Our opening keynote is author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times.

============================

==== PROGRAM COMMITTEE ====

============================

Stefan Agamanolis Distance Lab, Forres, UK
Elisabeth Andre Augsburg University, Germany
Lora Aroyo Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Regina Bernhaupt University of Salzburg, Austria
Kim Binsted University of Hawai, USA
Andreas Butz University of Munich, Germany
Yang Cai Visual Intelligence Studio, CYLAB, Carnegie Mellon, USA
Antonio Camurri University of Genoa, Italy
Marc Cavazza University of Teesside, UK
Keith Cheverst University of Lancaster, UK
Drew Davidson CMU, Pittsburgh, USA
Barry Eggen University of Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Arjan Egges University of Utrecht, the Netherlands
Anton Eliens Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Steven Feiner Columbia University, New York
Alois Ferscha University of Linz, Austria
Matthew Flagg Georgia Tech, USA
Jaap van den Herik University of Tilburg, the Netherlands
Dirk Heylen University of Twente, the Netherlands
Frank Kresin Waag Society, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Antonio Krueger University of Muenster, Germany
Tsvi Kuflik University of Haifa, Israel
Markus Löckelt DFKI Saarbrücken, Germany
Henry Lowood University of Stanford, USA
Mark Maybury MITRE, Boston, USA
Oscar Mayora Create-Net Research Consortium, Italy
John-Jules Meijer University of Utrecht, the Netherlands
Louis-Philippe Morency Institute for Creative Technologies, USC, USA
Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller University of Melbourne, Australia
Patrick Olivier University of Newcastle, UK
Paolo Petta Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Fabio Pianesi ITC-irst, Trento, Italy
Helmut Prendinger National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo, Japan
Matthias Rauterberg University of Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Isaac Rudomin Monterrey Institute of Technology, Mexico
Pieter Spronck University of Tilburg, the Netherlands
Oliviero Stock ITC-irst, Trento, Italy
Carlo Strapparava ITC-irst, Trento, Italy
Mariet Theune University of Twente, the Netherlands
Thanos Vasilikos University of Western Macedonia, Greece
Sean White Columbia University, USA
Woontack Woo Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Korea
Wijnand IJsselstein University of Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Massimo Zancanaro ITC-irst, Trento, Italy

Brunel University, West London, United Kingdom, Tuesday 1st September –
Friday 4th September 2009

The South of Britain Consortium are pleased to announce the Call for
Papers for the Digital Games Research Association 2009. DiGRA is an
organisation that embraces all aspects of game studies, and the
conference aims to provide a diverse platform for discussion, and a
lively forum for debate. We therefore welcome papers from any discipline
focused on any aspect of games, play, game culture and the games
industry. The conference will be the fourth DiGRA conference, following
Utrecht, Vancouver and Tokyo, and welcomes contributions from scholars
working in any area of interest to the association. The official
business of the Subject Association will also be conducted at the
conference.

PLEASE NOTE THE NEW DATES FOR SUBMISSION AND DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION
FOR GUARANTEED ON-CAMPUS ACCOMODATION

The Conference invites the following proposals for consideration
—————————————————————-

Individual or Collaborative Papers Panels Workshops Posters

Initial selection will be through the peer review of both full papers
and abstracts of 500-700 words in all categories. Selection of
presentations will be proportionate to the submissions received, and no
distinction will be made between papers selected from abstract or full
paper review. Panel and Workshop proposals should include abstracts for
the contributions of all participants.

Individual or collaborative papers – addressing topics relevant to the
wide remit of DiGRA (including therefore industry, education, political,
social, theoretical concerns appropriate to the association).
Presentations should be limited to 15-20 mins.

Panel proposals – 3 – 4 papers which address a common theme, a common
research method, a shared conceptual issue etc.

Workshops – proposals are invited for 2 – 3 hour workshops that address
a range of themes relevant to the aims of the association. Workshops
that are particularly targeted at a wide audience are most welcome.

Poster sessions – presentations of work in progress in the format are
most welcome and will be showcased throughout the event.

The conference committee are also interested in including featured
symposia/colloquia to address particular ‘late-breaking’ research
projects or issue-based topics (an example might be a colloquia based
around Wii research or a symposium based around Women in Games. Please
contact a member of the conference organising committee with any
expressions of interest.
Graduate student participation

In order to support graduate students and early career researchers the
conference will focus on graduate student issues on its opening day, 1st
September 2009. The conference organizers seek appropriate mentors to
work with those addressing common themes/topics/issues in graduate
roundtables.
Strands

Please also indicate your preference for consideration in one of the
following broad strands:

Games Culture

Games and Commerce

Games Aesthetics

Games Education

Games Design

Games and Theory

Key Dates
———
Deadline for all submissions for presentation at the conference
(includes full papers, abstracts and workshop/panel/symposia proposals):
Friday 6 March 5pm GMT

Deadline for full papers for inclusion in digital proceedings: Friday 26
June 2009 5pm GMT

Notification of acceptance: June 1 2009

Deadline for booking on-campus accommodation June 30 2009

Conference Dates: 1-4th September 2009

Abstracts should be of 500-700 words and include an indicative
bibliography. Full paper submissions may be of up to 6,000 words, not
including bibliography. Full details of the submissions procedure,
including the method of electronic submission, will be published here
and on other forums as soon as possible.

All contributions must be original, unpublished work. The conference
language is English, and papers, abstracts and other proposals should be
written in English.

Delegates are also advised that individuals will be limited to one
paper presentation and one other form of presentation to allow space and
time for the largest number of participants.
About the Conference Location

Brunel University is located conveniently near Heathrow Airport and is
on the London Tube system. A range of affordable accommodation is
available on campus, including 1500 en suite rooms all on one campus,
400 standard bedrooms, 8 holiday flats (5-7 persons per flat), 51
specially adapted rooms for people with disabilities, plus hotel
standard rooms in the Lancaster Suite. The Brunel Conference Centre
boasts 22 theatres, 29 classrooms and 5 seminar rooms all presented to
the highest standard. The following are also available: Free car parking
(on application); Full office support for photocopying, faxing, internet
and word processing (on application); Comprehensive range of audio
visual and media services; Mini market; Pharmacy; Banking facilities;
Reference library; Sports Facilities; Fitness Suite; Medical centre; 24
hour security; Self service cafeteria; Licensed bars and cafes. There
are also a range of restaurants, cinemas and shopping in Uxbridge town.
Local attractions

Historic Windsor & Eton -Windsor Castle, Legoland and shopping are just
20 minutes drive away London - Central London and West End are easily
accessed by bus or Underground. Historic Oxford is a 40 minute bus ride
away.

The Conference Organisers
————————-

The conference is being hosted by a consortium consisting of Brunel
University, University of the West of England, and the University of
Wales, Newport.

——————-
Important dates:
——————-
Deadline for submissions:    30 January 2009
Notification of acceptance:  2 March 2009
Camera-ready copy of papers:  15 March 2009
Workshop:              11 or 12 May 2009

——————-

Multi Agent System research offers a promising technology to implement
cognitive intelligent Non Playing Characters. However the technologies
used in game engines and multi agent platforms are not readily compatible
due to some inherent differences of concerns. Where game engines focus on
real-time aspects and thus propagate efficiency and central control, multi
agent platforms assume autonomy of the agents. Increased autonomy and
intelligence may offer benefits for a more compelling gameplay and may
even be necessary for serious games. However, it raises problems when
current game design techniques are used to incorporate state of the art
Multi Agent System technology.
A very similar argument can be given for agent based (social) simulations.
In this workshop we want to bring people together that address the
particular challenges of using agent technology for games and simulations.
Submissions are invited for the following three main themes:
1.Technical
a. Connecting agent platforms to games and simulation engines; who is in
control?
b. Are actions synchronous or asynchronous?
c. How to monitor results of actions?
d. Can agents communicate through the agent platform?
e. How efficient should the agents be?
2. Conceptual
a. What information is available for the agents from the game or
simulation engine?
b. How to balance reaction to events of the game or simulation with goal
directed behavior
c. Ontological differences between agents and game/simulation information.
3. Design
a. How to design games/simulations containing intelligent agents
b. How to design agents that are embedded in other systems

Papers will undergo the normal review process and are selected on the
basis of quality. However, when choices have to be made we will try to
spread the accepted papers over the main themes of the workshop.
Interesting ideas are more important in this respect than detailed results
on fringe topics.
We aim to publish a special issue of JAAMAS from a selection of the papers
in the workshop. Depending on the number of submissions and the quality we
can change this to an LNCS volume.

——————-
Formatting guidelines:
——————-

We encourage participants to submit a paper (15 pages max), describing
their work on one or more of the topics mentioned above.  All
non-presenting participants will need to submit a one-page position
statement which presents their view on agents for games and simulations
relative to (one of) the workshop topics.

All submissions must include the author’s name(s), affiliation, complete
mailing address, phone number, fax number and email address.  Please use
the LNCS format for formatting your paper.

All accepted submissions and position statements will be published in the
workshop proceedings.

——————-
Submission procedure:
——————-

Submissions should be submitted through the EasyChair system at
http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ags09
either in PostScript format or in PDF format.

The deadline for receipt of submissions is January, 30, 2009. Papers
received after this date will not be reviewed.

——————-
Organizing Committee
——————-
1 Frank Dignum,
Utrecht University
e-mail: Dignum@cs.uu.nl
2 Jeff Bradshaw
Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition
e-mail: jbradshaw@ihmc.us
3 Barry Silverman
University of Pennsylvania/Systems Engineering Dept.
e-mail: BaSil@seas.upenn.edu
4 Willem van Doesburg
TNO Defence, Security and Safety
e-mail: Willem.vanDoesburg@TNO.nl

——————-
Program Committee:
——————-
1. Elisabeth Andre (DFKI, Germany)
2. Ruth Aylett (Heriot-Watt University, UK)
3. Michael Buro (U of Alberta, Canada)
4. Andre Campos (UFRN, Brazil)
5. Bill Clancey (NASA, USA)
6. Rosaria Conte (ISTC-CNR, Italy)
7. Vincent Corruble (LIP6, France)
8. Virginia Dignum (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
9. Alexis Drogoul (LIP6, France)
10. Bruce Edmonds (MMU, UK)
11. Corinna Elsenbroich (University of Surrey, UK)
12. Klaus Fischer (DFKI, Germany)
13. Hiromitsu Hattori (Kyoto University, Japan)
14. Koen Hindriks (Delft University, The Netherlands)
15. Wander Jager (Groningen University, The Netherlands)
16. Stefan Kopp (University of Bielefeld, Germany)
16.
17. Stacy Marsella (USC, USA)
18. Scott Moss (MMU, UK)
19. Emma Norling (MMU UK)
20. Anton Nijholt (UT, The Netherlands)
21. Ana Paiva (IST, Portugal)
22. Michal Pechoucek (CTU, Czechia)
23. Geber Ramalho (Brazil)
24. Gopal Ramchurn (University of Southampton, UK)
25. Avi Rosenfeld (JCT, Israel)
26. David Sarne (Bar Ilan University, Israel)
27. Pjotr van Schothorst (VSTEP, The Netherlands)
28. Maarten Sierhuis (NASA, USA)
29. Pieter Spronck (Tilburg University, The Netherlands)
30. Katia Sycara (CMU, USA)
31. Duane Szafron (U of Alberta, Canada)
32. Max Tsvetovat (George Mason University, USA)

**********************************************************************
Frank Dignum                     *
Utrecht University               * Knowledge is only one point,
The Netherlands                  * the ignorant have multiplied it e-mail:
dignum@cs.uu.nl          *
URL: www.cs.uu.nl/people/dignum/ *  (Baha’u'llah)
telephone: +31-30-2539109        *
**********************************************************************