Dr. Kishonna Gray, an External Faculty Member of the GI, has recently been interviewed by the gaming review site Kotaku in “The Brilliant Scholar Who’s Challenging Racism in Game Design.”
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.
GI faculty member Dr. Gerald Voorhees is hiring a resesarch assistant for the Spring 2023 turn.
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 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 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.
The Haptic Experience (HX) Lab is seeking a post-doctoral scholar to assist with a variety of projects involving haptics, physical interactive technology, and human-computer interaction. There is a great deal of flexibility in the topic, as the post-doc will be able to manage existing projects while having the opportunity to further their own research agenda. There will be ample opportunity for student mentorship, grant writing, and lab management experience in addition to core research activities.
Congratulations to Drs. Lili Liu (Dean of the Faculty of Health) and Ben Thompson (Optometry and Vision Science) who were awarded the Graham Seed Fund, launched by the Health Initiatives team at UW!