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< Back Prof. Nick Bryan-Kinns Queen Mary University of London Supervisor Nick Bryan-Kinns is Professor of Interaction Design and Director of the Media and Arts Technology Centre at Queen Mary University of London. He is Distinguished Professor at Wuhan University of Technology, and Guest Professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China. He is Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Fellow of the British Computer Society, Senior Member of the Association for Computing Machinery, and leads the Sonic Interaction Design Lab in the Centre for Digital Music. He has published international journal papers on cross-cultural design, participatory design, mutual engagement, interactive art, and tangible interfaces. His research has been exhibited internationally and reported widely from the New Scientist to the BBC. He chaired the Steering Committee for the ACM Creativity and Cognition Conference series, and is a recipient of ACM and BCS Recognition of Service Awards. He is interested in supervising students with HCI, Interaction Design, or AI backgrounds on research into the intersection of Sonic Interaction Design, play, and AI. Especially project which involve designing and evaluating computer mediated experiences for human participation and collaboration. Research themes: Game Audio and Music Games with a Purpose Computational Creativity Player Experience Gamification n.bryan-kinns@qmul.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~nickbk/ Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Applied Games Creative Computing Game Audio Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Peter York University of York iGGi Alum PhD student working in analytics and machine learning for esports broadcast and understanding. In particular working with Weavr on various projects related to broadcast and learning tools for Dota 2. Please note: Updating of profile text in progress Email Mastodon https://pete-york.github.io Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Featured Publication(s): Data-Driven Audience Experiences in Esports Metagaming and metagames in Esports DAX: Data-Driven Audience Experiences in Esports A generalized framework for self-play training Themes Esports Game AI - Previous Next

< Back Prof. Alex Wade University of York Supervisor Alex Wade is a psychologist working in the field of human cognitive neuroscience. He uses a combination of structural and functional brain imaging, electrophysiology, psychophysics and big data analysis to ask how we see, solve problems and make decisions. His most recent work in the domain of video games focuses on what we can learn about global cognitive health and player personality from the analysis of large MOBA datasets in collaboration with Riot games (League of Legends). He is particularly interested in supervising students with a psychology or neuroscience background in the areas of: Using commercial video games to measure cognition and personality How the brain responds to solo- and group gameplay Can we use video games to monitor and modify real-world cognition, behaviour and mental health Research themes: Game Analytics Games with a Purpose Computational Creativity E-Sports Player Experience The neuroscience of gaming alex.wade@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://www.york.ac.uk/psychology/staff/academicstaff/alex-wade/ Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Applied Games Creative Computing Esports Game Data Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Toby Best Queen Mary University of London iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Toby has always held video games as an integral part of his livelihood, ever since catching his first Pokémon on the Game Boy Color. The ever-developing evolution of technology, from the humble NES and R.O.B. preventing the video game market crash in 1983, to the Wii’s motion controls, to augmented and virtual reality today, has been a key inspiration, and one of the reasons why he studied Mathematical Computation at University College London. He also has a keen interest in tabletop roleplaying games, such as Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. His research interests involve the potential of combining roleplaying games' collective storytelling and interactive narrative with the power of artificial intelligence and deep learning. A description of Toby's research: Artificial Intelligence is the field of creating digital agents capable of decision-making and rational thought to fulfil a core goal or aspect. For tabletop and video games, an implemented AI would attempt to ‘solve’ the game by finding optimal winning strategies. However, tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) are driven by the power of collective storytelling and interactive narrative, as opposed to set rules, and therefore have a more open-ended goal - maximising player enjoyment for all participants. This involves a Game Master (GM) player as both narrator and referee, controlling the non-playable characters (NPCs) and the campaign behind the screen, whereas players usually control one player character (PC) each to interact with the world. There is no ‘failure’ state compared to traditional games, as campaigns can continue until players lose interest or the narrative is ‘complete’; even all PCs dying (known as a total party kill) can drive the narrative in a new direction. This project aims to study and piece together the different elements that would go into a Game Master AI, building on current state-of-the-art game-playing AI, such as Director AIs in games such as Valve’s ‘Left 4 Dead’, and studying the implications of such developments for players and game designers alike. For example, whether it could replicate the playing experiences of a human GM as a replacement, or enhance the experience by working with a human GM. t.j.best@qmul.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://l0rdr0b.github.io/ Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/toby-best-776336136/ LinkedIn BlueSky https://github.com/L0RDR0B Github Supervisors: Dr Alena Denisova Dr Raluca Gaina Prof. Simon Lucas Featured Publication(s): "Journeys in the Dark"-Towards Game Master AI in Complex Board Games Why Choose You?-Exploring Attitudes Towards Starter Pokémon Themes Design & Development Game AI 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 fiona.mcnab@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://www.york.ac.uk/psychology/staff/academicstaff/fm841/ Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Applied Games - Previous Next

< Back Pilar Zhang Qiu Queen Mary University of London iGGi Alum Pilar is a researcher with a background in Design Engineering. She has a keen interest in user experience and interaction, wearables and the use of cyber-physical systems in the medical field. Her PhD centres around the creation of play assessments for neuromotor conditions in children with cerebral palsy. This gravitates around the idea that better and more objective clinical data can be obtained through gamification of common assessments. Please note: Updating of profile text in progress Email Mastodon https://www.pilarzhangqiu.com/ Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/pilar-zhang-qiu/ LinkedIn BlueSky https://github.com/pili-zhangqiu Github Themes Applied Games - 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 Mastodon Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Dr Poonam Yadav University of York Supervisor Dr Yadav research is focused on making the Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing-based distributed systems resilient, reliable, and robust. This is an interdisciplinary research area that requires expertise in system design and integration along with knowledge of sensor systems, wireless networking, and domain and contextual understanding. To achieve resilience and reliability in the area of resource constraints and distributed systems, I focus on coordination and collaboration using interactions among machines, humans and data entities. These interactions could be categorized as machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-to-human (M2H), and human-to-data (H2D), and involve many challenges such as collaborative trust, privacy, legibility and accountability. Dr Yadav is an active reviewer of many top-tier ACM/IEEE IoT and networking conferences and journals. Dr. Yadav leads ACM-W UK professional chapter and is featured as "People of ACM Europe" and among the top ten N2Women Rising Star in Computer networking and communications in 2020. Research themes: E-Sports Use of IoT in Games Gamifications Citizen Science poonam.yadav@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://poonamyadav.net Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/pyadav/ LinkedIn BlueSky https://github.com/pooyadav Github Themes Design & Development Esports Game Data - Previous Next

< Back Alex Flint University of York iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Alex has an academic background in Psychology and Human-Computer Interaction. Their Master’s dissertation comparing measures of perceived challenge and demand in video games was published at CHI 2023. Alex has previously worked on the Research Operations team at PlaytestCloud and as a freelance Games User Researcher. They are also a Student Video Games Ambassador for UKIE, and regularly volunteer at conferences such as CHI Play and the GamesUR Summit. When they aren’t at their desk, you can find Alex figure skating, playing roller derby, or DJing 80’s rock. Alex’s research focuses on levelling up the narrative testing practices of indie video game developers. Narrative testing is a specialised games user research (GUR) practice that requires resources and knowledge not easily accessible to indie developers, meaning they are often disadvantaged compared to their larger AAA counterparts. Thus, Alex's work proposes the direct study of indie developers to level the playing field by democratising narrative testing best practices and empowering non-research team members to conduct GUR activities. Alex aims to achieve this goal by: 1) Defining narrative testing best practices. 2) Identifying key challenges indie developers face when evaluating narrative. 3) Co-designing and evaluating narrative testing prototype(s). 4) Assessing methods for disseminating GUR knowledge. The successful completion of this work will impact how indie studios conduct narrative testing, ultimately leading to the creation of better games. alex.flint@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://alexflint.tech Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexlflint/ LinkedIn https://bsky.app/profile/alexlflint.bsky.social BlueSky Github Supervisor: Dr Alena Denisova Dr Jon Hook Featured Publication(s): Comparing Measures of perceived challenge and demand in video games: Exploring the conceptual dimensions of CORGIS and VGDS Faking handedness: Individual differences in ability to fake handedness, social cognitions of the handedness of others, and a forensic application using Bayes’ theorem Themes Design & Development Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Dr Evelyn Tan University of York iGGi Alum Evelyn holds a master’s degree in Industrial-Organisational Psychology from University College London (UCL) and has previously worked in the HR Technology industry where she undertook projects on game-based assessment, virtual team coaching and virtual reality (VR) hiring and training. She has published her work on developing trust in virtual work teams at CHI PLAY 2019, a premier conference for games research. On the Emergence and Development of Team Cohesion in Newly Formed Virtual Teams Evelyn specialises in teamwork and team dynamics. She is interested in uncovering how cohesion emerges and develops, and to identify its predictors. Her goal is to understand how to build high-performing teams that make people want to stay and remain united in the pursuit of their shared objectives. Under IGGI, she studies virtual teams in competitive esport games, specifically newly formed ad hoc teams. By applying theories and principles from psychology, her work can be extended to address the challenges faced by real-world teams with similar characteristics, for example emergency response teams and short-term project teams. By studying team cohesion – its emergence and development – her work addresses the broader challenges of building high-performing teams which retain their members. Please note: Updating of profile text in progress Email Mastodon https://sites.google.com/view/evelyntan Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/evelyntisiantan/ LinkedIn BlueSky https://github.com/ett506 Github Featured Publication(s): Communication Sequences Indicate Team Cohesion: A Mixed-Methods Study of Ad Hoc League of Legends Teams Less is More: Analysing Communication in Teams of Strangers Trusted Teammates: Commercial Digital Games Can Be Effective Trust-Building Tools Themes Esports Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Ross Fifield University of York iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement I am a user-centred games designer and researcher with a background in both practical and theoretical dimensions of play. I hold a BA and MA in Games Design from Falmouth University and have recently been engaged in teaching further and higher education courses in games development. My work sits at the intersection of design innovation, player psychology, and emerging technology, with a particular focus on how people find, engage with, and sustain play in social contexts. Currently undertaking a PhD as part of the iGGi programme, my research investigates the social and psychological factors that influence whether and how individuals choose to play with others. I aim to develop actionable insights that reduce barriers to engagement, support better player matchmaking, and encourage more inclusive and sustainable multiplayer experiences. I am particularly interested in live data applications and their potential to inform adaptive matchmaking systems and enhance game discovery. My practice draws from speculative and disruptive design methodologies, with a commitment to developing future-proof solutions that benefit academic, educational, and commercial communities alike. I maintain professional interests in affective psychology and digital heritage. As a player, I take an agnostic approach to genre, though I have a particular affinity for First Person Shooters, MMOs, sandbox games, and live-action roleplay. I am seeking placement opportunities with studios and organisations that are open to collaboration on live, data-driven projects focused on social play, player engagement, matchmaking and game discovery. My goal is to contribute meaningfully to real-world game development while refining methodologies that support more empathetic, inclusive, and dynamic player experiences. ross.fifield@york.ac.uk Email https://bsky.app/profile/rossfifield.bsky.social Mastodon http://www.rossfifield.com Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossfifield/ LinkedIn https://bsky.app/profile/rossfifield.bsky.social BlueSky Github Supervisors: Dr Joe Cutting Prof. Paul Cairns Themes Player Research Previous Next

< Back Dr Daniel Hernandez University of York iGGi Alum With the games industry as his target, Daniel Hernandez’s main research objective is to design and implement algorithms that, without any prior knowledge, generate strong gameplaying agents for a wide variety of games. To tackle this “from scratch” learning, he uses, and contributes to, the fields of Multiagent Reinforcement Learning, Game Theory and Deep learning. Self-play is the main object of study in his research. Self-play is a training scheme for multiagent systems in which AIs are trained by acting on an environment against themselves or previous versions of themselves. Such training scheme bypasses obstacles faced by many other training approaches which rely on existing datasets of expert moves or human / AI agents to train against. Daniel’s hope is that further development in Self-play will allow game studios of all sizes to generate strong AI agents for their games in an affordable manner. A storyteller by nature, Daniel has a strong track record of outreach through talks and workshops both in the UK and internationally. By sharing his journey, insights and discoveries he hopes to both inspire and instruct students, researchers and developers to realise the potential that Reinforcement Learning has to improve the games industry. His passionate work on Machine learning goes beyond crafting strong gameplaying agents. He sees the potential of using AI to simplify and automate a wide range of tasks in the games industry. He has led successful projects which used machine learning aimed at automating multiagent game balancing to alleviate the burden of manual game balancing. Daniel received an MEng in Computing: Games, Vision & Interaction from Imperial College London. Wanting to combine the power of AI and the creativity of videogames, Daniel began a PhD journey to explore the misty lands of Multi Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL). Please note: Updating of profile text in progress Email Mastodon https://danielhp95.github.io Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/dani-hernandez-perez-1106b2107 LinkedIn BlueSky https://github.com/Danielhp95 Github Featured Publication(s): A comparison of self-play algorithms under a generalized framework A generalized framework for self-play training Metagame Autobalancing for Competitive Multiplayer Games Themes Game AI Player Research - Previous Next