PLAY16 - Creative Gaming Festival » Conference Workshops

Conference Workshop I: Game Accessibility

Christina Kutscher — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 20:41:20 +0000

Conference Workshop II: Gaming Interfaces Beyond WASD (English)

Christina Kutscher — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 20:42:02 +0000

Why do we always play sitting down? What game control possibilities exist beyond game pads and WASD? With “Urban Invention” Amelie Künzler and Sandro Engel have adopted an unusual approach to virtual worlds. With Sisyfox the player controls the figures using a gymnastic ball; with ActiWait traffic light circuitry becomes a Pong playing field. In their workshop at the PLAY Conference they will present and discuss innovative game control possibilities.

The workshop will be held in English.

Conference Workshop III: Prospects and Challenges of Virtual and Augmented Reality (English)

Christina Kutscher — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 20:49:47 +0000

With the release of devices like the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift, the previously quite exclusive worlds of virtual and augmented reality became available to the wide public. Game developers worldwide have started delving into these new worlds, often sadly running into many issues that have been previously investigated in 40 years of virtual reality research.

The point of this workshop is to showcase the vast possibilities and the challenges of virtual and augmented reality and to give the participants a glimpse of previous research to seed new ideas and to ease their first steps in this field.

Furthermore, the participants will have the possibility to try out several VR/AR experiences and discuss these in the context of this workshop.

The Workshop will be held in English.

Conference Workshop IV: A Media Educational View on Games and Theater

Christina Kutscher — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 20:50:38 +0000

Conference Workshop V: The Role of Gender and Games in Media Education

Christina Kutscher — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 20:51:12 +0000

“Zocken mit Sinn” (Gaming with mind) is a series of workshops for children and teenager, founded by the “infocafe” in order to develop a place for gamer and pedagogs to discover digital games. One of the most exciting and interesting topics is the depiction of gender in games. “Gender and Games” are two workshops that discuss the role of gender and sexuality in games as well as the way we handle them. In this Conference Workshop, Stephan Schölzel of “infocafe Neu Isenburg” highlights the methods and discoveries of gender-sensitive work in the field of digital games and encourages the participants to become active within this field.

Conference Workshop VI: Representation of Ethnic Minorities in Games (English)

Christina Kutscher — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 20:45:43 +0000

The end of the 19^th Century: Players embark on journeys of discovery and encounter native peoples and previously unknown tribes. With the September release of expedition simulation, Curious Expedition, the Indie Game Design Studio “Maschinen-Mensch” has not only developed a fascinating colonial period adventure, it has also created an interesting context for the problem of the representation of ethnic minorities in computer games. Johannes Kristmann and Mareike Ottrand will demonstrate how diversity can be molded into computer games.

The workshop will be held in English.

Conference Workshop VII: Bodies in Games in the Course of Time (English)

Christina Kutscher — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 20:43:13 +0000

How has the depiction of the body changed over the course of the history of video games? In this workshop Andreas Rauscher looks into this question and positions body depiction in games as it relates to interfaces and game mechanics. The following three points will be examined and will serve as the analytical method for exploring this question: Aesthetics (figure and setting); Game Mechanics (rules and gameplay) and Interface (use of the player’s body).

The workshop will be held in English

Conference Workshop VIII: Diseases in Games

Christina Kutscher — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 20:51:47 +0000