[game_edu] SIGGRAPH Sandbox Symposium 08: Keynote Speakers Announced, CFP Deadline Approaching

[Karen Schrier]

The Sandbox Symposium program committee is excited to announce our
keynote speakers:

Raph Koster, President, Areae, Inc.

Katie Salen, Executive Director of the Institute of Play, and
Associate Professor, Parsons
___

Raph Koster is the president of Areae, Inc., a developer of virtual
worlds, and the author of the widely acclaimed book A Theory of Fun
for Game Design (Paraglyph 2004). He previously worked as chief
creative officer at Sony Online Entertainment, creative director for
STAR WARS GALAXIES, and lead designer of ULTIMA ONLINE and UO: THE
SECOND AGE. He also maintains a popular website at
http://www.raphkoster.com that houses notable writings such as the
Online World Timeline and the Laws of Online World Design.

Katie is a game designer and director of the graduate Design and
Technology program at Parsons School of Design. She has done game
design work for clients like Microsoft and SIGGRAPH. Co-author of
Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals and Rules of Play Reader,
Katie is also a member of Playground, and a former core-team member of
gameLab. She recently partnered with screenwriter/director Hampton
Fancher on a project for Microsoft's XEN division to develop an
animated storytelling experience distributed through Xbox Live, and
has helped curate programs on machinima, the practice of creating
animated films using game engines. She has lectured and published
extensively on game design and game culture.

********
Only one week left!

Sandbox Symposium Call for Participation: Due April 25th

http://sandbox.siggraph.org/callforpapers.html

The third annual ACM SIGGRAPH Sandbox Symposium on videogames calls
for papers, panel proposals, and presentations. We are looking for
work that describes or illustrates innovative research in videogame
theory, practice, methodologies, and criticism. Video games are a
singular technological medium, comparable in cultural impact to the
telephone, television or the Internet. What are the creative,
technological, and commercial challenges facing this medium today and
in the future? How do we relate engaging stories and worlds that
leverage advances in technology? What is the continuing impact of this
medium on individuals and society?

We seek original papers from the creative and technical communities
that develop videogames and from academic researchers who study
videogames and relevant technologies and disciplines. We also invite
proposals for panel discussions. Selected papers and panels will be
those judged to be highly-relevant to the research community and
having the greatest potential impact on the practice of videogame
development. All papers should meet the standards of their respective
disciplines and will be peer-reviewed. For an indication of the
conference's breadth, please visit sandbox.siggraph.org for a look at
last year's program.

Suggested Topics

Transmedia storytelling and games
Real-time animation and computer graphics for video games
Distributed simulation and communication in multi-player games
Game console hardware, software, tools, and middleware
Psychophysics and user interfaces
Artificial intelligence in games
Interactive physics
Developing games in virtual worlds
Uses of GPU for non-graphical algorithms in games
Multi-processor techniques for games
Speech and vision processing as user input techniques
Development tools and techniques
Literacy and gaming
Procedural art
3-D game worlds
Ethics and games
Sound Design and music in games
Mathematical Game Theory applied to video games
Cinematography in games
Game design and game genres
Story structure (setting, plot, character, theme) in games and
interactive fiction
Games (e.g., Casual, Serious, Mobile, Networked, Alternative Reality,
Pervasive)
Legal, political, and societal impacts
Women and diversity in games
Gamer culture and community (e.g., modding communities, LAN parties,
creative gamer content and machinima)
Independent game developers
Economics and business models in the game industry
Game production and labor

Feel free to submit papers on other relevant topics as well.

Papers

Please submit full papers (maximum 8 pages). All papers will be
reviewed by an independent committee, which will provide written
feedback on each paper.

Panel Proposals

Proposals for panel discussions should include a statement of purpose
(1 page) and 3-5 participants. Each participant should provide a
biography and a brief discussion (2-4 paragraphs) of the topic under
discussion.

Presentations

In addition, we seek demonstrations of innovative projects and/or
previews of unreleased videogame titles. Presentations should be two
minutes in length and must show gameplay. Use Quicktime format, either
NTSC (480p) or HDTV (720p).

Submissions

You can also submit proposals or forward questions to Dr. Michael
Wagner at michael.wagner at donau-uni.ac.at

The deadline for paper and panel submissions is April 25, 2008. The
deadline for presentations (see above) submissions is June 30, 2008
(updated).

All submissions should be in PDF or DOC format and follow the SIGGRAPH
style rules and Instructions for Authors
(www.siggraph.org/publications/instructions)
Final papers must be submitted by June 4, 2008.

Location

Sandbox 08 will be co-located with SIGGRAPH 08 and will start on
Saturday, August 9, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. More details
about location, times, and dates will be posted on the conference
website.

http://sandbox.siggraph.org/callforpapers.html

-- 
_________
Karen Schrier

kschrier at gmail.com
kls2108 at columbia.edu
kschrier at alum.mit.edu
kschrier at scholastic.com