2nd Network Level Event

We are delighted to announce our 2nd AI & Games Network Event. This will be provide great opportunities for starting collaborations between games industry professionals and academic AI researchers. The event will take place at the Dana Centre in South Kensington, which is part of the Science Museum, and will be held on June 2nd 2009.

The 2008 event was a great success which resulted in research opportunities between academics and businesses from the sector. Photos and videos from last year's event can be found:here. This year’s programme will include keynote speakers from academia and industry, open-mic sessions, round table and panel discussions, with plenty of time for one-to-one discussions.

We have joined with the Game'09 event at Imperial College on the June 1st, to create the R3 (research collaboration), 2 days of seminars, demonstrations and networking opportunities specially for the industry. We also welcome TIGA, who will be holding their Technical session as part of the AI Programme and CITIN who are supporting R3.

Julian Togelius, Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence.
http://julian.togelius.com/
Title: “Computational Intelligence and Game Design”

Alex Whittaker, Software Manager, Beautiful Game Studios
http://www.bgstudios.co.uk/
Title: To be confirmed

Tom Scutt, Emote Games
http://www.emotegames.co.uk
Title: Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Stupidity

Abstract for Julian's talk:
Computational Intelligence provides a set of powerful methods for learning and optimization. These methods have successfully been applied to learn to play a variety of games, from chess to Quake. However, such endeavours might seem pointless to game developers as there is little need for more effective opponents in most games. I'll present an alternative approach to using computational intelligence in game design and development, posing new research challenges and promising industrial applicability. I'll discuss imitation of human playing behaviour and using learning as an element in game design, and give two examples of automatic game design: evolution of tracks for racing games and of rulesets for arcade-style games.

• 9-10:
  Registration with coffee
  
• 10-10:30:
  Update short talks (from the Network, CITIN and TIGA)
  
• 10:30-11:30:
  Open-mic session
  
• 11:30-12:
  Coffee and networking
  
• 12-12:20:
  Keynote talk (Alex Whittaker)
  
• 12:20-12:40:
  Keynote talk (Tom Scutt)
  
• 12:30-1:30:
  Lunch and networking
  
• 1:30-2:
  Coffee with match-making
  
• 2-3:
  First Round table session 1
  
• 3-3:30:
  Keynote talk (Julian Togelius)
  
• 3:30-4:
  Coffee and networking
  
• 4-4:45:
  Second Round Table Session
  
• 4:45-5:30:
  TIGA Organised panel session and general discussion
  

Registration is free, but space is limited, and places will be given on a first-come, first-served basis. Please click on the link below to register:

Registration Page

Here is a PDF document with directions to the Dana Centre:

Here is a Hotel Directory for accommodation.

You are also invited to a special CITIN event on the evening of June 1st at Imperial College. Please see attached and rsvp.

R3 is the research collaboration of GaME09,
the AI & Games Network and CITIN.

For any enquiries, please email Maria Nika