ICEC 2006 Announces Papers and Posters

The 5th International Conference on Entertainment Computing (ICEC 2006) has announced its accepted papers and posters for the event to be held September 20-22, 2006 at Microsoft Research in Cambridge, UK. ICEC 2006, which intends to be an international forum for the exchange of experience and knowledge amongst researchers and developers in the field of entertainment computing, accepted different submission types that present scientific ideas or improvements to existing techniques in the broad multi-disciplinary field of entertainment and edutainment applications. Papers from various areas of research have been scheduled into thematic sessions. Authoring Tool session papers include: "Language-Driven Development of Videogames: The e-Game Experience," "Architecture of an Authoring System to Support the Creation of Interactive Content," "Programmable Vertex Processing Unit for Mobile Game Development," and "Dynamic Skinning for Popping Dance." In other spectrums of science, papers extend to topics such as "Backseat Playgrounds: Pervasive Storytelling in Vast Location Based Games" and "Learning about Cultural Heritage by Playing Geogames." For those accepted, conference proceedings will be published with the Springer. Posters highlight international research and projects in the form of both posters and demos. These include projects such as "SplashGame," a ludo-educative application based on genre and verbal interactions concepts; PHI, a physics application programming interface; Forbidden City Explorer, a guide system that gives priority to shared images and chats; VIRSTORY, a collaborative virtual storytelling; and TEMPEST, a text input system for musical performers. Keynotes and invited talks will integrate industry voice in the academic forum. The opening keynote will be by Nicole Lazzaro, Founder and President of XEODesign, Inc. Lazzaro is an expert on emotion and the fun of games. XEODesign's 14 years of interactive research has defined the 4 Fun Keys, the four mechanisms of emotion that drive compelling play, which will be at the center of Lazzaro's talk "The Four Most Important Emotions of Game Design." Lazzaro described in her abstract: "Without emotion there is no game. Emotions play a vital role in decision making, attention, performance, learning and enjoyment. Cross gender, genre, platform, age range and game; four emotions create the captivating nature of play experiences. These same four emotions separate successful games from their less successful imitators." The second keynote, by Margaret Wallace, Co-Founder/CEO of Skunk Studios, a leading developer of award-winning casual games, leads into discussions of casual gaming, a topic of particular interest for mobile researchers. Skunk Studios brands include QBeez, Mah Jong Adventures, and Gutterball. Before Skunk Studios, Wallace developed games at Shockwave.com and worked on Mattel's Planet Hot Wheels. ICEC 2006 will additionally address issues of research and the academic stance of entertainment computing research in an Experts Panel titled: "What has the entertainment computing research forgotten?" For more information about expert panelists and full conference program details, visit the ICEC 2006 website.