Conference Program

GEM encompasses all aspects of interactive digital media ranging from game design, theoretical advances in algorithmic and mathematical techniques, new enabling technologies, advanced consumer electronics systems, and novel sensing technologies such as motion capture. This conference unites those with interest in, and enthusiasm for, exploring digital games, interactive entertainment, immersive experiences, emerging media, and the significant uses and impacts these technologies have on our lives.

Day 1

Sunday, November 19

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Conference Registration
Social Activity: Aeon Bar & Grill eSports Night
Email: socialactivities@ieeegem.org to confirm your attendance

Day 2

Monday, November 20

8:30am - 4:30pm
Registration [Foyer]
8:30am - 9:00 am
Opening Ceremony [Training Room 3]
  • General Conference Chair Address: Mr. Rodney Taylor
  • Campus Principal Address: Prof. Winston Moore (Deputy Principal)
  • President, IEEE CTSoc Address: Prof. Wahab Almuhtadi
  • VP Conferences, IEEE CTSoc Address: Prof. Nobuo Funabiki
  • TPC Chair Report: Prof. Andrew Hogue
  • Executive Conference Chair Vote of Thanks: Dr. Curtis Gittens

Accessibility, Diversity & Inclusion

9:00am - 9:45am
Academic Keynote [Training Room 3]
  • Adam Dubrowski: Bridging the Gap: Empowering Non-Healthcare Students as Simulation Assistants in Simulation-Based Healthcare Education
    Simulation-based education in healthcare has become an indispensable tool for training the next generation of healthcare professionals. However, this invaluable educational resource creates a pressing challenge: the reliance on healthcare practitioners as simulation operators, diverting them from their primary clinical roles. This issue is particularly critical in light of the ongoing human resources shortages in healthcare. Compounding the problem, the digital era has ushered in innovative simulation modalities such as mixed reality, educational gaming, digital modeling and three-dimensional printing, and artificial intelligence, amplifying the need for time demanding up-skilling of simulation operators. This presentation explores a transformative solution – the development of new educational pathways to cultivate simulation assistants from non-healthcare backgrounds. Focusing on undergraduate health science students, this program equips them with the necessary skills and digital literacy to excel in simulation programming and operations. The presentation not only highlights the program's development but, most importantly, underscores its potential to mitigate human resource shortages in healthcare while simultaneously enhancing the quality of education and improving patient outcomes - a journey towards a more sustainable and responsive future for healthcare simulation-based education.
10:00am - 4:30pm
Demo Setup [First Citizens Room]
10:00am - 10:30am
Morning Break [Conference Lunch Room]
10:30am - 12:15pm
Lecture Session A [Training Room 3 and Goddard's Rooms]

Session A: Full Papers [Training Room 3]

Session A: Short Papers & Late-Breaking Work [Goddard's Room]

12:15pm - 1:15pm
Lunch
Participants are asked to make their own arrangements for this lunch break

Game Development

1:15pm - 2:00pm
Industrial Keynote [Training Room 3]
  • David Canton: The Legal and Ethical Issues of AI (online)

    • Artificial Intelligence and the digital revolution that enabled it will be looked back on as more significant than the industrial revolution. To develop or use AI properly we must understand some serious practical, legal, and ethical issues. David will talk about these issues and how to navigate them. Signup for his newsletter and download his AI eBook to follow him as he writes more on these topics.
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Lecture Session B [Goddard's Room & Training Room 3]

Session B: Full Papers[Goddard's Room]

3:00pm - 3:30pm
Afternoon Break
3:30pm - 4:30pm
Lecture Session C [Goddard's Room]
4:30pm - 5:30pm
Panel Session: VFX and Games: Implications for Developed and Developing Economies. [Training Room 3]
Gregory Watkins, Michael Watkins
5:30pm - 8:00pm
Conference Evening Reception [Walcott Warner Theatre Terrace]
Provided by the Conference for all fully registered attendees.

Day 3

Tuesday, November 21

8:30am - 4:30pm
Registration [Foyer]

Serious Games & Gamification | Interactive Media

9:00am - 9:45am
Academic Keynote [Training Room 3]
  • Claude Turner: LUCID: An In-Depth Visualization and Broadcast System for Cybersecurity Competitions
    This presentation explores LUCID, a comprehensive software application designed for visualizing and reporting cyber defense competition activities. The application comprises five primary component types: components for monitoring network traffic, components for reporting various network messages, data storage components, a visualization component, and an automated animation reporting component. LUCID can be employed to facilitate the teaching of intricate cybersecurity concepts or to visually showcase live security incidents within a network to an audience or classroom participants in near-real-time. Its adaptability allows it to visualize diverse cybersecurity concepts, protocols, and ideas. LUCID's objective is to enhance comprehension and sense-making for participants or viewers. The system is geared towards intermediate to advanced users involved in cybersecurity exercises. Initial results from subject testing indicate that LUCID, coupled with an integrated virtual commentator, creates an immersive environment that enhances participants' understanding and sense-making during live security events.
10:00am - 4:30pm
Demos Setup [First Citizens Room]
10:00am - 10:30am
Morning Break [Conference Lunch Room]
10:30am - 12:15pm
Lecture Session D & E [Training Room 3 & Goddard's Room]

Session D: Serious Games & Gamification - Full Papers [Training Room 3]

Session E: Interactive Media – Full Papers[Goddard's Room]

12:15pm - 1:15pm
Lunch [Conference Lunch Room]

Serious Games & Gamification | Demos and Lightning Talks

1:15pm - 2:15pm
Industry Session (online) [Goddard's Room]
  • Thomas Winkley, Unity Technologies
    • How to utilize Unity for basic prototyping
    • Lighting with Unity
2:15pm - 3:15pm
Lecture Session F & Demos and Lightning Talks [Goddard's Room & First Citizen's Room]

Session F: Short Papers & Late-Breaking Work [Goddard's Room]

Demos and Lightning Talks Session [First Citizens Room]

3:00pm - 3:30pm
Afternoon Break [Conference Lunch Room]
3:30pm - 4:30pm
Lecture Session G & Hackathon Presentations[Goddard's Room & Training Room 3]

Session G: Short Papers & Late-Breaking Work [Goddard's Room]

Student Hackathon Competition Presentations[Training Room 3]

4:30pm - 5:30pm
Industry Panel Discussion [Training Room 3]
  • Unity Technologies Moderated Session: Thomas Winkley, Joy Horvath & Kirk Musngi
    Unity Across Industries, Games and More
6:00pm - 8:30pm
Social Activity

Day 4

Wednesday, November 22

8:30am – 12:30 pm
Registration [Foyer]
9:00am – 11:30am
Tutorial 1 / Workshop 1

  • Tutorial I – Goddard's Room
    Design guidelines to improve the reading experience in VR

    • Dr Hilary Kenna and Robert Griffin
      Dun Laoghaire Institute Art Design and Technology, Ireland.
    Abstract
    Designing reading experiences in virtual reality (VR) presents unique challenges due to the immersive and three-dimensional nature of the medium. While VR offers exciting opportunities for creating innovative reading environments, there are specific obstacles that need to be addressed to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable reading experience. These include, the users embodied position and perspective in relation to the text, finding an optimum text scale for the user that maximises legibility and readability, position, location and information hierarchy of textual elements and the appropriate aesthetic typographic presentation to suit the tone of the content. Designers and developers of VR applications must consider how to make reading sessions comfortable for users by building on global W3C standards regarding font size and contrast, choosing VR-friendly fonts that are easy to read at varying distances and angles is crucial. This practical tutorial presents an interdisciplinary approach that combines recommendations from current research into VR text presentation with typography and user experience design principles to improve the overall reading experience in VR.

  • Workshop I – First Citizens Room
    Improving the Accessibility of Learning Management Course Content

    • Dr. Colin Depradine – Senior Lecturer (Computer Science), Department of Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Cave Hill Campus, The University of the West Indies
    • Mr. Troy Carrington - Educational Technologist/Instructional Designer, Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Cave Hill Campus, The University of the West Indies
    • Mr. Khaleid Holder – Student Services Manager, The Office of Student Services and Development, Cave Hill Campus, The University of the West Indies
    It is estimated that approximately 1 billion people (approximately 15% of the world’s population) live with a disability. Despite this, access to education continues to prove problematic for this group for a number of reasons. One of the primary reasons is the lack of accessibility at a variety of levels, such as inaccessible documentation and low digital accessibility. This workshop demonstrates the steps required to improve digital accessibility from a Learning Management system perspective. Participants will be shown the fundamentals of developing content for an eLearning shell that is digitally accessible. This demonstration will also introduce how to make computer programming courses more accessible.

11:30am – 12:00pm
Morning Break
12:00pm – 1:30pm
Tutorial 1 (cont'd) / Workshop 1 (cont'd)

  • Tutorial I - Goddard's Room

  • Workshop I – First Citizen's Room

1:30pm – 2:00pm
Break
Attendees are asked to arrage their own meals for this break
2:00pm – 5:30pm
Tutorial 2

  • Tutorial II - First Citizens Room
    Be our Guest

    • Sina Schmidt - University of Potsdam
    • Henrike Janssen - FRITZAHOI!
    Abstract
    The workshop will focus on strategies for successful onboarding into virtual spaces, awareness in the immersive environment, and successful offboarding in particular, the role of the instructor in relation to novice users will be reflected upon from a social and pedagogical point of view. The tutorial begins with a low-threshold theatre warm-up on the topic of orientation in space. A few basic aspects are then discussed before various onboarding methods are actively tried out in a practical session. Comfortable clothing is an advantage, headphones are recommended - especially for the online participants.