The Distant Horizon: investigating the relationship between social sciences academic research and game development

Research in the social sciences devotes a great amount of attention to investigating the impact of video games on the individual and on society. However, results generated by this research often fail to inform game development. The present study investigated the outreach of research conducted by the academic community by interviewing 30 game developers and 14 researchers, highlighting critical aspects in the relationship between game research and game industry. Specifically, we found that the difference in priorities, speed cycles, and dissemination practices between these two contexts hinder communication. Subsequently, we carried out a focus group for a set of developers and researchers (N=6) with the aim of eliciting recommendation for improving communication between academics and developers. Among the recommendations to emerge were calls to diversify dissemination channels, promote joint conferences and develop research-production partnerships. It was felt such measures could strengthen the influence of research results outside the academic community

Game-based learning or game-based teaching?

Emerging technologies for learning report - Article exploring games based learning and its potential for edcuatio

Playing at the crossroads

Objectives; The Design Research Group (DRG) at The University of Northampton has been engaged in a number of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP). Three of these KTP's have involved designing toys, games and playthings. The first exhibition's aim was to act as a research tool to contextualize, analyse and draw conclusions from the KTP experience and collaborations with local enterprises. Then use the knowledge to further research the creative value of play and toy design to all in the community. The curating process for ALL PLAY informed the second exhibition. The data collected will be analysed and any findings will add to the overall outcomes of ALL PLAY. The objective of this research is to establish greater insight into the impact in the form of benefits of design initiatives in the production and use of toys and the role of play in society. Prior Work; This research is informed by a series of Knowledge Transfers partnerships undertaken by the DRG for Sue Ryder, John Crane Ltd and BCE (Distribution) Ltd. The group has gone on to research the design management implications of these projects for designers and social enterprises. Approach; Two exhibitions and a symposium were planned for 2013 (June-July and October-November) to showcase, review and extend the collaboration with the KTP partners. The first was held at the Collective Collaboration Gallery in the Northampton Town Centre. It enabled the DRG to examine and disseminate the experience and demonstrate the benefits of the KTP projects. It enabled further research about the value and impact of the local toy industry in the Northamptonshire, past and present and to forge links with local community and business organizations. The symposium and second exhibition held at the University provides an opportunity to explore current global trends in design for play in the publishing, health, leisure, gaming and interior design industries in more depth. The process of curating the exhibition involved networking and bringing a wide range of experience, theory and case studies together. Creating a ludic play space in the galleries provides for another level for theoretical exploration, research and design. Results; Primary research in the form of interviews undertaken into the local toy and play, complements work being undertaken by the Museum of Childhood, indicating that a specific study needs to be undertaken into the regional history of the toy industry. There is scope for DRG to support and investigate further into the international role of toy design and distribution organizations that are based in the East Midlands. The exhibitions highlighted the impact of the DRG’s KTP research on different communities and industry sectors. The event emphasized the diverse and shared perceptions of the creative benefits of play. Knowledge was transferred back to the University feeding into teaching and learning and particularly in further collaborative research work. Implications; Oral History on the British Toy-Making Industry has yet to be published and its focus is recording the past manufacturing experience and not the dynamic role of creativity and design management in this sector today. The curatorial process has brought together past and present, the local and the global, the practitioner and the academic. The initial research indicates the increasing international importance of creativity and design in the play sector with a focus of enterprises based in the UK. There is an expectation that second set of events will explore and extend the debate further. Value; ALL PLAY is the umbrella title for the events and the paper showcases the benefits of the curating process, allowing the DRG to share their Knowledge Transfer research and account for the impact of it and at the same time continue to build collaborations and information about the value of play locally, to the creative industries, social well being across all groups and enterprise internationally

BEAT: An Open-Source Web-Based Open-Science Platform

With the increased interest in computational sciences, machine learning (ML), pattern recognition (PR) and big data, governmental agencies, academia and manufacturers are overwhelmed by the constant influx of new algorithms and techniques promising improved performance, generalization and robustness. Sadly, result reproducibility is often an overlooked feature accompanying original research publications, competitions and benchmark evaluations. The main reasons behind such a gap arise from natural complications in research and development in this area: the distribution of data may be a sensitive issue; software frameworks are difficult to install and maintain; Test protocols may involve a potentially large set of intricate steps which are difficult to handle. Given the raising complexity of research challenges and the constant increase in data volume, the conditions for achieving reproducible research in the domain are also increasingly difficult to meet. To bridge this gap, we built an open platform for research in computational sciences related to pattern recognition and machine learning, to help on the development, reproducibility and certification of results obtained in the field. By making use of such a system, academic, governmental or industrial organizations enable users to easily and socially develop processing toolchains, re-use data, algorithms, workflows and compare results from distinct algorithms and/or parameterizations with minimal effort. This article presents such a platform and discusses some of its key features, uses and limitations. We overview a currently operational prototype and provide design insights.Comment: References to papers published on the platform incorporate

The Virtual University and Avatar Technology: E-learning Through Future Technology

E-learning gains increasingly importance in academic education. Beyond present distance learning technologies a new opportunity emerges by the use of advanced avatar technology. Virtual robots acting in an environment of a virtual campus offer opportunities of advanced learning experiences. Human Machine Interaction (HMI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can bridge time zones and ease professional constraints of mature students. Undergraduate students may use such technology to build up topics of their studies beyond taught lectures. Objectives of the paper are to research the options, extent and limitations of avatar technology for academic studies in under- and postgraduate courses and to discuss students' potential acceptance or rejection of interaction with AI. The research method is a case study based on Sir Tony Dyson's avatar technology iBot2000. Sir Tony is a worldwide acknowledged robot specialist, creator of Star Wars' R2D2, who developed in recent years the iBot2000 technology, intelligent avatars adaptable to different environments with the availability to speak up to eight different languages and capable to provide logic answers to questions asked. This technology underwent many prototypes with the latest specific goal to offer blended E-learning entering the field of the virtual 3-D university extending Web2.0 to Web3.0 (Dyson. 2009). Sir Tony included his vast experiences gained in his personal (teaching) work with children for which he received his knighthood. The data was mainly collected through interviews with Sir Tony Dyson, which helps discover the inventor’s view on why such technology is of advantage for academic studies. Based on interviews with Sir Tony, this research critically analyses the options, richness and restrictions, which avatar (iBot2000) technology may add to academic studies. The conclusion will discuss the opportunities, which avatar technology may be able to bring to learning and teaching activities, and the foreseeable limitations – the amount of resources required and the complexity to build a fully integrated virtual 3-D campus. Key Words: virtual learning, avatar technology, iBot2000, virtual universit