Speaker: Swen Gaudl (GU, Sweden)

Topic: Exploring Design Spaces in Digital Games for Understanding Creativity

Bio: Swen E. Gaudl is a Senior Lecturer for Interaction Design at the Department of Applied IT, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He teaches on interaction design, ai and programming. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Bath, on advancing the development tools and approaches for creating better character AI. His main research interests are to broaden the available knowledge on the understanding and replication of human behaviour/interaction with artefacts with the aim to create something applicable on a wider societal level. This includes creating novel robotic/physical concepts, AI systems and technologies, approaches for connecting people and playful artefacts, testing the limits of the current state-of-the-art.

Abstract: With the growing integration of smartphones into our daily lives, and their increased ease of use, mobile games have become highly popular across all demographics. People listen to music, play games or read the news while in transit or bridging gap times. While mobile gaming is gaining popularity, mobile expression of creativity is still in its early stages. We present here a new type of mobile system --- MPCGD -- and illustrate our approach to the design goals. This new type of app seamlessly integrates exploration of the design space into the actual user experience of playing the game, and aims to enrich the user experience. I will also briefly discuss open challenges and our current agenda for further research and how generative techniques can aid the exploration of the game space further.