The Games Institute Showcases Research at the Tech Horizons Executive Forum

On November 26th, the GI showcased a selection of member research projects at the Tech Horizons Executive Forum event in Toronto, hosted by WatSPEED and CIBC. Pamela Maria Schmidt (Interdisciplinary Project and Communications Manager) and Dr. Emma Vossen (Knowledge Mobilization and Research Impact Officer) represented the GI and the multitude of interdisciplinary research projects that were created by GI members.

The Tech Horizons Executive Forum invited senior leaders from many industry sectors to learn about emerging technologies coming from UWaterloo research. Attendees had the chance to experience the VR game Seas the Day, developed by PhD Candidate Samira Mehrabi (School of Public Health Sciences) and Dr. John Muñoz (Wilfrid Laurier University), to learn about how VR technologies are used to address health concerns like improving the mobility of Dementia patients. There was also great interest in the knowledge mobilization games that focus on sustainability such as Illuminate and the Canadian Cap and Trade Simulator .

While there, Schmidt and Dr. Vossen had the chance to reconnect with with the Senior Manager of Scientific Outreach Dr. John M. Donohue from the Institute for Quantum Computing. During his time as a PhD student at UW, Donohue was one of many GI collaborators who worked on the game Quantum Cats which was on display for attendees as an example of how GI projects focus on making complex topics accessible to non-expert audiences.