Welcome to the Games Institute
The Games Institute (GI) is an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Waterloo, advancing the study of interactive and immersive technologies and experiences.
News Bites
Stay up-to-date with the latest GI activities. Our News Bites report on recent conferences, keynote addresses, and recent research activities of our members.
Research Spotlights
For more in-depth breakdowns of ongoing research projects, check out our Research Spotlights for full write ups of events and up close and personal testimonies with our researchers and members.
News
GI faculty member Dr. Shana MacDonald awarded Insight Development Grant
Games Institute (GI) faculty member Dr. Shana MacDonald (Communications Arts) successfully secured a $74, 232 grant for the “Exploring the visual culture of misogyny across material and digital archives” project.
GI members attended the 10th annual CHI PLAY conference
GI members present at The Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY). The conference takes place in Tampere, Finland from October 14 to October 17, 2024. GI members attended to present their papers, in-progress studies, and projects.
GI Members Present at Beyond Play 2024 Conference
On October 2nd, GI members Pamela Maria Schmidt (Interdisciplinary Research and Communications Manager) and Sid Heeg (PhD Candidate in Sustainability Management) presented at the Beyond Play 2024 Conference in Bremen, Germany.
Blog
The Legacy of the Stickers: A Snapshot of Florian Marcher's Time at the GI
Florian Marcher’s first contact with the GI was—like with many international students—with Dr. Lennart Nacke at a CHI conference. Then, through the suggestion of his master’s supervisor in Graz, Austria, Marcher applied as an International Visiting Graduate Student (IVGS) to Dr. Nacke not only for his guidance, but also for Dr. Nacke’s expertise in the field of Human Computer Interactions (HCI). After he was accepted, Marcher made the trip over to Waterloo, Ontario to make progress on his Master’s thesis “Procedural Generational Tools for Green Spaces” with a focus on their usability and feasibility.
ICGaN 2023 - Isolation and Return Through the World of Hybrid Viewing
From May 15 – 19, 2023, the Games Institute (GI) hosted the second International Conference on Games and Narrative (ICGaN). It focused on the theme Isolation and Return: The Making of Narrative Worlds. Speakers from 40 universities joined from around the world explained how, societally, we have all been forced to consider and rethink personal and communal lives necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The final turnout of the 2023 conference resulted in 17 sessions, 47 unique presentations, 5 keynotes, 3 workshops, 4 academic game streams, and a game jam.
Dr. Cayley MacArthur Gives Keynote Speech at the Jeux & Accessibilité Conference
Dr. Cayley MacArthur (Stratford) delivered the keynote address at the inaugural Jeux & Accessibilité / Game Accessibility conference took place on August 17 – 18, 2023 in Montreal, Québec. Her address - “Can Making Games Inclusively Help to Make More Inclusive Games?” – responded to the conference themes of video game accessibility.