< Back Luiza Gossian Queen Mary University of London iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Luiza is a multidisciplinary researcher, game designer and developer interested in translating real world concepts into engaging game mechanics. Her work explores how games can bridge the gap between serious and entertainment design, combining the strengths of both to tackle difficult topics in new and unexpected ways. As an experienced artist, graphic designer and photographer, Luiza uses her visual skills and psychology background to prototype experimental game designs, design game documentation and craft atmospheric experiences. A description of Luiza's research: Luiza’s work explores alternative approaches to serious games that blend the accessibility and engagement of casual game design with the applied foundations of research-driven game development. Using her project Detachment Undone, an abstract arcade game inspired by the ten stages of genocide, she is investigating how to design games about genocide that break away from traditional, narrative-centric approaches and embrace the ludic potential of games. Drawing on theories of intergroup and cultural psychology, she is exploring how these difficult themes can be expressed through mechanics in engaging, effective and informative ways. Email l.gossian@outlook.com Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Supervisors: Dr Jo Iacovides Dr Jeremy Gow Themes Applied Games Design & Development - Previous Next

< Back Dr Terence Broad Goldsmiths iGGi Alum Terence Broad is an artist and researcher working on developing new techniques and interfaces for the manipulation of generative models. His PhD focusses on how pre-trained generative neural networks can be repurposed and reconfigured for authoring novel multimedia content. He is completing his PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London and is also a visiting researcher at the UAL Creative Computing Institute. His research has been published in international conferences, workshops and journals such as SIGGRAPH, NeurIPS, Leonardo and xCoAx. He was acknowledged as an outstanding peer-reviewer by the journal Leonardo. Terence is a practicing artist and often uses the techniques he has developed in his research in the creation of his artworks. His art has been exhibited and screened internationally at venues such as The Whitney Museum of American Art, Ars Electronica, The Barbican and The Whitechapel Gallery. He won the Grand Prize in the ICCV 2019 Computer Vision Art Gallery. Email t.broad@gold.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Featured Publication(s): Co-Designing Fashion with AI: A Small-Data Approach to Generative Garment Design Expanding the Generative Space: Data-Free Techniques for Active Divergence with Generative Neural Networks XAIxArts Manifesto: Explainable AI for the Arts Using Generative AI as an Artistic Material: A Hacker's Guide Is computational creativity flourishing on the dead internet? Interactive Machine Learning for Generative Models Envisioning Distant Worlds: Fine-Tuning a Latent Diffusion Model with NASA's Exoplanet Data Automating Generative Deep Learning for Artistic Purposes: Challenges and Opportunities Network Bending: Expressive Manipulation of Generative Models in Multiple Domains Active Divergence with Generative Deep Learning--A Survey and Taxonomy Network Bending: Expressive Manipulation of Deep Generative Models Amplifying The Uncanny Transforming the output of GANs by fine-tuning them with features from different datasets Searching for an (un) stable equilibrium: experiments in training generative models without data Autoencoding Blade Runner: Reconstructing Films with Artificial Neural Networks Light field completion using focal stack propagation Autoencoding video frames IoT and Machine Learning for Next Generation Traffic Systems Themes Creative Computing Design & Development - Previous Next

< Back Susanne Binder Queen Mary University of London iGGi Manager iGGi Admin iGGi Manager @ QMUL ; alongside David Hull (iGGi Manager @ UoY) , and supported by Shopna Begum , Helen Tilbrook and Oliver Roughton, she's mostly in charge of making things run at iGGi with particular focus on iGGi-QMUL-specific admin iGGi-QMUL-specific student concerns PR, website and social media industry liaison Email s.binder@qmul.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Themes - Previous Next

< Back Dr Martin Balla Queen Mary University of London iGGi Alum Before starting his PhD Martin studied Computer Science at the University of Essex. His main interest is artificial intelligence and its application to all sort of problems ranging from computer vision to game AI. He likes spending his spare time with various activities which mainly involves reading, playing video games and skateboarding. Martin's PhD thesis focuses on Reinforcement Learning agents that can adapt to changes in the reward function and/or changes in the environment. His work investigates how agents can transfer their knowledge to changes in the environment, such as new rewards, levels or visuals. Outside of his main research direction, Martin is involved with the Tabletop games framework (TAG), which is a collection of various tabletop games implemented with a common API with a focus on various game-playing agents (including RL). TAG brings various challenges to RL agents compared to search-based agents, such as complex action spaces, unique observation spaces (various embeddings), multi-agent dynamics with competitive and collaborative aspects, and lots of hidden information and stochasticity. Email m.balla@qmul.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Supervisors: Dr Diego Pérez-Liébana Prof. Simon Lucas Featured Publication(s): Multi-task Reinforcement Learning for Adaptive Agents Program Committee and Subreviewers Tiny Moves: Game-based Hypothesis Refinement PyTAG: Tabletop Games for Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning PyTAG: Challenges and Opportunities for Reinforcement Learning in Tabletop Games TAG: Pandemic Competition Task Relabelling for Multi-task Transfer using Successor Features TAG: A tabletop games framework Design and implementation of TAG: a tabletop games framework Evaluating generalisation in general video game playing Evaluating Generalization in General Video Game Playing Analysis of statistical forward planning methods in Pommerman Themes Game AI - Previous Next

< Back Dr Timea Farkas Goldsmiths iGGi Alum Timea is a researcher striving to understand how people engage with technologies—broadly defined—in their everyday lives, and how new technologies can enhance people's experiences of play, creative expression, and beyond. She has always been drawn to learning new things, with a background ranging from creative arts through games to science, which allows her to apply an interdisciplinary outlook towards research. She holds an MA in Sonic Arts from the University of Sheffield and has graduated with a First Class (Hons) degree in music composition and technology with a special award for outstanding achievement and collaboration. A description of Timea's research: This research project centres around understanding board game players' relationship with the immersive capabilities of hybrid board games - board games with a digital component - through finding novel interactions which strengthen the sensory elements of tabletop games. By focusing on physical board game pieces as alternative input devices to touch screens, the goal is to explore the design space of analogue-digital hybrids with a player-centric approach. Email farkasmarimba@gmail.com Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Featured Publication(s): Exploring the Design Space of Analogue-Digital Hybrid Boardgames Using a Player-Centric Approach How Boardgame Players Imagine Interacting With Technology The Effects of a Soundtrack on Board Game Player Experience A Grounded Analysis of Player-Described Board Game Immersion Themes Creative Computing Immersive Technology Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Dr Fiona McNab University of York Supervisor During a postdoc at the Karolinksa Institute in Stockholm, Fiona investigated working memory and attention, providing empirical support for a role for the basal ganglia in the control of access to working memory and identification of changes in the dopamine system related to working memory training. At The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL, with a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellowship, she designed the working memory game in the large-scale smartphone study; “The Great Brain Experiment ”, leading to studies of different types of distraction in younger adults as well as in healthy ageing. In 2013 she moved to Birmingham University, where she conducted fMRI and behavioural studies of attention and working memory, and behavioural studies of the effects of competition on working memory. Fiona is now a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of York. She is using fMRI and behavioural studies to investigate what limits working memory, how different types of distractors are successfully ignored and how working memory changes through development, with healthy aging, as well as in certain patient groups. Part of her work uses data from a new set of working memory games, which are currently available to play (York Memory Games, YORMEGA ). She is particularly interested in supervising students on the following topics: Understanding the limitations of working memory and the role of attention using games Understanding age-related changes in cognition using games, Cognitive training using games. Research themes: Game Design Games with a Purpose Player Experience Gamification Games for Cognition Research Games for Cognitive Training Email fiona.mcnab@york.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Themes Applied Games - Previous Next

< Back Dr Patrik Huber University of York Supervisor Patrik Huber is a researcher, developer and entrepreneur, working on 3D face reconstruction and face analysis in images and videos using 3D face models. He is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Computer Vision in the Department of Computer Science of the University of York, UK, and he’s the Founder of 4dface.io, a small start-up specialising in 3D face models and realistic 3D face avatars for professional applications. His research is focused on computer vision, in particular, he is interested in the question of how to robustly obtain a metrically accurate, pose-invariant 3D representation of a face from 2D images and videos. He is interested in face tracking, 3D face modelling, analysis and synthesis, metrically accurate 3D face shape reconstruction, inverse rendering, and combining deep learning with 3D face models. Patrik is particularly interested in supervising students with a strong background and interest in computer vision, machine learning, computer graphics, and modern C++/Python, on topics related to creating 3D face avatars of players for immersive playing and social experiences , and using face analytics for professional e-sports . Research themes: 3D face avatars for games AR/VR Serious games and social interaction Immersive 3D player experiences Game Analytics Games with a Purpose E-Sports Email patrik.huber@york.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Themes Applied Games Esports Game Data Immersive Technology Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Dr Mike Cook Supervisor Mike is a Senior Lecturer at King's College London where he leads research into automated game design, computational creativity, and the theory and practice of generative systems. Email mike@possibilityspace.org Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Themes Creative Computing Design & Development Game AI - Previous Next

< Back Andrei Iacob University of Essex iGGi Alum Identifying Immersion in games using EEG and other measures (Industry placement at Sony SIE) The project aims to identify markers for immersion in player’s EEG signals. A few steps towards it include designing an experiment that reduces data noise and helps identify time frames for immersion during gameplay, recording EEG data among other “tests” to improve the accuracy of the state localization on a timeline. This research could prove useful for the games industry in a few ways: - it can provide tools for game testing (e.g. which parts of the game are immersive, which parts lack in that aspect) – thus making it easier to improve the game experience across the board; - it could also be used in making real-time adjustments to games (increase / decrease difficulty levels, pace, etc. to enhance the player’s immersion). Although the EEG data is the main focus of the project, it is not the only one. Correlations will be analyzed between different tests and in-game behaviors that should render even more information regarding the player’s state and mindset during gameplay. This information will be just as valuable and perhaps more readily available for widespread use in the near future. Andrei is a keen programmer and gamer. He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science from the University of Essex. Andrei’s research interests are in the field of brain- computer interfaces and computer games. His hobbies include programming, gaming, guitar and skiing. Please note: Updating of profile text in progress Email Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Themes Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Dr Maximilian Croissant University of York iGGi Alum I’m a psychology researcher, writer and game designer, exploring our emotional connection with games and creating games with purpose. Coming from a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in psychology and neuroscience, I’m now at the intersection of emotion research, design, and human-computer interaction and try to build design-oriented solutions for adapting game content to affective data. My project will include theoretical groundwork, investigating the emotional relationship between player and games and from there build an affective fear-focused VR horror game with specific and practical solutions in terms of emotion measurement, modelling, and adaptation. The ultimate goal is to help fill knowledge gaps that currently hold us back on making commercially viable affective games and provide tools to design games for a deep emotional impact. I’m also the Co-Founder of Vanilla Noir, a small studio working on applied games that aim to promote well-being and satisfying user experiences. For me, games are a great tool to explore psychological phenomena through interactions and the design and development of games based on applied psychology has great potential to help make the world a bit of a better place. Email mc2230@york.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Supervisor(s) Dr Cade McCall Featured Publication(s): Examining the influence of target-distractor similarity on difficulty in a working memory game Tired and Wired: Sleep Deprivation Prevents Affective Renormalisation During Exposure to Ambiguous Threat Advancing Methodological Approaches in Affect-Adaptive Video Game Design: Empirical Validation of Emotion-Driven Gameplay Modification Using Virtual Reality to Investigate the Influence of Sleep Deprivation on In-the-Moment Arousal During Exposure to Prolonged Threats Affective Systems: Progressing Emotional Human-Computer Interactivity with Adaptive and Intelligent Game Systems An appraisal-based chain-of-emotion architecture for affective language model game agents Emotion Design for Video Games: A Framework for Affective Interactivity Theories, methodologies, and effects of affect-adaptive games: A systematic review A data-driven approach for examining the demand for relaxation games on Steam during the COVID-19 pandemic Endocannabinoid concentrations in hair and mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors Progress in Adaptive Web Surveys: Comparing Three Standard Strategies and Selecting the Best Odd and disorganized–comparing the factor structure of the three major schizotypy inventories Themes Design & Development Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Prof. Matthew Purver Queen Mary University of London Supervisor Matthew Purver is Professor of Computational Linguistics, and leader of QMUL’s Computational Linguistics Laboratory. His research has covered many aspects of natural language processing (NLP), with a £4m grant portfolio including projects on fundamental techniques like cross-lingual processing and incremental language understanding, and applications to news media, social media analysis and mental health diagnosis. His work has been covered by the Guardian, Telegraph, Independent, LA Times, NBC and Scientific American, among others. He is also a senior researcher at the Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia, and in 2011 he co-founded the company Chatterbox Labs Ltd. He is interested in supervising students with a background in NLP, linguistics or machine learning and an interest in analysis or generation of natural language. Research themes: Language in Games Game AI Computational Creativity Email m.purver@qmul.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Themes Creative Computing Game AI - Previous Next

< Back Dr Jon Hook University of York Supervisor Jon Hook is a Senior Lecturer (equivalent to an Associate Professor) in Interactive Media in the Department of Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media at the University of York. His research is situated in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and explores the design and development of new interactive media content forms and tools to support their creation. This research combines his deep interest in new forms of interactive technology and media with empirical, theoretical and methodological perspectives, in the human-centred design of novel interfaces and interaction techniques for a broad range of artistic and everyday creative practices. His current research is focused on the design and development of new forms of responsive and immersive media content, with a particular interest in data-driven storytelling. He was recently the principal investigator of the EPSRC funded Perspective Media: Personalised Video Storytelling for Data Engagement project. He also a co-investigator of the InnovateUK WEAVR: Pioneering Fully Integrated Cross-Reality Spectator Experiences in Esports and Beyond immersive experiences demonstrator and the Digital Creativity Labs – a £4m EPSRC, AHRC and InnovateUK funded research centre exploring impact-driven research in the creative industries. He was also previously Co-I of the AHRC Within the walls of York Gaol: Memory, Place and the Immersive Museum the AHRC Digital Creativity for Regional Museums: Immersive Experiences Smart Commissioning Toolkit. He is especially interested in supervising students who’d like to do HCI research that involves making and evaluating new interactive media experiences. Some example topic areas that he might be the right supervisor for include, but aren’t limited to: Games to support broader data engagement and literacy Data-driven storytelling in, and about, games The intersection between games and interactive documentary film Responsive and interactive video storytelling in games The space where theatre and games converge Cultural heritage engagement using games Research themes: Game Design Games with a Purpose E-Sports Player Experience Email jonathan.hook@york.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Themes Applied Games Esports Player Research - Previous Next