This years overarching theme is titled Playing the System. Topics include but are not limited to the following four tracks.
Playing Games
The track revolves around game design methodologies and game development technologies which includes artificial intelligence, graphics, animation,gamification concepts, tangible interaction, mixed realities, augmented realities, phenomenology, embodiment, place and space, time, tactile interfaces, haptics, motion-detection games and networked play.
Playing Art
This track centers around questions on information, communication and awareness; analogue and mechanical art meet digital art, game art, engaging people and offering new perspectives and experiences, and changing the way we see the world.
Playing Mobile
This track focuses on mobile gaming, teams, location-based play, competition, collaboration, performative aspects, splitting/meeting/joining groups, making movies with mobile phones and/or cultural remixing.
Playing Education
Topics in this track are learning, understanding, exploration, invention and surprise; this might or might not include outright educational drill games.
The four tracks overlap, but focus on different aspects of playing the system. Multiple perspectives allow interdisciplinary contributions from the areas of media, play, art, design, science, installations, performance and film. The more interaction there is between theory and practice the better. There are many questions that bridge several tracks, e.g. play and the real world, simulation, random chance, flow, immersion, complexity, challenge, medial convergence, collaboration and multiplayer games and their dynamics.
We welcome academic papers and practical works, and combinations. We expect contributors to develop a strong vision, explore it, test it, backup their claims; to be focused and critical. Submissions will only be accepted if they contain a high level of innovation and research rigor. Not everything is getting more fun, better and brighter because somebody claims it is interactive. Note that the list of topics provided is not exhaustive and top quality works in areas that have a strong correlation to our themes are always welcome.