After a long period without visitors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Games Institute (GI) was happy to welcome Associate Minister Kaleed Rasheed to the GI facilities on November 9th as part of his tour of the UW's main and Stratford campuses.
The start of the Spring term marked a full year into the Covid-19 pandemic from when the GI closed its doors. However, unlike last year where we were leading the charge in moving, adapting, and creating in(to) virtual environments, this year a new problem arose—the question of hybridization, accessibility, and the continued challenge of community building in virtual and real worlds. Check out some of the accomplishments our members achieved below!
On July 14th, GI member Dr. John Muñoz (JohnHCI) approached the GI to bring in a panel full of industry experts from the digital therapeutics sector to discuss academic and industry perspectives on the benefits of therapeutic gaming. Dr. Muñoz acted as moderator for the event and guided the expert panel through topics on the use of games for therapeutic purposes, including cognitive training, physical activity promotion, emotional regulation, brain assessment and optimization, and pain management.
From June 23rd to 27th, 2021, the Games Institute (GI) held its third virtual GI Game Jam event. Run independently from the Global Game Jam, the Spring’s 2021 GI Jam brought in a total of 8 teams who presented on the final day. The Jam organizers collaborated with start-up Quickscope, a platform focused on bringing game developers, employers, and researchers together, and took the opportunity to explore new ways of discussion, voting, and celebrating final submissions.
