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< Back Prof. Paul Cairns University of York iGGi Chair Supervisor Paul Cairns is a professor interested in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) generally and specifically on how games work to produce the experiences that players really value. He has looked extensively at immersion and engagement in games but is also developing new ideas on players experiences of challenge and uncertainty. He has been teaching HCI for over twenty years and is particularly interested in the rigorous application of research methods having co-edited the first book on research methods for HCI and written another about doing better statistics in HCI. He strongly believes in self-explanatory book titles. He is also Scholar-in-Residence at The AbleGamers Charity, based in the USA, through which he is working with players and game developers to inform and advance the development of accessible games. With his colleagues there, he produced the Accessible Player Experiences (APX) design patterns and card deck. He is particularly interested in supervising students with a HCI, behavioural sciences, media or computer science background on the following topics: Understanding player experiences Developing new measures of player experience whether based on self-report, physiological or other instruments Accessible player experiences Using games to understand and inform people’s experiences with other interactive systems Research themes: Accessible Games Games with a Purpose Player Experience paul.cairns@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~pcairns Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-cairns-99a1b32/ LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Accessibility Applied Games Game Data Player Research - 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. t.broad@gold.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://terencebroad.com Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/terence-broad-81350668/ LinkedIn BlueSky https://github.com/terrybroad Github Featured Publication(s): 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 Active Divergence with Generative Deep Learning--A Survey and Taxonomy 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 Dr Joseph Walton-Rivers University of Essex iGGi Alum Controlling Non-player characters. (Industry placement at Visteon) Within games non-player characters help to sell the world and give meaning to the player's experiences. These characters in games are presently not very believable and often lack the ability to interact with each other in meaningful ways. This work is looking at creating socially capable, believable agents to populate the worlds of role playing games. These agents need to be able to cope with player's actions and be capable of acting independent in the world. Joseph studied computer science at the University of Essex, obtaining a first class degree. During his study there he received two awards for academic achievement. After graduation he worked in the IT team of a company with offices across the United Kingdom where he developed and maintained their IT systems. Since starting IGGI he has worked on research involving co-operative agents working together to solve shared goals. He has a keen interest in programming and the Free Software movement. During his free time he enjoys strategy and puzzle games including Prison Architect, the Shadowrun series and Galactic Civilization 2. Please note: Updating of profile text in progress Email Mastodon Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Featured Publication(s): Evaluating the Effects on Monte Carlo Tree Search of Predicting Co-operative Agent Behaviour An Exploratory Analysis of Student Experiences with Peer Evaluation in Group Game Development Projects Student Perspectives on the Purpose of Peer Evaluation During Group Game Development Projects The 2018 Hanabi competition Hexboard: A generic game framework for turn-based strategy games Fireworks agent competition Evaluating and Modelling Hanabi-Playing Agents Controlling co-incidental non-player characters Monte carlo tree search applied to co-operative problems Distributed Social Multi-Agent Negotiation Framework For Incomplete Information Games Themes Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Dr Jen Beeston University of York iGGi Alum + Supervisor Jen is currently working as a Lecturer in HCI in the Department of Computer Science (University of York) whilst writing up her PhD. She has a multidisciplinary background, from studying subjects such as environmental science and media production and having worked in various jobs such as grassland research, flood risk management, and plasterboard quality. She feels extraordinarily fortunate to have been able to do research into her lifelong hobby of playing digital games. In particular, Jen feels it is important that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy gaming should they wish. As such, her research has been aimed at exploring the experiences of people with disabilities in playing games, beyond how various technologies can support play. Jen’s research is focused particularly on the social experiences of players with disabilities in-game and within the broader gaming community. She has worked alongside the charity AbleGamers with the aims of investigating these player’s experiences of gaming, what effects alternative controls have upon play, and what it’s like for these players in multiplayer or online games. Jen is broadly interested in HCI, user experience, player experience, inclusivity, social play, and game communities. Outside of her work, she enjoys walking, thinking, reading, crochet, art, and tabletop roleplaying games. jen.beeston@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenbeeston/ LinkedIn BlueSky Github Featured Publication(s): Validation and Prioritization of Design Options for Accessible Player Experiences Social experiences of people with disabilities in playing (in) accessible digital games Enabled players: The value of accessible digital games Accessible player experiences (APX): The players Characteristics and motivations of players with disabilities in digital games Perceptions of Telepresence Robot Form Themes Accessibility - 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 jonathan.hook@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://www.jonhook.co.uk Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-hook-641b597/ LinkedIn BlueSky https://github.com/jonathanhook Github Themes Applied Games Esports Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Prof. Nick Pears University of York Supervisor Nick Pears is a Professor of Computer Vision in York’s Vision, Graphics and Learning (VGL) research group. He works on statistical modelling of 3D shapes, with an emphasis on the human face and head. The Liverpool-York Head Model and the associated Headspace training set has been downloaded by over 100 research groups internationally, with the Universal Head Model being downloaded by 50 research groups. His most recent work with his PhD students has focused on semantic disentanglement of 3D images and how to make autonomous vehicles safer and more trustworthy when using computer vision systems. He is assessor for many PhDs including construction of generative models for novel video content using adversarial deep learning techniques. nick.pears@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/np7/ Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-pears-90970312/ LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Creative Computing Game AI - Previous Next

< Back Dr Carlos Gonzalez Diaz University of York iGGi Alum Carlos is finishing his PhD at the University of York. He holds an MSc in Serious Games at the University of Skövde (Sweden) and a BSc in Software Engineering (Spain). He is been closely connected with industry throughout his PhD, having worked in the last years for Microsoft Research, Sony Interactive Entertainment R&D, Musemio Ltd R&D and Goldsmiths, UoL; as well as done consulting for tech companies such as Unity Technologies. A description of Carlos' research: The purpose of my PhD research is to advance game technologies by democratising the use of ML techniques among non-experts through innovative tools and plugins for game engines. I developed ML specific visual scritping languages and used mixed-methods research approaches to understand how to better support developers in creating VR interactions and the challenges behind human-AI interaction. I had several technical jobs throughout my PhD, as my expertise is highly applicable in both industry and academia. Thanks to the broad range of expertise that I gathered through many years of industrial work and academic study, I can tackle the challenges emerging from the inter-disciplinary nature of modern work: where user psychology, immersive technology and artificial intelligence intersect. Please refer to my website for completely up-to-date information regarding publications. Feel free to reach out if you want more information or want to chat about my/your work. I am looking for positions starting on February 2023 onwards. carlos.gonzalezdiaz@york.ac.uk Email https://masto.ai/@carlotes247 Mastodon https://carlotes247.github.io Other links Website https://uk.linkedin.com/in/carlosglesdiaz LinkedIn BlueSky https://github.com/carlotes247 Github Supervisor(s): Prof. Sebastian Deterding Featured Publication(s): Embodied, in-medium design of VR game motion controls using interactive supervised learning Automatic Game Tuning for Strategic Diversity Programming by Moving: Interactive Machine Learning for Embodied Interaction Design InteractML: Node Based Tool to Empower Artists and Dancers in using Interactive Machine Learning for Designing Movement Interaction Movement interaction design for immersive media using interactive machine learning Using Machine Learning to Design Movement Interaction in Virtual Reality Interactive machine learning for more expressive game interactions Making Space for Social Time: Supporting Conversational Transitions Before, During, and After Video Meetings InteractML: Making machine learning accessible for creative practitioners working with movement interaction in immersive media Interactive Machine Learning for Embodied Interaction Design: A tool and methodology Bodystorming in SocialVR to Support Collaborative Embodied Ideation Themes Creative Computing Design & Development Game AI Immersive Technology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taVry9IQUjE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkKU3MyBspM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHiPav2l5gA Previous Next

< Back Luke Farrar University of York iGGi Alum Luke Farrar is an iGGi PhD student at The University of York undertaking research in Flexible and Realistic Character Animations in Complex and Dynamic Environments. Luke's research focuses through his bachelor's and master's degrees were on applying machine learning to interesting and unique settings. In his bachelor's he focused on creating an application for individuals that suffered from cognitive impairments through the use of the "Microsoft HoloLens" and machine learning to allow those individuals to maintain a semblance of everyday life. In his postgraduate Luke focused on using machine learning to generalise high-fidelity scientific simulations to rapidly generate predictions for parameter combinations that had not yet been sampled in order to accelerate the production of new results. Luke revels in all things AI, knowing that there is always more to learn and seeks to continually deepen his understanding around AI. A description of Luke's research: Modern games have an increasing focus on hyper-realism and immersion to better capture the attention of players. One of the ways that games can break this immersion is by having animations that break the flow of movement or actions through the use of predefined animations. Motion matching is a solution for predicting the best next frame of an animation by looking at the pose and user trajectory. The downside however, is that when you increase the amount of possible animations in the database the runtime cost also increases. A solution was proposed known as 'learned motion matching' (Holden et al., 2020) which takes the positive properties of motion matching but also achieves the scalability of neural-network-based generative models. This project will explore and improve the learned motion matching method through implementation of memory layers to improve accuracy without the sacrifice of increasing runtime costs. A restructuring and adaptation of the existing machine learning neural network used could also improve the learned motion matching method as breaking down each step of the learned motion matching at each step could uncover optimisations that are not initially visible. Another way restructuring could improve the learned motion matching is through creating a more succinct all-in-one approach which may streamline the process. lukebfarrar@gmail.com Email Mastodon Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-farrar-3967b3243/ LinkedIn BlueSky Github Supervisors: Dr Miles Hansard Dr Patrik Huber Dr James Walker Themes Immersive Technology - Previous Next

< Back Dr Dan Franks University of York Supervisor Dr Franks is an interdisciplinary researcher and data scientist interested in AI and machine learning. He is experienced in developing and applying evolutionary computation and machine learning methods to understanding behaviour. He is an internationally recognized leader in interdisciplinary research, has published in top journals such as Science and PNAS. Some of his papers are in the top 1% of all papers for media coverage (altmetric), and his work is regularly covered by The New Scientist, National Geographic, Wired, The BBC, The Guardian, The Times, among others. As Reader in the York Centre for Cross-disciplinary Systems Analysis, Dan works on applying AI, machine learning, and agent-based modelling, to problems in other disciplines. Particular interests involve the development of machine learning methods for creating intelligent AI and for understanding complex systems. Research themes: Game AI Game Analytics daniel.franks@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Game AI Game Data - Previous Next

< Back Dr Kyle Worrall University of York iGGi Alum Available for post-PhD position Kyle is a final-year PhD researcher at the Centre for Doctoral Training in Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence (IGGI) at the University of York, where his work centers on pioneering deep learning-driven music tools for video game composers. In addition to his research, Kyle is a Lecturer in Games Programming at Edge Hill University, where he encourages the next generation of game developers to appreciate the critical role of audio in interactive experiences. Beyond academia, Kyle is the Founder of Cocreative Technology, an ethical AI music startup on a mission to empower musicians with cutting-edge, AI-driven tools that amplify creative expression, combat burnout, and elevate the emotional depth of game soundtracks. Kyle's research explores how deep learning and generative AI can enhance the creative workflow of video game composers, and improve the experience of players by reducing musical repetition. His work spans symbolic music generation, and real-time adaptive music systems, aiming to improve the emotional expressiveness and of game audio. His recent publications focus on deep learning models for interactive music authoring, expressive performance modelling, the ethical considerations in AI-assisted creativity, and the integration of neural networks with procedural music generation in games. By combining symbolic AI and audio signal processing, Kyle develops tools that support composers in ideation, iteration, and adaptive composition, while remaining transparent and musically intuitive. An experienced speaker, Kyle has presented at leading industry events, including Airwiggle's AirCon 2025, Game Sound Con 2024, Audio Dev Con 2024, the Global Arts and Psychology Symposium 2023, the Play Again Symposium 2024, and the Digital Creativity, Industry and Culture Conference 2022. He is also a regular contributor to the IGGI Conference (2020–2024), and has been featured in TechCrunch, Dazed, The Story of the Sound, and The Audio Programmer podcast, as well as featured on a panel with leaders in game audio from Meta and Sony. kyle.worrall@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleworrallmusic/ LinkedIn BlueSky https://github.com/KJWAudio Github Supervisors: Dr Jon Hook Dr Tom Collins Dr Josh Reiss Featured Publication(s): Final Fantasy VII Remake Music Redesign for Evolved Expectations Across Console Generations Considerations and Concerns of Professional Game Composers Regarding Artificially Intelligent Music Technology Comparative evaluation in the wild: Systems for the expressive rendering of music Reflection Across AI-based Music Composition The Ethics of Creative AI Themes Creative Computing Game Audio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5vCJCB2-2A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AllYuKKxks8 Previous Next

< Back Dr Athanasios Vasileios Kokkinakis University of York iGGi Alum Videogame Correlates of Real-Life Cognitive Traits Video-games have been increasingly gaining momentum and popularity, both with the public but also with the scientific world who has seen their usefulness in multiple areas. Researchers have been making bold claims of Videogames increasing Intelligence monopolizing the public’s attention and taking it away from what Videogames are excellent at; serving as diagnostic tools examining constructs such Reaction Times, Memory and fluid Intelligence. The sharp decline of the aforementioned concepts has been linked to multiple diseases such as the prodrome of Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Moreover, their measurement has been linked to important life outcomes such as Academic Achievement, Time in Unemployment, Unwanted Pregnancies and Mathematical Achievement among others. In my doctoral thesis I have correlated these constructs with the massively played video-game League of Legends. By cross-validating Psychometric measurements with Video-game metrics we can possibly identify at risk populations and stage Health Interventions or even identify “gifted” children or children that lag behind at an early age and place them in appropriate training curricula. He acquired his BSc in Psychology from the University of Bangor and he then went to complete his MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of York. In his first experiment he attempted to see whether “expert video-gamers” would show less Attentional Resources when compared to a control group of non-gamers and whether a short training session of approximately a week had any effects on the non-gamer group. His MSc, although not related to gaming, gave him valuable experience with EEG and MEG which he hopes to incorporate into his future experiments. In his most recent experiments he correlated psychometric Intelligence with Videogame Scores, more specifically League of Legends Tiers. He believes that these scores may give us insight on multiple developmental trajectories for instance healthy aging. athanasios dot kokkinakis *at* z)!gmail*com Email https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Athanasios-Kokkinakis Mastodon Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/athanasios-kokkinakis-8b79101a4 LinkedIn BlueSky Github Prof. Alex Wade Prof. Peter Cowling Featured Publication(s): Data-Driven Audience Experiences in Esports Metagaming and metagames in Esports Videogame Correlates of Real Life Traits and Characteristics. Exploring the relationship between video game expertise and fluid intelligence Temporal and spatial localization of prediction-error signals in the visual brain What's in a name? Ages and names predict the valence of social interactions in a massive online game MEG adaptation resolves the spatiotemporal characteristics of face-sensitive brain responses Predicting skill learning in a large, longitudinal MOBA dataset Automatic Generation of Text for Match Recaps using Esport Caster Commentaries WARDS: Modelling the Worth of Vision in MOBA's DAX: Data-Driven Audience Experiences in Esports Time to die 2: Improved in-game death prediction in dota 2 Themes Esports Game AI Player Research Research Gate Google Scholar Previous Next

< Back Doruk Balcı University of York iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement I am a game maker interested in the relationship between player creativity and game design. My work is centered around the transformative capabilities of players to invent their own metagames and play-practices, and how to support this through game design. My other interests include: drawing, literature, making zines and browser games, and playing with tools I don’t really understand. Designing for Appropriative Play How do we make games which we want to be messed with, changed fundamentally beyond our expectations in play? How do we make up rules that are intended to be bent, changed or broken? Why would we want that? Play practices that transform structures, subvert expectations and re-define their contexts are celebrated in many aspects of culture and can lead to personal and meaningful experiences. Yet research on this topic from a game design perspective has been scarce. In my project, I am exploring how we can design game systems that invite players to assume ownership of their play-practices through exploring alternative paradigms of game design. doruk.balci@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://fuzul.itch.io Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/doruk-balc%C4%B1-19749a151 LinkedIn https://bsky.app/profile/dorukb.bsky.social BlueSky Github Supervisor: Dr Jo Iacovides Themes Design & Development Player Research - Previous Next