As our name implies (PLAIT – also called Braid, intertwined strands of, in our case, disciplines and activities), we are braiding different disciplines together, including arts, sciences, engineering, and technology. Our goal is to contribute innovative meaningful interactive experiences through research.
We specifically contribute in the following areas:
- enabling technology [Emergent Technology] that enable new interactive designs for games and interactive media. These include: developing new artificial intelligence algorithms, believable characters and agents architectures, interactive narrative architectures, and procedural systems to generate and assist in generating content for virtual environments (2D and 3D). Read more about: Procedural Content Generation.
- new designs [Game Design] through the use of performance arts theories or development of new technologies or through understanding of users’ behaviors (which include methods such as psychology of play, analytics, and qualitative methodologies). Read more about: Games for Impact.
- new methodologies to investigate play [usability and playability]. This line enables us to investigate the impact of the designs on players. It is important for entertainment, but crucial for games for impact (learning, training and health applications). Read more about: Game Analytics, and Game User Research
The faculty have cultivated awards for their research in this area, including achievement awards: best papers, as well as grants collectively over millions of dollars to build this exciting research vision that will lead to better future games for both the serious game and entertainment game markets.