Report from the Summer School - Multidisciplinary Game Research 2017

The summer course Multidisciplinary Game Research, offered by the Utrecht University [Utrecht Center for Game Research], was held from 21-25 August 2017. The course schedule consisted of lectures and hands-on experience sessions on a broad spectrum of aspects related to both applied and entertainment games. Applied games allow users to entertain, practice, experiment, and learn in a safe and motivating environment. Games play an increasingly important role in areas like education, healthcare, safety, urban planning, sustainability, creative industries, entertainment and other economic, cultural, and societal sectors.

The program of the summer school was organized in two tracks: the generic track, and the applications track. In the first track, the summer school students learned to understand and describe various theoretical perspectives used by game and media scientists, for example the role of sound tracks in games, the characteristics of location-based games, or how to engage with audiences or players in a novel way. In addition, a number of game technologies were discussed, such as social animation, crowd simulation, and games with a purpose.

The applications track presented the three focus themes of the Center for Game Research: Games for Learning, Games for Health, and Games for Change. Lectures included games for training communication skills, exercise games, and persuasive games to change household energy consumption.

The program concluded with a live demonstration of our motion capture lab, where people’s body motions are captured to transfer to virtual avatars.