Invited Speakers
Magy Seif El-Nasr
Magy Seif El-Nasr
School of Interactive Arts and Technology, Simon Fraser University
Bio:
Dr. Seif El-Nasr is an assistant Professor in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University, where she directs the Engage Me In Interactive Experiences Lab. She earned her Ph.D. degree from Northwestern University in Computer Science and her master’s degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M University. Dr. Seif El-Nasr received several grants and awards. The awards she received include 2nd best paper award at the International Conference of Virtual Storytelling 2003, student best paper award at the Autonomous Agents conference 1999, and Leadership Excellence Award from Texas A&M University. She is on the editorial board of the Journal of Game Development, the International Journal of Intelligent Games and Simulation, and ACM Computers in Entertainment; she has chaired and organized several workshops including, American Association of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Interaction Entertainment, which has recently became its own conference AIIDE (Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment). She was a special theme editor for the Journal of Game Development special issue on Game Design Research. Her research work includes designing and developing tools that enhance the engagement of interactive environments used for training, education, and entertainment. She has collaborated and has on-going relationships with several game companies, including Electronic Arts, Bardel Entertainment, RedHill Studios, and Radical Entertainment. http://www.sfu.ca/~magy
Ulrike Spierling
Ulrike Spierling
Media Design at the University of Applied Sciences
Bio:
Ulrike Spierling is a professor of Media Design at the University of Applied Sciences (FHE) in Erfurt, Germany, since 2002. Previously, she was the head of the Research Department of “Digital Storytelling” at the Computer Graphics Center (ZGDV e.V.) in Darmstadt, Germany, where she developed a research agenda for interdisciplinary approaches to the design of technology for interactive storytelling and conversational interfaces.
Ulrike Spierling started designing with computer animation and virtual worlds in 1990. In 1993, she received her diploma in Communication Design from the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. From then on, she was a project leader at the Fraunhofer “Demonstration Center of Computer Animation and –Design”, co-hosted by the Computer Graphics Center in Darmstadt.
At FHE, Professor Spierling has been teaching students of Applied Computer Science and of Architecture in interdisciplinary design aspects of new media, virtual worlds and interactive applications. Her current research includes the development of authoring concepts, models and tools for non-programmers in interactive digital storytelling, employing virtual characters for the design of learning games and knowledge media. She has chaired and organized several international conferences and workshops in the realm of Interactive Storytelling, such as the first ICIDS conference in 2008. http://www.ai.fh-erfurt.de/spierling