ISPR Presence News

Monthly Archives: November 2014

Call: The Computer Games Journal

THE COMPUTER GAMES JOURNAL
CALL FOR PAPERS VOLUME 4 EDITION 1

CALL OPENED: AUGUST 2014
CALL CLOSES: DECEMBER 2014
FINAL COPY AGREED: JANUARY 2015 PUBLICATION: MARCH 2015

Following the purchase of The Computer Games Journal title by Springer Science+Business Media we are pleased to announce a general call for papers for 2015 publication.

As this represents a new-start for The Computer Games Journal, authors have a singular opportunity to have their work appear quickly in a rated publication through a leading publishing house. All work published will be widely available across all relevant online research databases and will be co-distributed with leading academic publications, including Lecture Notes In Computer Science, going free in 2015 to the world’s leading research centres and beyond.… read more. “Call: The Computer Games Journal”

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Dreamporte: Share your immersive videos, change a life

[An inspiring post-Thanksgiving story from Road to VR, where you’ll find more pictures]

Dreamporte flyer

Dreamporte Needs Your Immersive Videos for Unique VR Education Program

November 26, 2014 by Paul James

Dreamporte is a non-profit organisation set up to help bring the wonders of the world to underprivileged children. But they need help to achieve their goal: your 360 degree or 3D videos. We asked co-founder of the project, Kelly Zhang, to tell us what Dreamporte is and why it matters.… read more. “Dreamporte: Share your immersive videos, change a life”

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Call: Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) 2015

Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) 2015 conference

Call for Participation

We invite researchers and educators to submit to FDG 2015 and share insights and cutting-edge research related to game technologies and their use. FDG 2015 will include presentations of peer-reviewed papers, invited talks by high-profile industry and academic leaders, panels, and posters. The conference will also host a technical demo session, a Research and Experimental Games Festival, and a Doctoral Consortium. The technical demo session will include novel tools, techniques, and systems created for games. The Research and Experimental Games Festival will showcase the latest experimental and research games. The Doctoral Consortium serves as a forum for Ph.D. students to present their dissertation research, exchange experiences with peers, discuss ideas for future research and receive feedback from established games researchers and the wider FDG community.… read more. “Call: Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) 2015”

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Retailers use virtual technology to vie for sales

[From USA Today, where the story includes two other images and a 3:00 minute video report; more information about Santa HQ is available in a press release via Business Wire]

Santa HQ

[Image: From Let’s Play OC, where the post includes more information about Santa HQ in Orange County, California]

Retailers use virtual technology to vie for sales

Hadley Malcolm, USA TODAY
November 24, 2014

A journey to the North Pole now includes selfies, ‘elf-ray’ vision and a passport. In a bid for more customers and ultimately more sales, shopping malls and retailers are making holiday shopping an interactive and virtual experience, including the trip to see Santa.

At least three companies have built virtual experiences for malls for the holidays, including DreamWorks, featuring Disney characters Shrek and Donkey taking kids to the North Pole in eight malls and another at 10 Taubman malls around the Disney hit Frozen.… read more. “Retailers use virtual technology to vie for sales”

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Call: British HCI 2015

Call for Papers

British HCI 2015
13th-17th July 2015
Lincoln, UK

The 29th British Human Computer Interaction Conference (http://hci2015.bcs.org/) will be held in Lincoln (UK) from 13th-17th July 2015. The conference is organised by the University of Lincoln’s Social Computing (LiSC) research centre in conjunction with the BCS Interaction Specialist Group.

The theme for HCI 2015 is digital society, and the role interactive technology plays in mediating our civic lives. This is inspired by the 800th anniversary, in 2015, of the sealing of the Magna Carta, an event viewed as an international cornerstone of liberty and that one that challenged society’s relationship with authority. Lincoln is home to one of only four surviving copies of the Magna Carta and will take a major role in the 800th anniversary celebrations coinciding with our hosting of HCI 2015.… read more. “Call: British HCI 2015”

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Bedroom-bound quadriplegic develops drone to see the world

[From The Telegraph; see also coverage of Stuart Turner’s appearance at WIRED2014 in Wired, where the story includes a 7:45 minute video, a longer article about him in Mancunian Matters, and his Robots and Cake blog]

Stuart Turner controlling drone

[Image: Stuart Turner operates the drone with a live video feed to his laptop. DAN ROWLANDS / MERCURY PRESS]

Bedroom-bound quadriplegic develops drone to see the world

Stuart Turner, who has spina bifida, uses head movements to pilot the camera-mounted flying device, thousands of miles from his Yorkshire home

By Tom Brooks-Pollock, and agencies
25 Nov 2014

A quadriplegic man who is confined to his bedroom has used his computing expertise to see the world from his bedroom, by flying a camera-mounted drone up to thousands of miles.

Stuart Turner could soon be looking round the Grand Canyon or Niagra Falls using the 2kg flying device, which he controls by moving his head his head and eyes using Google Glass computer worn on his head.… read more. “Bedroom-bound quadriplegic develops drone to see the world”

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Job: Asst Prof in Music and Media at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Assistant Professor in Music and Media, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

The Department of the Arts in the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute invites applicants for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor position in music and media. We seek a musician whose work demonstrates creative, critical, and technological engagement with music composition and sound design in one or more of the following areas: games; film and video; and augmented, mixed and virtual reality environments. We are particularly interested in candidates with expertise in game design and development, and who are capable of contributing to emerging research directions in computational media and social music networks.

The Department of the Arts has a 40-year history of innovation in electronic arts, offering unique undergraduate degrees, a nationally-ranked MFA degree, and a Ph.D. in Electronic Arts.… read more. “Job: Asst Prof in Music and Media at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute”

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On stage with Paul McCartney in Jaunt’s VR app

[From The Verge, where the story includes a 3:31 minute video. A longer article in Billboard includes this analysis:

“The illusion of ’being there’ or ‘presence’ is often invoked by VR enthusiasts. Did I feel like I was there? Not exactly. I felt like I was in the best movie theater of my life, though. The video resolution, sound and depth of field were remarkable. It took very little effort to suspend my disbelief.” ]

Paul McCartney performs in Jaunt VR app

Watch Paul McCartney perform in virtual reality with a new Android app

By Adi Robertson
on November 20, 2014

360-degree video company Jaunt is trying to turn virtual reality into a truly viable movie platform, for anyone with an Android phone and a cheap mobile headset like Google Cardboard. Today, the company released a taste of what that might look like: an immersive version of Sir Paul McCartney performing at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park in August.… read more. “On stage with Paul McCartney in Jaunt’s VR app”

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Job: Lecturer in HCI at University of Lincoln (UK)

Lecturer in Human Computer Interaction
University of Lincoln (UK)
School of Computer Science

We are currently looking to recruit a full-time permanent Lecturer in Human Computer Interaction (HCI). Applicants should hold a PhD (or very nearly completed it), and should be able to demonstrate an excellent existing track record in HCI, or related, research fields commensurate with experience. The post holder is expected to join the Lincoln Social Computing (LiSC) research centre, to develop their own research portfolio, to publish their work in the highest quality outlets (including CHI) and to contribute to the School’s teaching activity at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in areas aligned with HCI. The School is now the highest ranked ‘new’ (post 1992) computer science department in the country.

LiSC conduct a broad range of HCI, social computing and games-related research and we are interested in applied areas such as health and wellbeing, digital civics and activism, sustainability and the digital economy.… read more. “Job: Lecturer in HCI at University of Lincoln (UK)”

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Documentary investigates “future of love and sex in the digital age”

[From VICE Media, where you can watch a 0:47 minute trailer and the 32:47 minute program. For another status report on the topic see “When Porn and Virtual Reality Collide (NSFW)” from Gizmodo.]

VICE documentary Digital Love Industry

The Digital Love Industry: Investigating the Future of Love and Sex in the Digital Age

​Soon, virtual reality is going to crash into our lives in a way we never even imagined. Though dating and masturbating have long been commandeered by the web, it’s only been as a kind of middleman. Now we’re nearing the possibility of falling in love with your computer, as meeting your dream partner could be as easy as slipping on Oculus Rift—the most advanced virtual reality headset in the world.

In Digital Love, VICE investigates how love and sex is faring in the digital age, starting with technology’s notorious bedmate, the adult entertainment industry.… read more. “Documentary investigates “future of love and sex in the digital age””

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