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The UCI Game Culture and Technology Laboratory: Towards a Center of Excellence in Games and Visualization Robert Nideffer and Walt Scacchi {nideffer, wscacchi}@uci.edu UCGameLab.Net June 2006 Overview Our goals Game Lab people and partners Current research projects Recent/upcoming events
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The UCI Game Culture and Technology Laboratory:Towards a Center of Excellence in Games and Visualization Robert Nideffer and Walt Scacchi {nideffer, wscacchi}@uci.edu UCGameLab.Net June 2006
Overview • Our goals • Game Lab people and partners • Current research projects • Recent/upcoming events • Educational initiatives • Vision and research opportunities
Goals • Establish Calit2, Game Lab, and partner network as world-leading center in networked games and visualization • Lead the investigation, prototyping, and deployment of the Web 3.0 • Partner with industry-leading firms, government agencies, and others that want to go there with us.
UCI Game Lab People (Faculty) • Studio Art: Robert Nideffer (Director), Antoinette LaFarge • Computer Science: Paul Dourish, Magda El Zarki, Dan Frost, Bonnie Nardi, Andre van der Hoek • Engineering: Tara Hutchinson, Falko Kuester, Joerg Meyer • Arts, Computation, Engineering: Beatriz de Costa, Simon Penny, Bill Tomlinson • Institute Software Research: Celia Pearce, Walt Scacchi (Research Director), • Others: Tom Boellstorf (Anthropology), Christopher Dobrian (Music), Peter Krappe (Humanities/Film Studies), Charlie Zender (Earth Systems Science)
Game Lab People (partial) • Sky Frostenson: Art, Computation & Engineering (ACE)Adrian Herbez: Art, Computation & Engineering (ACE)Eric Kabisch: Art, Computation & Engineering (ACE)Eric Cho: Art, Computation & Engineering (ACE)Derric Eady: Studio Art Nick Urrea: Information and Computer ScienceKenny Lai: Information and Computer ScienceMirko Kiric: Information and Computer ScienceAlex Szeto: Information and Computer ScienceDan Repasky: Studio ArtAndrew Khoury: Information and Computer ScienceYoung Kang: Information and Computer ScienceJames Jennings: Information and Computer Science Calvin Lee: Information and Computer Science Annie Jiu: Information and Computer Science • UC San Diego Supercomputer Center Steve Cutchin: Visualization Services ManagerNatalie Rubin: Game Grid Website DeveloperTak (Sunny) Chu: Game Grid Lead Programmer
Game Lab Faculty Collaborators • David Theo Goldberg (UCHRI) • Anne Balsamo (USC) • Jean-François Blanchette (UC Los Angeles) • Adriene Jenik (UC San Diego) • Henry Lowood (Stanford) • Greg Niemeyer (UC Berkeley) • Jackie Stevens (UC Santa Barbara) • Noah Wardrip-Fruin (UC San Diego) • Sheldon Brown (UC San Diego)
Game Lab Partners and Sponsors • California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology: Calit2 at UCI-UCSD • San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at UCSD • UCI Center for Graphics, Visualization and Imaging Technology • UCI Creative Interactive Visualization Laboratory • UCI Institute for Software Research • UCI Arts, Computation, and Engineering (ACE) Program • UCSD Experimental Game Lab • Calit2 ACTION Laboratory • Center for Digital Industry Promotion, Daegu, Korea (2006-09) • Discovery Science Center, Santa Ana, CA (2004-06) • National Science Foundation (2000-2008) • UC Humanities Research Institute (2006) • Sun Microsystems (2004-05) • and others
Current research projects • Unexceptional.net, a heterogeneous game network (Robert Nideffer) • Open Source Software Development for Networked Games (Walt Scacchi, ISR team) • Science Learning Games (Nideffer and Scacchi, Discovery Science Center team) • Collaboration infrastructure for game culture research (Nideffer and Scacchi) • Advanced Networked Games (Scacchi and Nideffer, DIP Game Lab team, Daegu, Korea)
Game Modding via Open Source Software Development sequence Test { action Execute automatic test scripts { requires { Test scripts, release binaries } provides { Test results } tool { Automated test suite (xtest, others) } agent { Sun ONE Studio QA team } script { /* Executed off-site */ } } action Execute manual test scripts { requires { Release binaries } provides { Test results } tool { NetBeans IDE } agent { users, developers, Sun ONE Studio QA team, Sun ONE Studio developers } script { /* Executed off-site */ } } iteration Update Issuezilla { action Report issues to Issuezilla { requires { Test results } provides { Issuezilla entry } tool { Web browser } agent { users, developers, Sun ONE Studio QA team, Sun ONE Studio developers } script { <br><a href="http://www.netbeans.org/issues/">Navigate to Issuezilla </a> <br><a href="http://www.netbeans.org/issues/query.cgi">Query Issuezilla </a> <br><a href="http://www.netbeans.org/issues/enter_bug.cgi">Enter issue </a> } }
Science Learning Games • Physical interaction quest environment: DinoQuest • Life-size dinosaurs (e.g.,120’ Argentinosaurs) • Gesture-based, embedded electronic media activation (via user IR wand) • Online science games: DinoQuest Online • Addressing CA science education standards for K-6 • Content and API-level interoperation with DinoQuest • DSC Goal: migrate to MMOSLG • DSC planning new SLG exhibits through 2010 • >$35M investment • DSC developing network of three more DSCs (Korea, Turkey, Irvine)
Current research projects • EcoRaft and Virtual Raft (Bill Tomlinson) • HIPerWall (Falko Kuester) • Earth and Planetary Systems Science Game Engine (Kuester, Brown-Simmons, and Zender) • Immersive Classroom (Falko Kuester and Tara Hutchinson) • Fantastic Voyage, a cardio-vascular navigation game (Joerg Meyer) • GLYPH, a game authoring environment (Celia Pearce) • Mobile Games in Java (Frost and Pearce) • Ethnographic studies of MMOGs (Pearce, Boellstorff, and Nardi)
Game Lab Events • Shift+Ctrl (2001) exhibition devoted to games and game art • Game Grid Workshop (2003) • ArtModJam (2004) at Game Dev Conf. • ALT+CTRL (2004) juried game art festival • MASSIVE: Research Summit of Future of Networked Multiplayer Games (2006) • CorporateOpportunities for Multiplayer Game Technology (2006)
Educational initiatives • UCI Arts, Computation, and Engineering (ACE) program offering graduate-level courses and degree program addressing game culture and technology • UCI Game Lab faculty currently offering nearly 20 graduate and undergraduate courses in computer game culture and technology • UCI now offers undergraduate degree in CS/Studio Art with a concentration in Game Culture and Technology
Vision • Developing the Web 3.0 – the Game Web • Future Web sites as game world servers • Users/visitors “put/create/update” content in world/site • Multiple Game Web/Visualization research rooms • HIPerWall • Interactive Classroom • Software/Enterprise Systems Observatory • Multi-sensor observational systems • Collaboration warrooms
Game Web Research Opportunities • Massive Game Grid network • Linking game labs, science centers, libraries, etc. • Creating social, humanistic, artistic, economic, and technologic cyberinfrastructure (i.e.,national R&D testbed) • Game Web application areas • enterprise systems (e.g., supply chain management) • distributed systems/software engineering work • massively multiplayer art/performance spaces • multi-site knowledge management • education & training • stadium-area network games • etc.
Closing remarks • We welcome your questions and comments. • Please contact us if you have any questions. • We want to create a Center of Excellence in Games and Visualization.