In 2022, the GI ran its first-ever Seed Grant competition in which both faculty and students, who are active members of the GI, could apply for up to $15,000.00 to invest in a new collaboration or project with fellow members of the Institute. The awarded research groups had until the end of 2023 to finalize projects and spend all funding.
If you were to ask any Games Institute (GI) member to generally state what their area of expertise is, almost a third would identify themselves as an “HCI researcher”. Human-computer interaction (HCI) is a multidisciplinary and intersectoral field where researchers investigate information technology design in various, intersectional ways. From improving the usability of interactive devices, understanding user behaviour, to broadly, and ubiquitously, understanding human experiences with technology, the field is constantly evolving and expanding the spectrum of what is considered “HCI research”.
Esports is a burgeoning field working to establish itself as a legitimate sport, industry, and academic discipline, that is worthy of investment and investigation. Games Institute researchers have often found academia’s slow pace at odds with the roaring highway of the rapidly advancing tech industry.
The GI Anti-racism, Decolonization, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ADE) Committee was established in late 2020 in response to a challenge from the GI student membership issued to GI faculty members and administration to consider how academics can better support, make visible, and incorporate the knowledge and voices of equity-deserving groups into their research.
From May 15-19, 2023, the GI hosted the second iteration of the International Conference on Games and Narrative (ICGaN). 120 attendees from 34 universities, 14 countries, and 4 continents joined to explore the conference theme of Isolation and Return: The Making of Narrative Worlds.
An interview with Dr. Kristina R. Llewellyn about the Digital Oral Histories for Reconciliation project
A Spotlight on Games Institute Executive Director, Dr. Neil Randall
Schmidt’s report outlines how the GI curates an interdisciplinary environment by encouraging staff, students, and faculty to critically play together—and how that act of play creates a common language where research ideas begin to flow. Looking back, the findings of this report continue to ring true today and we hope to continue sponsoring research excellence with this unique method of interdisciplinary creation.
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 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.