Blog

As the Research Communications Officer for the Games Institute, I tell stories about our research for interdisciplinary and non-academic audiences. I often meet with researchers and conduct semi-structured interviews with them so that I can learn enough about what they’re doing in order to write articles about their work. In these articles I can be flexible with how I communicate the research and employ knowledge translation strategies so they can be understood by many.

Dr. Jason Lajoie, GI member and Researcher at the Critical Media Lab, successfully defended his PhD dissertation November 20th, 2019. His research investigated the ways that media and technologies construct queer identities, and how queer uses of media and technologies contribute to ways of experiencing and expressing queer.

The Digital Oral Histories for Reconciliation (DOHR) Project was featured by the Canadian Press (and covered by over 80 news outlets) in an article that discussed the launch of its pilot project in Nova Scotia schools. DOHR, a restorative justice project led by Principal Investigator Dr.

The Intelligent Technologies for Wellness and Independent Living (ITWIL) Lab develops interactive systems that provide rehabilitative support for aging populations. ITWIL researchers created virtual reality (VR) Exergames in collaboration with physical and occupational therapists from Schlegel Villages in Waterloo to be used by people living with dementia in long-term care homes.

GI member Gustavo Tondello successfully defended his PhD entitled "Dynamic Personalization of Gameful Interactive Systems". Congratulations Dr. Tondello!

Tondello's research builds on what we know about gamification—the application of game elements in non-gaming contexts. He explores how user qualities can shape their gameful experience, how developers and designers are currently gamifying systems, and whether this can be improved.

On Tuesday, June 25th the GI's Executive Director and Chair of the UWaterloo Ethics Technology and Social Impact (ETSI) Council, Dr. Neil Randall, was part of the panel "Wo(man) and machine—who makes the decisions and why?" discussing the ethics and future of artificial intelligence (AI).

Marvin Pafla, GI and Collaborative Systems Laboratory (CSL) member and Master’s student in System Design Engineering, presented in this year’s Canadian HCI and Graphics Interface Conference in Kingston, Ontario, May 28-31. His paper “Jumping the Bandwagon: Overcoming Social Barriers to Public Display Use” explores why digital, public displays have low interaction rates.

Shout out to CSL Director, Stacey Scott, who was invited as a keynote speaker at this year’s conference!

The Critical Media Lab (CRIME Lab), directed by Marcel O'Gorman, hosted a Research Showcase on April 3, 2019 entitled "Infrastructure at Play". At the showcase, GI faculty member Lai-Tze Fan and GI English Graduate student members AC Atienza, Lillian A.

Tina Chan, M.Sc. candidate in Applied Health Sciences has been speaking with the media recently as her work on mental health support and mental health gameful design gains traction.

The Games Insititute (GI) Game Jam takes place every term. But, once a year, the event becomes a part of something larger: every Winter, the GI Game Jam becomes a satelite event for the internationally renowned Global Game Jam.