Individuals, including freelance and employees, who are committed to providing the strategy, development, and implementation of simulations and serious games on behalf of larger enterprises.
Tuesday, August 21, 2011
Welcome
Claude Comair, President, DigiPen Institute of Technology
Clark Aldrich, Conference Director and CEO, Clark Aldrich Designs
Plenary Session: The Serious Games Market: Segment Size and Where Opportunity Lies
The distinguished panel will discuss the opportunities for serious games and educational simulations by reviewing current research on the market needs and growth in the next five years.
Panelists:
Alan Gershenfeld, Founder and President, E-Line Media
Tom Grant, Forrester Research
Tyson Greer, CEO, Ambient Insight
Kevin Oakes, CEO, i4cp
Speaker Sessions:
Trans-media Gamefication Opportunities for Serious Gaming
Burnes Hollyman, President & CEO, The Digital Entertainment Alliance
Empowering Human with R.T.I.S. and Computational Technology
Samir Abou-Samra, Chief Technology Officer, RTIS Program Director, Department Chair for Computer Science and Continuing Education, DigiPen Corporation U.S.A. / DigiPen Institute of Technology
In general, a computerized program solves a problem under reading and manipulating the input in order to produce an output. Some problems can have an infinite set of solutions, taking a phenomenal amount of time. AI techniques or algorithms can be simply viewed as fast and optimized search algorithms, where each AI technique is specialized in a search domain. Search algorithms are optimized by adopting heuristics. Using the technology of Real Time Interactive Simulation applications, the computational power of the machine and human intelligence, AI algorithms can become more human centric, efficient and feasible. The heuristic model in this approach is the human brain input. Graphical user interfaces and graphical capabilities of a simulation empowers users to grasp a larger amount of data with real time input based on human intelligence that acts as filters and optimization. By empowering the human brain with real time interactive simulation and computation technology, we can devise new highly efficient and practical solutions.
Strategicplay® with LEGO® Serious Play®
Jacqueline Lloyd Smith, MA, MBA, Strategic Play
Don’t just watch and listen – in this session you will use 3D thinking to engage your whole brain while building with LEGO bricks. Play, learn and experience the innovative, hands-on methodology, presented by the Strategic Play Group, which has designed tools to improve individual, team, organization, and community performance.
After Lunch Plenary Session: 3D Learning
Ran Hinrichs, CEO, 2b3d
Corporate Serious Games are Changing the Rules of Product Development
Tom Grant, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research
B-HIVE: A Human Behavioral Definition Simulation Environment
Claude Comair, Digipen
On April 6, 2009, Boeing announced its 2008 Suppliers of the Year chosen from among 10,800 active suppliers worldwide in nine different categories. DigiPen won the award in the Technology category for its development of the B-Hive environment. This presentation presents the concepts and structure and potential usages of the B-Hive Development environment. B-Hive is Claude Comair’s proposed solution to create a simulation environment, which will be used to predict how an individual and/or groups of people might react to a series of actions and/or events. Several “what if” scenarios will be simulated, which could help decision making on a final set of actions to be taken against the subject group. (Please note that the word “against” is used here in the “mathematical” sense, as opposed to its military meaning.)
Wednesday, August 22, 2011
Plenary Session: Platforms: Options and Decisions
Distinguished panelists will explore the potential platforms for serious games and educational simulations while effectively utilizing each platform.
Panelists:
Sam Adkins, Ambient Insight
Laure Casalini, Dean, Supinfogame
Nick Berry, President, DataGenetics
David Metcalf, University of Central Florida
Speaker Sessions:
From Learning Objective to Game Design
Dov Jacobson, Studio Manager, Games That Work
Together, we look at some challenging learning objectives and consider which genres and game features might effectively focus the player’s attention. Examples from experience and from the literature are presented but all attendees are expected to suggest original design solutions.
Productivity Games
Donald Brinkman, Research Program Manager, Microsoft Research
The session will facilitate games and social media open-ended participatory sandboxes where developers and end users can create experiences that go beyond the intentions of the designers.
Strategies for Fast Turn Around
Talib Hussain, Senior Scientist, Raytheon BBN Technologies
Utility & Blender: Serious Game Development
Zack Larson, Chief Strategy Officer, design3
Reusing Resources and Methodologies Across a Series of Learning Games
Tyler Vogel, Game Designer, Muzzy Lane Software, Inc.
The presentation will analyze the new PRACTICE series of interactive, multiplayer 3D simulation games and how to market by reusing materials and processes in learning games.
The Lost (But Critical) Art of Storytelling in Serious Gaming
David Versaw, WILL Interactive
Having the unique ability to engage the learner in the content, not just wowing them with the most accurate 3D resolution or functionality is crucial. Actively participate in simulation examples and experience how some of the most influential organizations in the world are using serious gaming technology with a focus on compelling content which draws in, engages and positively changes the attitudes and behaviors of their target audiences.
After Hours Session: Spongelab Platform Developer Session
Thursday, August 23, 2011
Plenary Session: How to Assess the Value of Serious Games
The distinguished panel will explore various methods for determining the value of games, game dynamics and game design. They will look at this from several angles, and then take questions:
- What does the formal K12 assessment industry think about the use of games?
- Where have games developed for research shown promise regarding games as an assessment tool?
- What do game designers think about the concept of assessment in games?
- What can game structures tell us about formative assessment, or assessment for learning?
Panelists:
Alex Games, Ph.D., Education Design Director, Microsoft
Zoran Popovic, Ph.D., Associate Professor in Computer Science at the University of Washington
James Portnow, CEO, Rainmaker Games, and writer of Extra Credits, the game design column at The Escapist
Jon S. Twing, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Measurement Officer, Assessment & Information Division, Pearson
Moderator for the session is David Samuelson, Executive Vice President, Games and Augmented Reality, Pearson.
Speaker Sessions:
What Type of Education is Required to Develop Specific Skills in Serious Gaming?
Laure Casalini, Dean, Supinfogame
Two case studies will highlight the education required to develop specific skills in game design for serious games vs. games for entertainment only.
Making Games that Don’t Stink: User Testing in Development
Barbara Chamberlin, Extension Instructional Design Specialist, Associate Professor, New Mexico State
Interactive Grammar and Gamification
Laure Casalini, Dean, Supinfogame
This lecture will address the fundamentals of interactive grammar, game mechanisms and their structures. It will explain and detail their link to the emotional brain and then analyze how and why interactive grammar address so well education or any type of learning processes. From there, we will analyze these results through the new gamification trend and try to deduce what type of models should be developed by game designers for the XXIst century.
MindMeld – Collaboration with SME’s and the Value of Rigorous Processes
Jon Aleckson, CEO, Web CourseWorks
Case studies will be examined to discuss factors that enable team collaboration at the program, individual, and project level to create a highly interactive online learning activity.