AISB'09 Symposium: AI & Games - CALL FOR PAPERS
Edinburgh Scotland 6th - 7th April 2009
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SCOPE

Computer games now form an important sector of the computing and
entertainment industries, and they are very sophisticated in many
ways. The need for better artificial intelligence (AI) in games is
deeply felt, however, and recognised by the industry. Conversely,
games offer new challenges and excellent application domains for AI
technology and research. Games are increasingly used for education,
serious games or game-based learning, where story and AI techniques
create a believable, engaging experience for learners.
This symposium focuses on the application of artificial intelligence
or intelligent-like techniques, frameworks and theories to the
creation of interactive engaging intelligent games. It will address
three main areas and the following questions:
Intelligent Games
# How intelligent games are designed and engineered
# What artificial intelligence brings to games and vice versa
# Application of AI planning, machine learning etc. to games
# Path-planning, crowd simulations, flocking, steering behaviours
# Real-time performance of AI techniques in games
# Intelligent, (semi-)automatic content-generation
# Crucial elements of a believable intelligent games
# How to make AI characters more believable, intelligent and adaptable
# Group behaviours of AI characters
# Crucial elements of believable intelligence in games
# Psychological aspects of intelligent games
# Cognitive, social, and emotional impact of intelligent games
Technology for Intelligent games
# Combining games and technology to produce engagingand immersive
# Emergingtechnologies(e.g. virtual environments and content sharing,
intelligent agents, human, robotics, wearable computing, artificial
vision, mixed reality, and advances in understandiof human emotion and
gesture) and their application to intelligent games
Users and Intelligent Games
# The interaction between players and the game
# Understanding the player's state, in playful and serious games
# Adapting to players, to improve gameplay

We welcome researchers from academia, education and industry, in
particular those involved with the design, development and evaluation
of AI and games. Their expertise could be in a range of areas
including: AI, machine learning, planning, narrative, education and
training, multimedia, game design and development, characters design,
interaction design and evaluation for children, adults and any other
relevant area.


IMPORTANT DATES

Paper submission:     19 Dec 2008
Notification:                 2 Feb 2009
Camera-ready copy:        TBC
Registration:                     TBC
Workshop Dates:    6-7 April 2009


PUBLICATION
All papers accepted for the workshop will be published in the AISB
proceedings produced for the conference.

The best papers will be also invited to submit to a Special Edition
"Artificial Intelligence and Games" of the International Journal of
Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations (IJGCMS)
http://www.igi-global.com/ijgcms, Editor-in-Chief: Richard E. Ferdig,
University of Florida, USA, Special Edition Editors: Daniela Romano
and David Moffat.

Please note that such papers would be resubmitted and re-reviewed for
the special issue using the journal guidelines at
http://www.igi-global.com/journals/guidelines.html and the normal
standards for acceptance. Further details will be announced after the
symposium.


PROGRAMME COMMITTEE

Organisers:
Daniela Romano, Lecturer, Serious Games in Virtual Environments, The
Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield
David Moffat, Artificial Intelligence & Cognitive Science, School of
Engineering and Computing, Glasgow Caledonian University

Committee:
# Isabel Machado Alexandre, Narrative, stories and games, DCTI - ISCTE
and INEC-ID, Portugal
# Ruth Aylett, Professor, Computer Science, Heriot-Watt University,
Edinburgh, UK
# Daniel Ballin Chief Technology Officer,BT Group, UK
# Gianna Cassidy, Lecturer in Interactive Entertainment Design, School
of Engineering & Computing, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK
# Marc Cavazza, Professor of Intelligent Virtual Environment, Teesside
University, UK
# Simon Colton, Senior Lecturer in Computing, IC, London, UK, Leader
of the "AI-games research network"
# Peter Cowling, Professor, Artificial Intelligence (AI) for agents in
games, planning and scheduling problems, University of Bradford, UK
# Marco Gillies, Lecturer, Believable Characters research, Goldsmiths,
University of London, UK
# Lisa Gjedde, Associate Professor, School of Education, Aarhus
University, Tuborgvej 164, Copenhagen NV, Denmark
# Simon Lucas, Reader in Computer Science, University of Essex, UK,
Leader of "AI-games research network"
# Stephen McGlinchey, Lecturer, School of Computing, University of the
West of Scotland, UK
# Ian Millington, author of "Artificial Intelligence for Games",
Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2006, and founder of Mindlathe, an AI
middleware developer for games
# Alex Narayek - Chairperson and founder of the AI Interface Standards
Committee, Chairperson of the International Game Developers
Association's Artificial Intelligence SIG, Interactive & Digital Media
Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore
# Jeff Orkin, Cognitive Machines Group Research Assistant, Media Lab,
at MIT, US, Developer of online "Restaurant Game", Developer of
F.E.A.R. (VU Games)
# Mark Overmars, Professor, Department of Information and Computing
Sciences, Utrecht University, Netherlands
# Ana Pavia, Professor, INESC-ID/Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal.
# Paul Richmond, Researcher, 3D Graphics group, University of Sheffield, UK
Judy Robertson, Lecturer, School of Mathematical and Computer Science,
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
# Pieter Spronck, Adaptive Game AI, Computer Science Dept, University
of Maastricht, Netherlands
# Jon Sykes, Lecturer in Video Game Design, Head of eMotion
Laboratory, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK
# Vinoba Vinayagamoorthy, Research & Innovation Technologist at
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), UK
# Tom Welsh, Researcher, e-Motion Laboratory, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK
# Ian Wright, Research Scientist at AiLive.net, UK