AVATAR Initiative

October 2009

LSU College of Art & Design Teams Up with CCT to Create High-Tech Science Learning Device

Source: LSU School of Art

In one of the most unique collaborative efforts on the LSU campus, students and faculty from the College of Art & Design have teamed up with researchers in the CCT and the LSU Department of Computer Science to produce a tangible interaction kiosk that will help middle school students learn about science in a whole new way.

If "tangible interaction kiosk" is too much of a mouthful, call it the science portal project. Either way, it's a large console with a high-tech interface that allows multiple users to simultaneously engage in learning through a variety of interactive media tools. Thus far, the prototype that has been constructed is configured to teach middle school students about science, but the basic concept can easily be tailored for any user interested in any subject.

"This project is really exciting because it brings the arts together with technology, working side by side," said Rod Parker, director of the LSU School of Art. "It's really the embodiment of the University's AVATAR initiative."

AVATAR — short for Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research — is a multi-disciplinary hiring initiative that is designed to bring together several academic departments in an effort to create a multi-disciplinary research and teaching environment in the field of digital art.

The science portal project certainly falls within the scope of the AVATAR mission. It's the result of a joint effort between Parker and LSU Department of Computer Science Assistant Professor Brygg Ullmer, who holds a joint faculty appointment with the CCT. Together, the two have received two grants to further their collaboration – one for $150,000 from the Louisiana Board of Regents, and the other for $200,000 from the National Science Foundation.

While the Board of Regents funding included relatively limited support for graphic and product designers, the NSF grant is offering equal support for both Parker and Ullmer's students. It charged Parker and Ullmer with finding ways of training their own students to be skilled in both design and technology, and to better integrate the skills and knowledge that come from both disciplines. The science portal project offered a perfect example of that kind of cross-disciplinary collaboration, so the team is using the NSF funding to continue their work throughout the year.

Where it will lead is anyone's guess, but Parker and Ullmer are enthusiastic. They see the science portal project as just the first application of a new kind of richly physical and visual interactive learning tool with unlimited possibilities. They're also excited about the experience that LSU students both on the technology and the design side of the project are coming away with as they work together in this emerging field.

"Together, we're training a generation of students who are able to see, think and act with the perspectives of designers, scientists and technical engineers," Ullmer said. "They will be comfortable spanning both ends of the arts and technology spectrum, letting them stand out with skills second to none amidst today's new digital economies."

LSU Takes Video Game Design Class to the Next Level

Source: wcet frontiers

Imagine a college course where your assignments are to play, develop and test original video games.

This is an opportunity Louisiana State University (LSU) has offered since the fall 2007 semester in collaboration with University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) through the resources of the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI). LONI is a high-speed, fiber optic network that connects computing resources among Louisiana's major research institutions. LONI links the state to other networks, allowing for more collaboration for research and education at higher speeds than previously possible.

Since LONI's inception in 2004, Louisiana researchers have sought ways to use the high-speed, fiber optic network for new educational opportunities. This class, which students attend in real time via high-definition video streaming broadcast from Chicago to Baton Rouge, is part of LSU's efforts to use new technology to expand course offerings. Instead of being limited only to courses offered at their particular university, faculty and students can use networks like LONI to import or export courses from other locations.

Students in the class learn core concepts to develop and design video games, from storyline to character development to coding. The students form competing video game companies and develop an original game as their final project. During the final class, the students have a video game marathon in which a panel of faculty, former game class winners and video game industry professionals from both Baton Rouge and Chicago judge their work on several characteristics, using LONI to see the games in real time at both locations.

For more information on this story, please visit: http://wcet.informz.net/admin31/content/template.asp?sid=5411&ptid=55&brandid=4147&uid=-1&mi=466629

Games on social networking sites gaining popularity

Source: The Daily Reveille, article by Matthew Barnridge

Increasing numbers of students are logging on to their Facebook or MySpace accounts to play new forms of games designed to run on social networking sites.

The reactions are mixed, but the revenue dollars aren't — the social gaming industry attracted an estimated $98 billion in 2008.

Companies like Zynga, Social Gaming Network and Playfish have turned that added capital into increased popularity. Zynga now claims 40 million people actively play their games.

Many students find themselves logging on to play the games, often at the expense of their studies. For more information on this article, please visit:

http://www.lsureveille.com/news/games-on-social-networking-sites-gaining-popularity-1.2027451

Colleges Offering Video Game Courses

Source: U.S.News & World Report

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Menacing, metallic and mega-gun brandishing, the cyber super soldier looms over Richard Fleming's desk. Not exactly stereotypical for a professor's office at Johnson County Community College?

Well, as the "Gears of War" crowd might say: "Eat boot! Suck pavement! Get back into your hole!"

This professor under the "Halo 3" figure teaches video game development. So lock and load, zappers of Nazi zombies or the locust horde. All those hours wearing out your thumbs in front of "Halo" or "Gears" actually could mean a college degree and fast career path.

Before you drop your joystick, remember a degree in video-game design is math and science laden. Or it could involve serious art skills.

This year, 254 of the nation's colleges and universities in 37 states have such programs, up 27 percent over the year before. To read more, please click on the following link: http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2009/10/16/colleges-offering-video-game-courses.html?PageNr=1&-C=

CCT is now on Twitter

CCT has created a Twitter news feed for the center. If you have a Twitter account, you can follow the center at http://www.twitter.com/LSUCCT.

SC09

Registration is now open for the Supercomputing 2009 Education Program at the conference in Portland, which will take place November 14-17. Register or learn more by clicking on the globe below.

Calling All Entries! Red Stick Seeks Films for 2010 "Best of the Fest" Competition

Red Stick International Animation Festival, the largest animation festival in the United States, is seeking work from students, amateurs and professionals to consider for its "Best of the Fest" competition.

The 6^th annual festival will take place May 12-15, 2010, in the downtown Baton Rouge Arts District. The "Best of the Fest" competition is an annual part of festival events, and Red Stick jurists award a "Red Baton" to the top work in each category. Entries to "Best of the Fest" also are screened throughout the festival for audiences to enjoy.

Participants can enter work for the 2010 competition from Sept. 15, 2009 through Jan. 4, 2010. This year, Red Stick International Animation Festival is seeking work in eight categories:

Animated Short Film (student and professional)
Music Video
Scientific Visualization
Animation for Commercials
Animation for Games
Animation for Young Audiences
Experimental Animation/Visual Music (student and professional)
Storyboard Competition

There is no entry fee for the competition, and participants can submit work in more than one category. Beginning September 15, participants can register their work online at www.redstickfestival.org to enter the competition. After filling out the online registration form, participants can send materials and inquiries to Red Stick International Animation Festival – LSU, 216 Johnston Hall, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803.

The festival received a record 435 entries from 45 countries for its 2009 Best of the Fest competition.

Red Stick is an annual event that highlights the intersections among art, technology and computational science. Each year, the festival draws renowned animators, video game developers and other digital media industry professionals to Baton Rouge to host lectures, workshops and other events for aspiring artists, programmers and entrepreneurs.

The festival is sponsored by LSU in partnership with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President's Office, Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, Louisiana Economic Development and Baton Rouge Area Digital Industries Consortium.

For more information on Red Stick 2009, please contact the festival office at 225-389-7182 or visit www.redstickfestival.org.

EA Games Competition

Enter your game for a chance to win big with EA Games. For more details, go to indiegamechallenge.com.

AVATAR Sites