I’ve had a number of enquiries recently about possible research projects in games. Now that the Games Lab is a reality, I have a number of research projects that I would be interested in supervising. If you are interested in doing any of these topics as Honours or post-graduate research projects, please let me know. I’m also open to any suggestions.
For shorter projects, CSE offers two ‘Special Project’ subjects COMP3901 (6 UoC) and COMP3902 (12 UoC). To enrol as a CSE student you need a permission email from me which you then forward to the School Office. For non-CSE students, you could possibly do it as a General Education subject, but you will need to consult with your own School Office to make sure.
If you are going to one of these projects we will need to negotiate a topic and an appropriate set of milestones. I have posted a list of potential topics below, but if you have a different idea I am happy to negotiate it with you. The only conditions are:
- It has to be somehow innovative, either in the topic, design or implementation.
- I would expect you to do the full design process, researching your topic/audience, pitching ideas, prototyping and playtesting.
My main areas of interest are: serious games, innovative interface devices and game AI.
Of course this offer is not made automatically and I reserve the right to pick and choose. You will need to convince me that I am not wasting my time.
Marking: Let me be clear on this, as there have been misunderstandings. If you do a special project of this sort, I expect you to do all the same components as in COMP4431:
- an early pitch and design overview
- multiple prototypes
- a final design doc
- a playtesting report
- a post-mortem of your game and your process
- PLUS: some more general reflection on what you have learnt about the topic
If you come to me at the end of the course with just a prototype of your game and little else, you will not get a good mark.
Topics
- Virtual Characters and Co-presence
- Improved AI for Stealth games
- Narrative Modelling
- Games for Health
- Augmented Reality Games
- Games for drug and alcohol education
- Games for the Blind
In this project your aim would be to work with virtual characters (NPCs) to give them body-language to make them feel more real and give a sense that they share the same space as you. Particular focus would be on modelling attention, so that the character makes eye contact and engages natural in turn-taking conversational behaviours.
This project would require a mixture of AI, animation and psychology. For more information on the state of the art, you may wish to attend the HCSNet workshop later this year.
This project would focus on stealth games such Thief, Splinter Cell and Assassin’s Creed. Your aim would be to analyse such games to work out what their appeal is and where there weaknesses lie. You would then work to apply existing AI in motion tracking and path planning (if appropriate) to make a more compelling game experience.
For this project you could make use of the Thievery UT mod.
This is fundamentally an AI project, trying to build models of narrative structures such as suspense, foreshadowing, conflict, etc. for the creation of a story-generation system for the creation of more interesting stories in games such as The Sims.
Games are a good way to encourage exercise. We have had interest from the School of Optometry about the design of games for visual training. This project would involve collaborating with Optometry researchers in establishing what kinds of exercise might be benefical and how they might be incorporated into enjoyable games.
Another possibility is the development of games that promote physical rehabilitation for the elderly or for victims of stroke, burns or car accidents.
Augmented Reality is the overlaying of virtual elements on real-life images, typically using special-purpose goggles or camera devices like the iPhone. In this project you would design game that make use of this technology, combining real and virtual elements.
The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre is interested in collaborating with us to design games that educate high-school students about the effects (physical and social) of drugs and alcohol.
Vision Australia has expressed interest in designing games specifically target at the blind or vision impaired.
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