The increasing sophistication of computer games has opened a new frontier for computing research. Universities across the world have responded in varying measure to the growing game phenomenon by hiring faculty, establishing labs, and marketing their programs to a new generation of students interested in careers in entertainment computing. Dr. Timothy Roden will survey themes in entertainment computing research and describe initiatives currently underway at UL Lafayette. In addition, Dr. Roden will explain his current research focus and other topics of interest including: 1) computer game curricula, 2) procedural content creation, and 3) the design of an intelligent office assistant.
A virtual reality (VR) system is one that mentally immerses a user in an electronically-synthesized interactive environment. Dr. Christoph Borst will discuss recent and ongoing work in the CACS Virtual Reality lab, focusing especially on whole-hand interactions, haptic interfaces (interfaces that stimulate the sense of touch), and on an interactive desktop VR system for visualization and interpretation of scientific data.