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< Back How does machine learning affect diversity in evolutionary search? Procedural content generation of video games levels has greatly benefited from machine learning. In such complex domains, generative models can provide representation spaces for evolutionary search. But how expressive are such learned models? How many different levels would they be able to produce? A new paper, co-authored by IGGI PhD researcher Sebastian Berns and Professor Simon Colton, looks at the limitations of generative models in the context of multi-solution optimisation. The work will be presented at the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO) and is nominated for a best paper award . The study shows that quality diversity (QD) search in the latent space of a variational auto-encoder yields a solution set of lower diversity than in a manually-defined genetic parameter space. The authors find that learned latent spaces are useful for the comparison of artefacts and recommend their use for distance and similarity estimation. However, whenever a parametric search space is obtainable, it should be preferred over a learned representation space as it produces a higher diversity of solutions. Alexander Hagg, Sebastian Berns, Alexander Asteroth, Simon Colton & Thomas Bäck. (2021). Expressivity of Parameterized and Data-driven Representations in Quality Diversity Search. In Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference. Pre-print available on arXiv https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.04247Accompanying code repository available on Github https://github.com/alexander-hagg/ExpressivityGECCO2021 Previous 27 Jun 2021 Next

< Back iGGi Studentships - Home Fees Candidates iGGi SPECIAL RECRUITMENT ROUND - home-fees only - With focus on home candidates only, we are inviting applications for studentships for the iGGi PhD Programme. Each studentship includes four years of fully funded (fees and stipend at UKRI rate) full-time study starting September 2023. The PhD researchers will be based at Queen Mary University of London or University of York (depending on which uni the chosen primary supervisor belongs to). To apply please follow the instructions on our Apply page Submit your full application by Monday 15 May 2023, 12:00 noon BST. Previous 5 Apr 2023 Next

< Back Expressive curve editing with the sigma lognormal model Link Author(s) D Berio, FF Leymarie, R Plamondon Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back Monte carlo tree search applied to co-operative problems Link Author(s) PR Williams, J Walton-Rivers, D Perez-Liebana, SM Lucas Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back System and method for training a machine learning model Link Author(s) R Spick, G Moss, T Bradley, PV Amadori Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back Tackling sparse rewards in real-time games with statistical forward planning methods Link Author(s) RD Gaina, SM Lucas, D Perez-Liebana Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back NoiseBandNet: controllable time-varying neural synthesis of sound effects using filterbanks Link Author(s) A Barahona-Rios, T Collins Abstract More info TBA Link

iGGi Partners We are excited to be collaborating with a number of industry partners. IGGI works with industry in some of the following ways: Student Industry Knowledge Transfer - this can take many forms, from what looks like a traditional placement, to a short term consultancy, to an ongoing relationship between the student and their industry partner. Student Sponsorship - for some of our students, their relationship with their industry partner is reinforced by sponsorship from the company. This is an excellent demonstration of the strength of the commitment and the success of the collaborations. In Kind Contributions - IGGI industry partners can contribute by attending and/or featuring in our annual conference, offering their time to give talks and masterclasses for our students, or even taking part in our annual game jam! There are many ways for our industry partners to work with IGGI. If you are interested in becoming involved, please do contact us so we can discuss what might be suitable for you. Falmouth University

< Back Perceived value of video games, but not hours played, predicts mental well-being in adult Nintendo players Link Author(s) N Ballou, M Vuorre, T Hakman, K Magnusson, AK Przybylski Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back Design & Development How might we advance game-making with new design and development insights, methods, tools, and techniques? Project areas include: Integrating the physical and the digital in games Co-designing games with players who lack technical expertise Designing and understanding the impact of persuasive games << Previous Theme page Next Theme page >> iGGi >>> People <<< relevant to this Theme: Doruk Balcı iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Design & Development, Player Research Read More Toby Best iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Game AI, Design & Development, Player Research Read More Steph Carter iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Applied Games, Design & Development, Player Research, Accessibility, Game Data Read More Dr Tom Cole iGGi Alum + Supervisor Game AI, Design & Development Read More Prof. Richard Bartle Supervisor Design & Development, Game AI, Player Research Read More Dr Anna Bramwell-Dicks Supervisor Game Audio, Player Research, Design & Development, Applied Games, Accessibility Read More Dr Guifen Chen Supervisor Creative Computing, Design & Development, Immersive Technology, Player Research Read More Dr Mike Cook Supervisor Game AI, Design & Development, Creative Computing Read More Nirit Binyamini Ben Meir iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Applied Games, Design & Development, Creative Computing Read More Dr Terence Broad iGGi Alum Available for post-PhD position Creative Computing, Design & Development Read More Karl Clarke iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Design & Development, Immersive Technology, Player Research Read More Prof. Peter Cowling Supervisor Game AI, Applied Games, Design & Development Read More Load More iGGi People working in this Theme iGGi >>> Publications <<< relevant to this Theme: Domestic Cultures of Plant Care: A Moss Terrarium Probe N. Binyamini Ben-Meir, P.G.T. Healey, S. Deterding Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '25), 05-09 July 2025, Funchal, Portugal. ACM, New York, NY, USA 19 Pages Nirit Binyamini Ben Meir View Details Towards an Ontology of Wargame Design L Ouriques, CE Barbosa, J Kritz, G Xexéo IEEE Access, vol. 13 Joshua Kritz View Details When 1+ 1 does not equal 2: Synergy in games Joshua Kritz, Raluca Gaina arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.10304 Joshua Kritz View Details "Leave our kids alone!": Exploring Concerns Reported by Parents in 1-star Reviews L Winter, L Helsby, D Zendle CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Article No.: 1036, Pages 1 - 16 Lauren Winter Laura Helsby View Details Archaeological Gameworld Affordances: A Grounded Theory of How Players Interpret Environmental Storytelling F Smith Nicholls, M Cook CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Yokohama, Japan, Article no 465, p. 1 - 20 Florence Smith Nicholls View Details Using Virtual Reality to Investigate the Influence of Sleep Deprivation on In-the-Moment Arousal During Exposure to Prolonged Threats E Sullivan, C McCall, LM Henderson, M Croissant, G Schofield, S Cairney JOURNAL OF SLEEP RESEARCH 33, 2024 Dr Maximilian Croissant View Details Load More iGGi Publications for this Theme Previous Next

< Back Perceptual Evaluation of Modal Synthesis for Impact-Based Sounds Link Author(s) A Barahona, S Pauletto Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back Distributed Social Multi-Agent Negotiation Framework For Incomplete Information Games Link Author(s) J Walton-Rivers, E Longford, D Gomme, R Bartle, M Gardner Abstract More info TBA Link