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From: R. Michael Young <young@csc.ncsu.edu>
Future of Games Speaker SeriesSpeaker: Maribeth Gandy , Interactive Media Technology Center, Georgia TechTitle: Advancing AR as a New Medium: Authoring, Evaluation, and DeploymentDate: Tuesday October 30, 2012Time: 10:00 AMPlace: 3211, EBII; NCSU Centennial Campus (click for courtesy parking request)Abstract:Augmented Reality (AR) overlays virtual content, such as computer generated graphics, on the physical world. The augmented view of the world can be presented to the user via a head mounted display, a tablet/mobile device, or projection on the physical space around the user. While Ivan Sutherland first presented the concept of the “Ultimate Displayâ€? in 1965, it was not possible to truly implement augmented reality applications until almost 25 years later. Therefore, the field of AR research is usually considered to have begun in the early 90’s. In this 20-year period, AR has gone from being viewed as a heavyweight technology, only appropriate for industrial and military applications, to a new medium for art, games and entertainment applications. The evolution of the field is due in part to the extensive research that has gone into exploring the AR application space, but also the recent rise of powerful mobile devices that make it easy to deploy a wide-variety of AR appl!ications to consumers.This is a critical moment for the field of AR. Over the past three years, AR technology has become accessible outside of computer science research labs. At first this was mainly HCI researchers, but now we see participation from a variety of groups including game developers, visual and performance artists, user experience experts, toy designers, web developers, and entrepreneurs. As a result, there is an increased demand for tools and techniques to support AR experience design, evaluation, development, and deployment that fully address the needs of these diverse groups.Low-level AR research in computer vision, graphics, sensors, and optics is, of course, critical to the success and growth of AR. However, my research focuses on higher level questions regarding what applications are appropriate for AR, how effective AR applications can be designed, and, most importantly, how we can support the participation of makers from outside the AR research domain. In this talk I will discuss the three intertwined research domains that are critical to the advancement of AR as a new medium: authoring, evaluation, and deployment.Short Bio:Maribeth Gandy is the Director of the Interactive Media Technology Center and the Associate Director of Interactive Media in the Institute for People and Technology at Georgia Tech. She received a B.S. in Computer Engineering as well as a M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech. In her twelve years as a research faculty member her work has been focused on the intersection of technology for augmented reality, accessibility/disability, human computer interaction, and gaming. She has developed computer-based experiences for entertainment and informal education in a variety of forms including augmented reality, virtual, and mobile. She also teaches the “Video Game Design” and “Computer Audio” course in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. In her AR research, she is interested in advancing AR as a new medium by focusing on authoring, evaluation, and deployment. She was the lead architect on a large open source software project called the Designer’s Augmented R!eality Toolkit (DART), which had thousands of users and was used to create a variety of large-scale AR systems. She was also co-PI on an NSF grant focused on the development of presence metrics for measuring engagement in AR environments using qualitative and quantitative data. She is currently collaborating on the creation of an open source AR web browser called Argon. She is also interested in the use of gaming interfaces for health and wellness. Currently, she is the co-PI on an NSF grant exploring the concept of cognitive gaming for older adults. The goal is to both isolate what components are necessary in an activity for it to have general cognitive benefits and to craft a custom game based on these guidelines that is accessible and compelling for an older player. Previously, she led a project funded by Georgia Tech’s Health Systems Institute to develop home-based computer games for stroke rehabilitation. For seven years she worked in the fields of disability and acce!ssibility as a project director in the Wireless RERC (through !the Shepard Center in Atlanta and Georgia Tech) and generated guidelines for the universal design and user centered design process with disabled persons. In her consulting work she has built commercial games, designed a home medical device for older adults, enhanced live rock concerts, and worked with startup companies to develop AR business models and products.
In a blog post, Cary-based Epic Games tells its millions of fans worldwide that Cliff Bleszinski, a driving creative force behind many of its its such as "Gears of War," has left the firm. Bleszinki says he needs "a much needed break."