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Dr. Michael Barnett-Cowan (Kinesiology and Health Sciences) has recently made media appearances on the Morning Edition with Craig Norris and CTV News regarding his research on virtual reality (VR), cybersickness, and his work with the Multisensory Brain and Cognition (MBC) Lab. The focus on cybersickness comes from new research delving into why some people do get sick in VR while others don’t. Barnett-Cowan says it has to do with how the brain processes information from a real-world environment to a digital recreation. This creates a sense of cognitive dissonance that makes people more prone to feelings of nausea when using VR. 

On May 15-19, the GI held its second biennial conference on games and narrative. This year, the conference invited presentations on the theme of “Isolation and Return: The Making of Narrative Worlds.” It was a fully hybrid conference that was made possible with the use of Dr. Neil Randall’s Storyboard Lab, which involved several Cisco screens to create an immersive experience. Around 40 participants joined the conference online while another 30 participated in person.

A major mathematic discovery has been found with the help of GI faculty member Dr. Craig S. Kaplan (Computer Science) called the “einstein.” The shape called the ‘hat’ is an aperiodic tile that can cover an infinite plane without creating a repeating pattern. Thought to be impossible, it was discovered by David Smith, a retired engineer based out of England who reached out to Dr. Kaplan about his discovery.

The Canadian History Museum is looking for a Curator, Sport and Leisure in Ottawa/Gatineau. The Museum acquired the Avedon games collection from UW around 2009 and now has a robust collection of board games, as well as material on sport and leisure. The Games Institute is a partner of the Museum and a benefactor of this collection.

The Haptics Experience Lab is seeking a full stack developer to rebuild the Haptiverse platform from scratch within a project timeline of 1.5 to 2 months. The developer should have experience with both front-end and back-end technologies, databases, DevOps skills, communication skills, and experience with support and maintenance. The developer will be provided design/assets and any support as needed. There’s a requirement document and a preliminary database architecture available.

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On March 7, 2023, the Games Institute welcomed a delegation of researchers from Saxion University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands. The researchers, guests of the Dean of Health Dr. Lili Liu, presented health research that intersects with games and immersive and interactive technologies. 

On January 24th, the Office of Research hosted “The AI Tsunami – Where will it take us?”, a panel discussion on the future and Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Jobsite Brewing Co. in Stratford, Ontario. Dr. Will Zhao (Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business) and Evan Jones (GI Advisory Board Member) were among those speaking on the panel. 

GI member and PhD candidate, Toben Racicot (English Language and Literature) braved the weather on January 25, 2023, to present a lecture on making loot in role-playing games (RPGs) more accessible and enjoyable. This was a part of the “Projects and Research by English Students” (PRES) lecture series run outside of the UW English Languages and Literature Department.