National University of Singapore Announces New Hire and Labs

Author: by Beth A.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) recently hired Alexander Nareyek as faculty in the area of artificial intelligence for computer gaming. Nareyek is the author of numerous publications, including most recently Constraints and AI Planning. "We are proud to attract top international talent like Alex," says Swee-Ping Yeo, Head of the ECE Dept, "The department has been active in interactive and digital media since 2001 and we will continue to enhance our strengths in this high-growth area." The new faculty member, Alexander Nareyek, has just launched the Interactive Intelligence Labs at the department. "The goal of the labs," he explains, "is to push the limits in artificial intelligence for gaming and virtual environments. We are working on fascinating topics like virtual actors, procedural content generation, and automated optimization of user fun and experience. Imagine your computer or mobile phone with an intelligent artificial assistant, teacher, tour guide, or even a virtual friend, or playing a computer game in which the story is generated on the fly to meet your preferences. To achieve these objectives, a very close cooperation with groups from the arts, psychology and screenwriting is in the works. Needless to say, the gaming industry is getting very excited, and you will see a strong industry involvement in our work." The Singaporean government is pumping more than a billion US$ over the next years into research on interactive and digital media. The Interactive Intelligence Labs will play into the interdisciplinary structure of gaming research at NUS. In addition, the Labs are taking on a role in the academic game research community, including putting out a forthcoming online journal titled Future of Gaming. Nareyek is at the lead of these developments at NUS.