I recorded both Ken Perlin and John Buchanan's talks at FuturePlay 2008. Instead of releasing the raw audio of these I will be turning them into two episodes of thunderbird six in the next few weeks. I of course will put them on the feed here.
Thanks to everyone at FP, it was great meeting everyone, and the talks were great. Plus, I got a bunch of new facebook and twitter followers...
Showing posts with label Keynotes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Keynotes. Show all posts
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Jackie Copland's Keynote: Living The Dream
Jackie is from Electronic Arts and she is a member of the Global University Relations Team for EA.
Her talk focussed on life in the industry (specifically at EA). Her presentation included videos of EA emplyees talking about working at EA and what they expected and did not expect. My take on her talk, if you want to work in this industry be sure to know how to work with REALLY big code bases (like oh millions of lines of code) and learn to play with others. Indeed most of EA's projects involve huge teams. If you are designing a computer science curriculum that is intended to stream people towards the industry you might want to take this into account.
Enjoy Jackie's talk.
Her talk focussed on life in the industry (specifically at EA). Her presentation included videos of EA emplyees talking about working at EA and what they expected and did not expect. My take on her talk, if you want to work in this industry be sure to know how to work with REALLY big code bases (like oh millions of lines of code) and learn to play with others. Indeed most of EA's projects involve huge teams. If you are designing a computer science curriculum that is intended to stream people towards the industry you might want to take this into account.
Enjoy Jackie's talk.
Ben Sawyer's Keynote: Are We Learning Yet?
Ben Sawyer kicked off FuturePlay 2008 with his keynote about the serious games space and he asked the question "Are we learning yet?"
My impressions from his talk are that content and context are king, you can't teach oceanography with an FPS, and you can't use the America's Army model for every problem. (I am VASTLY oversimplifying the message here...) His talk was great, so I hope you enjoy it.
Ben's talk.
My impressions from his talk are that content and context are king, you can't teach oceanography with an FPS, and you can't use the America's Army model for every problem. (I am VASTLY oversimplifying the message here...) His talk was great, so I hope you enjoy it.
Ben's talk.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Jackie Copland of Electronic Arts to Deliver Keynote at FuturePlay 2008
Jackie Copland is a member of the Global University Relations Team of Electronic Arts (EA), the world’s largest interactive entertainment software company (perhaps you have heard of them...). Jackie’s physical office is based at EA’s development studio in Burnaby, BC – but she works with all five of EA’s studios in Canada, and many post secondary institutions across the country. University Relations at EA is a centralized team that manages relationships with faculty, professors, staff, and students at colleges and universities worldwide.
Prior to joining EA in 2006, Jackie worked for with Co-op students and employers for five years in the Engineering Co-op Program at the University of British Columbia, building partnerships between academia and industry, and helping students to transition from school to work. She also has a scientific background, with 6 years in the mining industry as a research project manager working with new refining technologies. She holds a B.Sc. from McGill University, and an MBA from Queen’s University.
The idea of a University outreach program from a game company is something that newcomers to the gaming space may not be aware of. Of course at FuturePlay the idea of the interaction of the gaming industry and the academy is really a central theme. Companies like EA and Microsoft (to name just two) work closely with academics on research projects. I wonder if she can get me a copy of Madden 09 for free... Oh, did I say that out loud? Anyway, I really look forward to her talk. EA have been supporters of FuturePlay for quite a while now and I cannot wait to meet Jackie.
Prior to joining EA in 2006, Jackie worked for with Co-op students and employers for five years in the Engineering Co-op Program at the University of British Columbia, building partnerships between academia and industry, and helping students to transition from school to work. She also has a scientific background, with 6 years in the mining industry as a research project manager working with new refining technologies. She holds a B.Sc. from McGill University, and an MBA from Queen’s University.
The idea of a University outreach program from a game company is something that newcomers to the gaming space may not be aware of. Of course at FuturePlay the idea of the interaction of the gaming industry and the academy is really a central theme. Companies like EA and Microsoft (to name just two) work closely with academics on research projects. I wonder if she can get me a copy of Madden 09 for free... Oh, did I say that out loud? Anyway, I really look forward to her talk. EA have been supporters of FuturePlay for quite a while now and I cannot wait to meet Jackie.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
This Week It Is An Oscar Winner: Ken Perlin To Speak at FuturePlay 2008
In last week's Keynote Speaker Profile (I have made a command decision to capitalize that...) I talked about Don Daglow, well, this week I thought I would mention another luminary coming to FuturePlay 2008. Ken Perlin.
Ken Perlin is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at New York University.He is the founding director of the Media Research Laboratory and also directed the NYU Center for Advanced Technology. Ken's research interests include graphics, animation, user interfaces, science education and multimedia. OK, now this is pretty cool, he received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (that is an Oscar for those of you scoring at home...) for his noise and turbulence procedural texturing techniques, which are widely used in feature films and television, as well as the TrapCode award for achievement in computer graphics research, the New York City Mayor's award for excellence in Science and Technology and the Sokol award for outstanding Science faculty at NYU, and a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation.
He spoke at FuturePlay 2006 where he showed some software that models emotions and then maps them on to faces. This technology has been used to help teach autistic kids how to read emotion. (Take that Jack Thompson).
Oh yeah, he has also been a featured artist at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
I can tell you as well that he is a great speaker, and frankly he is funny as hell too. You do not want to miss ths
Ken Perlin is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at New York University.He is the founding director of the Media Research Laboratory and also directed the NYU Center for Advanced Technology. Ken's research interests include graphics, animation, user interfaces, science education and multimedia. OK, now this is pretty cool, he received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (that is an Oscar for those of you scoring at home...) for his noise and turbulence procedural texturing techniques, which are widely used in feature films and television, as well as the TrapCode award for achievement in computer graphics research, the New York City Mayor's award for excellence in Science and Technology and the Sokol award for outstanding Science faculty at NYU, and a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation.
He spoke at FuturePlay 2006 where he showed some software that models emotions and then maps them on to faces. This technology has been used to help teach autistic kids how to read emotion. (Take that Jack Thompson).
Oh yeah, he has also been a featured artist at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
I can tell you as well that he is a great speaker, and frankly he is funny as hell too. You do not want to miss ths
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Katie Salen to give FuturePlay 2008 Keynote
The keynotes at FuturePlay are always great, and I will be profiling each speaker, a different on each week. Man I just used 'week' twice in the same sentence...
Katie Salen will speak at FuturePlay 2008 at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto in November. Katie is a writer, editor, and eesigner. She has worked on a range of projects for clients including Microsoft, SIGGRAPH, the Hewlett Foundation, XMediaLab, the Design Institute, gameLab, and mememe Productions. Katie is of course the co-author of Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals and The Game Design Reader. She is a member of Playground which recently worked with areacode to invent a new genre of games. Currently she is working on two projects funded through the MacArthur Foundation focused on digital media, games, and learning, and is producing two new media works for the ZeroOne Festival. A contributing writer for RES magazine, she has worked as an animator on Richard Linklater’s critically acclaimed animated feature Waking Life. She partnered with screenwriter and director Hampton Fancher to develop an animated storytelling experience distributed through Xbox Live. Finally, she has curated programs at the Lincoln Center, Cinematexas, ZKM, Exploding Cinema, and the Walker Art Center on machinima. Not a bad start eh...
Katie Salen will speak at FuturePlay 2008 at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto in November. Katie is a writer, editor, and eesigner. She has worked on a range of projects for clients including Microsoft, SIGGRAPH, the Hewlett Foundation, XMediaLab, the Design Institute, gameLab, and mememe Productions. Katie is of course the co-author of Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals and The Game Design Reader. She is a member of Playground which recently worked with areacode to invent a new genre of games. Currently she is working on two projects funded through the MacArthur Foundation focused on digital media, games, and learning, and is producing two new media works for the ZeroOne Festival. A contributing writer for RES magazine, she has worked as an animator on Richard Linklater’s critically acclaimed animated feature Waking Life. She partnered with screenwriter and director Hampton Fancher to develop an animated storytelling experience distributed through Xbox Live. Finally, she has curated programs at the Lincoln Center, Cinematexas, ZKM, Exploding Cinema, and the Walker Art Center on machinima. Not a bad start eh...
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Constance Steinkuehler's Keynote
Constance Steinkuehler opened the show today, WOW. (I mean WOW both as like 'wow' and the gaming way....).
It turns out the playing MMO RPGs helps kids with literacy and scientific reasoning!
Enjoy the talk
It turns out the playing MMO RPGs helps kids with literacy and scientific reasoning!
Enjoy the talk
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Constance Steinkuehler Keynote
As our (why do I say that, there is just me typing these things...) coverage of the upcoming Keynotes at FuturePlay 2007 continues, let's move on the talk by Constance Steinkuehler. Constance's talk can be summarized below (from an abstract of one of her papers).
"For those with a vested interest in online technologies for learning, the knowledge and skills that constitute successful participation in massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) places them squarely among the most promising new digital technologies to date. In this paper, I broadly outline the qualitative results of a two and a half year cognitive ethnography of the MMO Lineage and describe the current trajectory of research we are now pursuing, based on those findings: (a) the empirical investigation of focused research questions in order to document and analyze those core practices that constitute gameplay in virtual worlds, and (b) the development of educational activities for after school clubs that capitalize on those capacities found throughout our research. This essay concludes with a reflection on the multiple relationships between games and education, highlighting the potential for such technologies to transform not only the means of education but also perhaps the goals."
This one sounds very cool, as a psychologist, and a gamer, I am not missing this one.
"For those with a vested interest in online technologies for learning, the knowledge and skills that constitute successful participation in massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) places them squarely among the most promising new digital technologies to date. In this paper, I broadly outline the qualitative results of a two and a half year cognitive ethnography of the MMO Lineage and describe the current trajectory of research we are now pursuing, based on those findings: (a) the empirical investigation of focused research questions in order to document and analyze those core practices that constitute gameplay in virtual worlds, and (b) the development of educational activities for after school clubs that capitalize on those capacities found throughout our research. This essay concludes with a reflection on the multiple relationships between games and education, highlighting the potential for such technologies to transform not only the means of education but also perhaps the goals."
This one sounds very cool, as a psychologist, and a gamer, I am not missing this one.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
T6 Flashback 9 - Interview with Linden Lab VP of Product Development and FuturePlay 2007 Keynote Speaker Cory Ondrejka
If you are coming to FuturePlay 2007 you probably know that one of our keynotes will be Cory Ondrejka of Linden Lab
Episode 23 of t6 featured am interview with Cory Ondrejka, VP of Product Development for Linden Lab of San Francisco, the creators of Second Life.
Glyn Heatley and I sat down via Gizmo (to phone) with Cory Ondrejka and talked about everything Second Life. We discussed academic applications of this virtual world, research applications, and even UFO abductions (virtual ones...).
The folks at Linden lab are visionaries, no question about it and you can tell talking to a guy like Cory.
This is just another example of how games are not only entertaining but can have emergent properties of their own. Thanks Cory!
(note: Glyn had some mic problems, he may have actually turned off the mic... so Dave had to do a lot of signal processing to get this one out, so there may be some points that are a bit rough).
Enjoy the interview.
Episode 23 of t6 featured am interview with Cory Ondrejka, VP of Product Development for Linden Lab of San Francisco, the creators of Second Life.
Glyn Heatley and I sat down via Gizmo (to phone) with Cory Ondrejka and talked about everything Second Life. We discussed academic applications of this virtual world, research applications, and even UFO abductions (virtual ones...).
The folks at Linden lab are visionaries, no question about it and you can tell talking to a guy like Cory.
This is just another example of how games are not only entertaining but can have emergent properties of their own. Thanks Cory!
(note: Glyn had some mic problems, he may have actually turned off the mic... so Dave had to do a lot of signal processing to get this one out, so there may be some points that are a bit rough).
Enjoy the interview.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Frans Mäyrä Keynote
The paper sessions are great at FuturePlay, and so are the keynotes. Over the next week or so I will shine the spotlight on the different keynote speakers. Here is a short summary of Frans Mäyrä's upcoming keynote at FuturePlay 2007, his title is"The Role of Digital Play in a Society: The Case of Finland"
During the last few decades, we have witnessed fast-paced changes taking place in contemporary societies, much of them related to the adoption and use of information and communication technologies. Digital games often appear to play a particular role in this development, taking the everyday use of computers beyond the more restricted work-related functions and opening ways for interactive media to become a truly popular cultural, global phenomenon. Yet it is hard to make any precise claims about the exact role computer and video games currently hold in a society. Many of the most commonly quoted demographic figures are produced by entertainment industry organisations and are not based on reliable academic studies. As the methodologies used in producing such core data are not open for peer-review, it is difficult to say whether our perception of games and digital play in a wider societal context is tilted or accurate.
In his Future Play conference keynote professor Mäyrä will present some of the findings from a nation-wide survey carried out in Finland by the University of Tampere Games Research Lab. Focusing on such fundamental issues as how many and what sort of people are actually playing digital games, what kind of playing styles or use of time for gameplay are common among them, and which games are most popular in different age and > gender groups, he will paint a picture of a Western, late industrial society and its involvement in digital play. Mäyrä will also discuss the methodological challenges related to gathering and analysing such data, and point out further directions for study into the socio-cultural research of games and players.
During the last few decades, we have witnessed fast-paced changes taking place in contemporary societies, much of them related to the adoption and use of information and communication technologies. Digital games often appear to play a particular role in this development, taking the everyday use of computers beyond the more restricted work-related functions and opening ways for interactive media to become a truly popular cultural, global phenomenon. Yet it is hard to make any precise claims about the exact role computer and video games currently hold in a society. Many of the most commonly quoted demographic figures are produced by entertainment industry organisations and are not based on reliable academic studies. As the methodologies used in producing such core data are not open for peer-review, it is difficult to say whether our perception of games and digital play in a wider societal context is tilted or accurate.
In his Future Play conference keynote professor Mäyrä will present some of the findings from a nation-wide survey carried out in Finland by the University of Tampere Games Research Lab. Focusing on such fundamental issues as how many and what sort of people are actually playing digital games, what kind of playing styles or use of time for gameplay are common among them, and which games are most popular in different age and > gender groups, he will paint a picture of a Western, late industrial society and its involvement in digital play. Mäyrä will also discuss the methodological challenges related to gathering and analysing such data, and point out further directions for study into the socio-cultural research of games and players.
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