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
Dr. Shana MacDonald Discusses Kate Middleton Photo Controversy on Global News
On March 16, Dr. Shana MacDonald (Communication Arts) spoke with Joe Scarpelli on Global News about the recent social media controversy surrounding Kate Middleton Princess of Wales.
GI members secure over $500,000 in Tri-Agency funding
Congratulations to the following GI faculty members for securing $565,580 in Tri-Agency funding for their research projects!
Dr. Adan Jerreat-Poole (Communication Arts) received an Insight Development Grant for their project "Disabled Feminists and Digital Storytelling: Zine-Making Pandemic Lives" ($21,330).
Dr. Lai-Tze Fan (Sociology and Legal Studies) is a collaborator on the Insight Development Grant "Digital Imaginations and the Decameron Storyworld" ($66,750).
Dr. Lennart Nacke (Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business) received an NSERC Discovery Grant for his project "Engineering Novel Game Technology To Improve People's Lives" ($52,000 per term for five terms totalling $260,000).
Dr. Ville Makela (Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business) received an NSERC Discovery Grant for his project "Developing Technologies for Bringing Physical Objects into Virtual Reality" ($41,000 per term for five terms totalling $205,000 + $12,500 for the Discovery Launch Supplement).
Visiting Scholar Eléa Thuilier presents research on exergames and Osteoporosis
Visiting scholar, Eléa Thuilier (University of Galway) presented her research to the Waterloo community at the Games Institute which focuses on designing and assessing virtual rehabilitation through Exergames for people with Osteoporosis.
Events
Disrupting Disciplinary Divides for Digital Futures
In 2022, The Games Institute (GI) ran its first-ever seed funding competition. Thus far, the GI Seed Program has supported eight interdisciplinary collaborations with $110,000 of funding. In addition to this funding, researchers have used the GI labs, equipment, and staff support to meet their research goals.
The Seed Grant recipients have combined their varied expertise to tackle real-world problems facing indigenous communities, healthcare workers, mothers facing homelessness, citizen scientists, and more by creating local solutions to global problems.
On April 19th, 2024, the seed funding recipients will come together at the GI to present their work to the university community.
This is a free event and all are welcome to attend. Registration is required and lunch is provided.
**This event is in person only. Masks are welcome but not required for this event. Please do not attend if you have any cold, flu, or COVID symptoms.**
Blog
Aspects of Play in Academia - Women of CHI PLAY 2023
From October 10th to October 13th, 2023, CHI PLAY took place at the Stratford School of Business and Interaction Design. In this retrospective, we sit down with GI faculty Drs. Cayley MacArthur, Jen Whitson and Leah Zhang-Kennedy who recount their experiences at CHI PLAY, including what makes it so unique, what they took away from the 2023 conference, and what advice they would give to those looking to attend in the future.
Dr. Cayley MacArthur and the Quest for the Triple E (EEE) Degrees
Dr. Cayley MacArthur is a long-standing name in the Games Institute (GI) ever since the GI opened its physical doors to researchers and students. She’s spent time here working on her undergraduate and Master’s theses, her Doctoral research, and has officially joined the GI as a faculty member. As Assistant Professor, Dr. MacArthur teaches out of UWaterloo’s Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business. But how did she get here? Well, luckily, Dr. MacArthur took the time to answer questions we had for her about her time at the GI and her hopes of continuing on with her research.
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.