or decreasing? Where do we see the future of game development overall and in Chicago?
We have a very well rounded panel including not only console developers, but also the full scope of the industry including mobile game developers, arcade developers and slot-machine developers. This is a rare opportunity to hear from the best and brightest in our industry.
Our panel of experts will include:
Additional information on our panelists will be forthcoming, but as most of you know this is a rock-star line up of industry experts and is a panel not to be missed. Space will be limited however to the first 150 people to RSVP.
This meeting will be sponsored by and hosted at Flashpoint Academy. Flashpoint, The Academy of Media Arts and Sciences, is Chicago’s first digital media arts college, offering an intensive two-year program for high school graduates and adult learners in five digital disciplines: Film, Recording Arts, VFX & Animation, Game Development and Broadcast Media.
Flashpoint is geared for those individuals with a passion for anything digital, a desire for creative expression, a story that needs to be told, or an imaginative spark that needs ignition. For those students that aren’t thinking pre-med or pre-law or any “traditional” pre-determined path. Students that have the potential, but have yet to find the proper focus. No preparatory classes are required; Flashpoint’s nurturing staff has crafted a curriculum that starts at square one.
MEETING DETAILS:
When: Monday, October 20th, 2008, Doors open at 6:15 PM, Presentation starts at 7 PM
Where: Flashpoint Academy, 26 N. Clark, Chicago, IL 60602. Flashpoint Academy is near the intersection of Clark & Washington and is very close to all major el lines in Chicago. The closest parking facility is near the intersection of Washington & Wells.
Cost: $10 non-members, 5$ IGDA members and Flashpoint Academy Students. Light snacks and refreshments provided
RSVP: Space is limited to the first 150 guests. Please RSVP to igdachicago@gmail.com.
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