2019 Games for Change Festival: Full Schedule

11:15am EDT

Virtual Reality for Workplace Training

Immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR) provide a number of well-researched learning benefits. Dr. Casale will discuss how VR uniquely takes advantage of these best learning principles, offering a highly effective way to train in the workplace.

Speakers

Dr. Michael Casale

Chief Science Officer, STRIVR

Dr. Michael Casale is a cognitive neuroscientist whose academic research focused on understanding the biological underpinnings of learning and memory, in particular how to optimize training for a variety of learning situations. He has led multi-million dollar research projects aimed... Read More →

Monday June 17, 2019 11:15am - 11:35am EDT
Room 105

XR for Change Summit, Talk

11:45am EDT

Smileyscope: VR in Pediatrics, One Year Later

Since presenting at G4C last year, Smileyscope has proven the effectiveness of VR to mitigate the negative associations of needle procedures for kids. Through clinical research we have validated the use of VR to mitigate pain and anxiety in the pediatric arena.

Speakers

J Milligan

Creative Executive Producer, Two Moos

J is an Emmy, Peabody and Bafta award-winning interactive designer, writer and director, a steward of some of the world’s most beloved and trusted brands. He’s worked with world-class talent, technology and partners to create experiences that enrich the lives of kids and families... Read More →

Monday June 17, 2019 11:45am - 12:05pm EDT
Room 105

XR for Change Summit, Talk

12:15pm EDT

The Education Market: VR’s Best Hope?

For years, experts have been predicting that immersive technologies like AR and VR are on the cusp of breaking into the mainstream market. But despite the dazzling experiences that users may encounter when they first try a VR headset, industry reports suggest there continue to be signs of instability in the hardware marketplace, and that consumer demand hasn’t been as strong as anticipated. Perhaps the classroom is where AR and VR will really shine.

Children are enthusiastic about AR and VR, and teachers have expressed greater engagement around lessons that incorporate immersive media. But is it safe? How are these technologies being deployed in the classroom – are teachers receiving the training and support they need to implement successful lessons? What happens when the novelty wears off? And as AR and VR continue to gain traction in the education marketplace, how can we ensure equitable access to these learning experiences for all students?

Moderators

David Kleeman

SVP, Global Trends, Dubit

Strategist, analyst, connector — David Kleeman has led the children’s media industry in developing sustainable, child-friendly practices for 30+ years. He is SVP, Global Trends for strategy/research consultancy and digital studio Dubit.David is passionate about media’s potential... Read More →

Speakers

Brooke Morrill, PhD.

Senior Director of Education, Schell Games

Brooke Morrill, Ph.D., is the Director of Education at Schell Games where she uses her expertise in behavioral science, psychology, and research to bolster the impact of and engagement in the company’s transformational games. She also identifies and secures project funding in both... Read More →

S. Craig Watkins

Professor, The University of Texas at Austin

S. Craig Watkins is the Founding Director of the Institute for Media Innovation (IMI) and the incoming Ernest S. Sharpe Centennial Professor in the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin. An internationally recognized expert in media, Watkins is the author... Read More →

Michael Preston

Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop

Michael Preston, PhD is the Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, a research and innovation lab that works to advance children's learning and health in the digital age. Previously he led K-12 computer science efforts at CSforALL and CSNYC, digital learning... Read More →

Dr. Bruce Homer

Associate Professor, The Graduate Center, CUNY

Bruce D. Homer is Associate Professor and Executive Officer (Chair) of Educational Psychology at the Graduate Center of City University of New York, where directs the Child Interactive Learning and Development (CHILD) Lab. Dr. Homer’s research investigates children’s acquisition... Read More →

Monday June 17, 2019 12:15pm - 1:00pm EDT
Room 105

XR for Change Summit, Panel

2:00pm EDT

Fighting Addiction With Immersive Technology and AI

The opioid crisis requires rethinking traditional addiction treatments. XR has the power to target the behavioral foundations of addiction by letting patients engage with novel treatments in their natural environments. Applying machine learning to the wealth of data generated by XR enables real-time identification and even prediction of drug cravings. This talk will review the state of XR addiction treatments, explain how XR can transform behavioral therapies, and discuss exciting future directions for the field.

Speakers

Aldis Sipolins

Immersive Technology Research Lead, Draper Laboratories

Aldis is an immersive technology researcher who applies principles of design and cognitive neuroscience to change human behavior. Aldis received a PhD in Visual Cognition and Human Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2015, where he founded a VR research... Read More →

Monday June 17, 2019 2:00pm - 2:20pm EDT
Room 105

XR for Change Summit, Talk

2:30pm EDT

Creating Empathy in VR Experiences

Illya is a writer, director, artist and interactive storyteller. Shaped by her experiences as a physician, her artistic practice explores embodiment, identity, and belief in a media inundated and increasingly virtual world. Cyril Tsiboulski is her longtime artistic partner. Their online works, Reconstructing Mayakovsky and Queerskins: a novel are taught frequently on a university level as notable examples of digital literature. Queerskins: a love story, their first VR experience, premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival in 2018. They are recipients of grants from The Sundance Institute/Arcus Foundation, The Tribeca Film Institute/MacArthur Foundation, and The Peter Reed Foundation.

Speakers

Illya Szilak

Writer & Director, Cloudred

Monday June 17, 2019 2:30pm - 2:50pm EDT
Room 105

XR for Change Summit, Talk

3:00pm EDT

Project Briefs: Female Founders

In our Female Founders project briefs, we'll hear from the pioneering entrepreneurs who are working to bring new visions of XR to life. They will share their motivations behind launching their startups and insights gained along the way. Through their experiences, we'll learn how they are using XR to address areas such as education, mindfulness, inclusion, representation, and user-generated content.

Morgan Mercer
Vantage Point

Cortney Harding
Friends With Holograms

Dumeetha Luthra
How a War Correspondent Became an Entrepreneur Around Mindfulness

Skye Von
Decolonizing Storytelling

Vassiliki Khonsari
iNK Stories

Speakers

Morgan Mercer

CEO, Vantage Point

Morgan Mercer is the founder of the immersive enterprise training company, Vantage Point. Vantage Point's immersive training platform leverages standalone Virtual Reality in conjunction with ML and AI, and offers training modules focused around Soft Skills development, including Workplace... Read More →

Cortney Harding

Founder, Friends with Holograms

Cortney Harding is the founder and CEO of Friends With Holograms and a leading expert in creating immersive, impactful VR, AR and MR training experiences. An early leader in the extended reality space, she has created award-winning work for high profile clients like Accenture, Verizon... Read More →

Dumeetha Luthra

Founder, Take-Pause

Imagine a world where we learn social emotional intelligence alongside reading and writing. Dumeetha Luthra was inspired to create that world and established Take-Pause after years as an award-winning BBC war correspondent. She witnessed first hand the worst we can do to ourselves... Read More →

Skye Von

Founder & CEO, Howl For Change & little GIANT Wolf

Skye's passion is to decolonize storytelling and help everyone discover and harness the power of storytelling to create positive impact for themselves. She does this through transmedia story experiences that promote communal storytelling and audience participation with her content... Read More →

Vassiliki Khonsari

Co-Founder / Director / Producer, iNK Stories

Director/Producer/Co-Founder of iNK Stories––the award winning interactive storytelling studio Fast Company calls an “innovation agent”. Known for paving the way for a new wave of cinematic participatory experiences recent titles include the genre defining location based multi-sensory... Read More →

Monday June 17, 2019 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT
Room 105

XR for Change Summit, Project Brief

4:00pm EDT

XR Brain Jam Project Pitches

Join us for the conclusion of our XR Brain Jam. Games for Change will feature some of the best XR prototypes built during the two-day Jam immediately preceeding the XR4C Summit! Participating teams of XR developers and STEM researchers will showcase their experiences and give insights into the development process.

Monday June 17, 2019 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
Room 105

XR for Change Summit, Panel

5:00pm EDT

VR for Advocacy

Join Tyler Gates as he discusses how organizations are using the power of immersive technology to engage and evoke empathy within stakeholders and members on the Hill to deliver context for and alter their mindsets on advocacy issues.

Speakers

Tyler Gates

Managing Principal, Brightline Interactive

Tyler is the Managing Principal at Brightline Interactive and President of the DC Chapter of the VR/AR Association. He is a visionary for the applications of VR/AR technology for training, enterprise and branding solutions. His technological prowess in conjunction with his aptitude... Read More →

Monday June 17, 2019 5:00pm - 5:20pm EDT
Room 105

XR for Change Summit, Talk

5:30pm EDT

Game Design Thinking for Civic Engagement

We live in a moment of declining civic engagement and flourishing participatory culture. The question this session will explore is: How might games better enable individuals to connect with - and contribute to - the social movements they care about? Participants will learn how we’re using game design thinking with activists in Wisconsin to co-design a new civic engagement game. We’ll conclude by collectively brainstorming ideas that leverage game design thinking to empower grassroots organizing.

Speakers

Libby Falck

Graduate Student, MIT

Libby Falck is a researcher at MIT and the founder of Forward Labs, a civic technology and consulting firm that specializes in applying educational game design to grassroots organizing. Libby was previously the founder of ChangeX Education, a maker education consultant at Autodesk... Read More →

Monday June 17, 2019 5:30pm - 5:50pm EDT
Room 105

XR for Change Summit, Talk

11:15am EDT

Museum of Me: Exploring Identity with What Remains of Edith Finch

There are currently few developmentally appropriate methods for engaging teens in their own social and emotional learning in educational settings. Commercial video games offer rich, mediated, interactive narrative experiences that can be integrated into the classroom to support teen students’ core academic knowledge as well as their social and emotional resilience. This panel will describe how and why educators used the award-winning video game and digital “museum,” and “What Remains of Edith Finch,” as the basis for a curricular unit to engage high school students in building literacy skills as well as key aspects of resilience including autonomy and self-awareness.

Speakers

Dr. Matthew Farber

Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado

Matthew Farber, Ed.D. is an assistant professor of Technology, Innovation, and Pedagogy at the University of Northern Colorado. He has been invited to the White House, to keynote for UNESCO, and he has been interviewed by NPR, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. With Karen Schrier... Read More →

Dr. Susan Rivers

Executive Director & Chief Scientist, iThrive Games

Susan Rivers, PhD, is Executive Director and Chief Scientist of iThrive Games. iThrive is building a network dedicated to using and designing meaningful games with and for teens to support their thriving. She passionately believes that game design and play are powerful tools for learning... Read More →

Paul Darvasi

Educator, Royal St. George's College/York University

Paul Darvasi is an educator, game designer, speaker, writer, and PhD candidate whose work looks at the intersection of games, culture and learning. His research explores how commercial video games can be used as texts for critical analysis by adolescents, and he has worked with UNESCO... Read More →

Tuesday June 18, 2019 11:15am - 11:35am EDT
Room 105

Games for Learning, Talk

11:45am EDT

Beyond the Empathy Games 101: Digging Deep into Empathy, Ethics, and Design

Games which provide players the opportunity to experience profound and deeply emotional experiences are often labeled as “empathy games.” While the goal of crafting these kinds of experiences is frequently to evoke feelings of connection, there remains significant moral and ethical considerations. Is asking someone to experience another person’s trauma permissible in the name of empathy? How are we thinking about the ethics around creating immersive, potentially traumatic experiences? This talk will delve into the psychological construct of empathy, discuss how empathy maps to the design process, and share core questions to consider when designing in the name of empathy.

Speakers

Kelli Dunlap

Director of Mental Health Research and Design, iThrive Games

Kelli Dunlap, PsyD is the director of mental health research and design at iThrive Games. As a psychologist and game designer, she leads on the design and implementation of the organization’s mental health initiatives including conducting research, publishing academic articles... Read More →

Tuesday June 18, 2019 11:45am - 12:05pm EDT
Room 105

Health & Wellness, Talk

12:15pm EDT

How to Make Things Fun: From Disaster Preparedness to Transportation Infrastructure, Voter Education to Circular Economies

As game and experience designers, we are often tapped to “make things fun”. While there is no secret recipe, there are key strategies and insights that can lead to excellent design. Based out of IDEO’s Play Lab, Jenny Gottstein works with clients in a wide range of industries to leverage play as a tool for innovation, resilience, engagement and creative problem-solving. She will be sharing case studies and tools for moving beyond points, badges and leaderboards, and turning even the most dry or overwhelming issues into an experience that is memorable, engaging and fun.

Speakers

Jenny Gottstein

Experience Design Lead in the Play Lab, IDEO

Jenny is an Experience Designer in IDEO's Play Lab where she designs products, services, environments, and experiences to be more engaging, sustainable and enjoyable. Recognized in Forbes 30 Under 30 for game design, she is passionate about developing engagement, resilience, and creative solutions through play. When she... Read More →

Tuesday June 18, 2019 12:15pm - 12:35pm EDT
Room 105

Civics & Social Issues, Talk

2:00pm EDT

Beyond STEM: SEL Skills in Game Design Curriculum

The urgent, and by now familiar, call to educate youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is being matched in many quarters with an equally urgent call: to educate the “whole student” by emphasizing social and emotional learning (SEL). Increasingly SEL is seen as equally essential as STEM for students to thrive in school, career, and life. Panelists will discuss how their programs and curricula that teach game-design can advance SEL competencies such goal-setting, social engagement, cooperation, empathy, and problem solving—while also complementing STEM’s cognitive goals and inspiring interest in STEM careers.

Moderators

Susanna Pollack

President, Games For Change

Susanna Pollack is the President of Games for Change. With a background in media and entertainment, she now leads the nationally recognized organization and produces the annual Games for Change Festival, the largest gaming event in NYC as well as the Games and Media Summit in partnership... Read More →

Speakers

Dr. Leah Hanes

Executive Director, Two Bit Circus Foundation

Dr. Leah Hanes brings a unique set of professional and personal experiences to her role as Executive Director at Two Bit Circus Foundation.Beginning her life on a farm in rural Canada and beginning her career in Toronto she ending up in Los Angeles. Her career highlights include producing... Read More →

Philip Courtney

Chief Executive Officer, Urban Arts Partnership

Philip Courtney has served as the CEO at Urban Arts Partnership (UAP) since 2003. Since thattime the organization has grown into New York City’s largest arts education organization, directly serving more than 100 schools, 500 teachers and 15,000 students a year. Under Philip’s... Read More →

Harold Goldberg

President, Editor in Chief, New York Videogame Critics Circle

Author/journalist Harold Goldberg has written for The New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, New York and many more. He founded The New York Game Awards and The New York Videogame Critics Circle, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization of 35 multicultural group of 35 writers and critics... Read More →

Tom O'Connell

Chief Partnerships Officer, Mouse Inc.

Tom O'Connell is the Chief Partnerships Officer at Mouse, where he develops strategic partnerships to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to access and amplify technology as a force for good. He is a former high school physics & computer science teacher who started... Read More →

Tuesday June 18, 2019 2:00pm - 2:45pm EDT
Room 105

Games for Learning, Panel

2:45pm EDT

Games as a Civil Rights Issue

65% of American households have someone in them that plays games for three hours a week or more. The game industry is larger than film and music combined. Despite this, there are significant problems with hate and harassment in games, game culture and the game community. This talk will discuss efforts by the Anti-Defamation League to understand and address the problem of hate in games through a variety of interdisciplinary approaches.

Speakers

Daniel Kelley

Associate Director, Center for Technology and Society, Anti-Defamation League

Daniel Kelley (he/him/his) is the Associate Director of ADL’s Center for Technology and Society (CTS). Daniel manages operations and project management for CTS, and leads CTS’ work to fight hate, bias and harassment in the game community. Daniel was named one of NY Jewish Week’s... Read More →

Tuesday June 18, 2019 2:45pm - 3:05pm EDT
Room 105

Civics & Social Issues, Talk

3:15pm EDT

Your Game Could Be a PSA!

Recognizing that millions of Americans love to play video games, the Ad Council partnered with Square Enix to create its first PSA made from gaming footage. The partnership used scenes from the highly anticipated Kingdom Hearts III game to promote bullying prevention. The Ad Council will share a case study from this partnership including tips for creating PSAs from your own games.

Speakers

Anastasia Goodstein

SVP, Digital Product Management, The Ad Council

Anastasia serves as Senior Vice President of the Advertising Council’s Digital Product Management group where she manages the team in charge of digital products for all Ad Council campaigns. Prior to joining the Ad Council, she lead the product development and marketing for the... Read More →

Tuesday June 18, 2019 3:15pm - 3:35pm EDT
Room 105

Civics & Social Issues, Talk

3:45pm EDT

Putting Games to Work in City Government

In 2018, the City of Portland, ME set out to create a game by, with and for new immigrants and refugees in the city. Over the course of four months, designers worked with the City’s Office of Economic Opportunity and its city-wide advisory council to identify needs, refine learning objectives and design a game to be played by English language learners to discover resources in the city and to provide input. This discussion focuses on the challenges of building new tech, socializing the idea of a game, and creating ownership to assure a project’s sustainability.

Speakers

Eric Gordon

Professor, Engagment Lab at Emerson College

Eric Gordon is a professor of civic media and the director of the Engagement Lab at Emerson College in Boston. His research focuses on building better interfaces between publics and civic organizations in a context of diminishing trust. He has co-designed interventions for large and... Read More →

Julia Trujillo Luengo

Director, Office of Economic Opportunity

Julia Trujillo runs the City of Portland's Office of Economic Opportunity. The Office is the first of its kind in Maine whose vision is to foster a strong sense of belonging in all aspects of city life for everyone who calls Portland their home. Portland recently released a City Wide... Read More →

Justin Warren

Media Design Recruiter, Emerson College

Justin Warren is a game designer and play researcher based in Boston. He received his MA in Civic Media from Emerson College in 2018, and currently works as a Recruiter for the program. His thesis focused on designing an online educational game for immigrants and refugees in collaboration... Read More →

Tuesday June 18, 2019 3:45pm - 4:05pm EDT
Room 105

Civics & Social Issues, Talk

4:15pm EDT

Project Briefs: Students and Educators as Game Designers

The game industry has grown to become a $140 Billion industry and is predicted to exceed $180 Billion by 2021. Providing students with an opportunity to develop their own games takes students from player to creator while learning authentic career readiness skills. Hear from educators who have brought these opportunities into the classroom in order to create inclusive design teams allowing students to engage in the iterative design process and experience a variety of roles common to the industry. In addition you will hear from educators who have brought their love of game design into the classroom by creating game based experiences for students and training educators to do the same.

Moderator: Elisabeth Gee

Cédric Ceulemans
Co-creating Serious Games for Peace

Matthew Farber & Kevin Miklasz
GGJ Next: A Global Game Jam for Youth

Noa Lahav
EdVenture: Enabling Educators to Create Immersive Game-Based Learning Experiences

Peggy Sheehy
Your Game is Our Textbook?

Santhosh Kumar Subramanian
Games by Children for Children

Moderators

Elisabeth Gee

Professor, Arizona State University

Elisabeth (Betty) Gee is a professor and the Delbert and Jewell Lewis chair in Reading and Literacy at Arizona State University. She studies the social, cultural, and intellectual dimensions of game-related learning in out-of-school settings. Her recent projects have focused on families... Read More →

Speakers

Dr. Philipp Busch

Project Manager, GIZ

Dr. Philipp Busch works for GIZ since October 2014. In spring 2018 he finished his doctoral thesis about "Gameful Approaches in Development Cooperation", now teaches Gamification and Agile Methods at the University of Mainz. Philipp works at GIZ for the Social Innovation Team in Cairo... Read More →

Peggy Sheehy

Game Master, Suffern Central School District

Peggy Sheehy is an educator and change agent with strong opinions about education. She strives to create learning environments where students can take charge and experience agency, autonomy, and authenticity. For the past twenty-two years, she has served as classroom teacher, district... Read More →

Dr. Matthew Farber

Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado

Kevin Miklasz

VP, Data and Prototyping, BrainPOP

Kevin has worked in and around the fields of game design and education for the last 10 years. As a trained scientist, he has a PhD in Biology from Stanford University, but has spent his time gaining a smattering of diverse experiences in education: designing science curriculum, teaching... Read More →

Noa Lahav

Community Manager, Ministry of Education Israel

Founder of EdVenture. Community Manager at the Technological Innovation Unit in the Ministry of Education. Former science teacher, instructor and coordinator. M.Ed in science education, studying edTech and creativity.

Cédric Ceulemans

Learning Experience Designer, Butterfly Works

As a learning experience expert, Cedric coordinates educational projects from their early research phase to their handover to partners. Thanks to his experience in both international development and design, he offers a keen eye on learning experience, making it both dynamic and relevant... Read More →

Santhosh Kumar Subramanian

Principal Designer, The Gamification Republic

For Santhosh, just like Theatre, Storytelling, painting, Games are medium of expression. He has been working with children and adults (and private and not-for-profit institutions) for more than a decade. After dabbling with various forms of play and working with thousands of children... Read More →

Tuesday June 18, 2019 4:15pm - 5:05pm EDT
Room 105

Games for Learning, Project Brief

11:15am EDT

No Shame in Reproductive Health Games

We believe that because of their interactive, iterative and inspiring nature, games appeal to the human psychology in a way most other communication tools don’t and their impact on our brains far transcends the boundaries of the virtual world.

This session will focus on 4 windows of opportunity that can be leveraged when creating low-cost mobile games for reproductive health for a global audience; (i) games are a universal language,(ii) smartphones are now available in areas where even toilets are a luxury,(iii)mobiles games provide a private mode of outreach and (iv) scaling up games to different contexts is cost effective.

Speakers

Heather Miller

Creative Director, GRID- Gaming Revolution for Inspiring Development

Heather Miller is the Creative Director at GRID. She is responsible for the storyboarding and script writing of GRID's reproductive health games, SurrEndo and Nari Paila. Heather manages the team of graphic artists at GRID and provides art direction for all game assets. She also conducts... Read More →

Nokafu Sandra Chipanta

Program Officer II, Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University

Sandra Chipanta manages programmatic and research activities at the Institute for Reproductive Health. Under the Fertility Awareness for Community Transformation Project, she works on community-based and digital games. She informed the content design of the Nari Paila mobile game... Read More →

Wednesday June 19, 2019 11:15am - 11:35am EDT
Room 105

Health & Wellness, Talk

11:45am EDT

Making a True, Sad Story Playable Through Character Development

We know immersion creates empathy. But how can you get players to engage voluntarily with a sad game about child abuse? Elin Festøy, creative producer of the award-winning mobile game "My Child Lebensborn", talks about the importance of character development to reach out to younger players.

Speakers

Elin Festøy

Producer & CEO, Teknopilot AS

Elin Festøy is an artistic research fellow at The Norwegian Film School and a creative, interactive producer with her own, personal production company Teknopilot AS. Her latest productions include the award winning mobile game "My Child Lebensborn" and "The voice from the forest... Read More →

Wednesday June 19, 2019 11:45am - 12:05pm EDT
Room 105

Civics & Social Issues, Talk

12:15pm EDT

VR NeuroTherapy in Rehabilitation for Improved Mobility, Chronic Pain Management and Independence

Research surrounding VR as a viable medical tool has been extensive; covering training doctors in detailed surgical procedures to working on the front lines enhancing the patient experience. VR as a rehabilitation treatment for spinal cord injury, brain injury and various musculoskeletal disorders and disabilities has had tremendous success in improving mobility, pain management, and quality of life for in-patient and out-patient users. Hospitals have access to rehab focused VR experiences as a stand-alone device or to complement traditional practice. Discover how VR is used to help improve the independence of disabled users and it’s novel pairing with other technology.

Speakers

Jessica Maslin

Co-founder & COO, Mieron, Inc

Jessica Maslin is the co-founder and COO of @mieronvr, innovators of Virtual Reality NeuroTherapy for rehabilitation, physical therapy & pain management. Jessica has worked in research fields, analytics, digital marketing, product development, sales strategy, and partnership development... Read More →

Wednesday June 19, 2019 12:15pm - 12:35pm EDT
Room 105

Health & Wellness, Talk

2:00pm EDT

Accessible Player Experiences: A New Approach to Accessible Game Design

The focal point of accessible game design has primarily resulted in the addition of accessible options and features after the crucial design choices have already been made. From AbleGamers Charity comes a novel approach to accessible game design. With an emphasis on removing access and challenge barriers from the inception of the game development process, the AbleGamers Charity seeks to catalyze a new wave of game development that strives towards Accessible Player Experience (APX).

Speakers

Mark Barlet

Founder and Executive Director, AbleGamers Charity

Mark Barlet is the Founder and Executive Director of the AbleGamers Charity. Working alongside Mark, is Greg Haynes, Lead User Researcher at The AbleGamers Charity. Together, they seek to break down the barriers to gameplay that people with disabilities experience and foster accessible... Read More →

Greg Haynes

Lead Games User Researcher, AbleGamers Charity

Working alongside Mark, is Greg Haynes, Lead User Researcher at The AbleGamers Charity. Together, they seek to break down the barriers to gameplay that people with disabilities experience and foster accessible design practices in the gaming space. In discussing and consulting on accessibility... Read More →

Wednesday June 19, 2019 2:00pm - 2:20pm EDT
Room 105

Health & Wellness, Talk

2:30pm EDT

Promoting Sex-Positivity Through Analog Games

Sex is rarely discussed with depth in the mainstream gaming world. Analog games are uniquely positioned to explore this topic by leveraging embodied, participatory frameworks, and physicality. With a focus on queer sexualities, we will delve into how analog games can discuss sex effectively and safely. We will also touch on a new book of erotic art games co-created by Sharang Biswas and Lucian Kahn, with a grant from the Effing Foundation.

Speakers

Sharang Biswas

Independent Game Designer, Writer, & Artist

Sharang Biswas is a writer, award-winning game designer, and internationally exhibited artist based in NYC. His Indiecade-award winning game Feast was recently shown at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, and his writing has appeared in publications such as Kill Screen... Read More →

Wednesday June 19, 2019 2:30pm - 2:50pm EDT
Room 105

Civics & Social Issues, Talk

3:15pm EDT

Games for Impact: Fostering the Games for Change Movement in Poland

The makers of Games for Impact and Digital Cultures, two annual events held in Warsaw, will share their experience of trying to break industry barriers, jumpstart the local games-for-change community in Poland and foster international exchange. They will be joined onstage by three Polish up-and-coming developers, who will share their experience working on three diverse games, which tackle issues ranging from social inequality to children’s health.

Moderators

Matt Parker

New Media Artist / Game Designer / Professor of the Arts, NYU Game Center

Matt Parker is a new media artist and game designer. He is a Professor of the Arts at the NYU Game Center and his work has been displayed at the American Museum of Natural History, Brooklyn Academy of Music,the New Zealand Festival, Princeton’s Lewis Complex for the Arts, SIGGRAPH... Read More →

Speakers

Anna Szylar

Digital Cultures Program Manager, Adam Mickiewicz Institute

Manager of the Digital Cultures program at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, a state institution that aims to promote Polish culture abroad.

Jakub Zgierski

Coordinator of Games for Impact Warsaw, FINA (National Film Archive–Audiovisual Institute, Poland)

Coordinator and curator of Games for Impact festival in Warsaw, Poland – a space for social innovators and game developers from Poland and Central and Eastern Europe. Since 2015, Jakub is part of the programming team at FINA, a Polish cultural institution based in Warsaw, with a... Read More →

Agnieszka Mulak

PhD Student, Warsaw University / MoaCube (Game Developer Studio)

PhD student at Institute for Social Studies at Warsaw University. Writer and story designer at MoaCube, indie game development studio. A PhD student researching social impact of video games. Writer and story designer at a small indie dev studio. Determined to make her games - and... Read More →

Jan Cieślar

Founder, Failcore

Before starting his subversive games company Failcore, Jan Cieślar spent 10 years as a advertising creative, making viral award-winning campaign both for the Fortune 500 companies and charities. He has a vast communication experience including hundreds of business pitches, dozens... Read More →

Wednesday June 19, 2019 3:15pm - 4:00pm EDT
Room 105

Civics & Social Issues, Panel

4:15pm EDT

Project Briefs: What Can We Learn About...

In this series of project briefs we’ll learn about the dark topics personal trauma, digital privacy, drugs, crime and the apocalypse.

Emperatriz Ung, Independent Game Designer
Depicting Trauma in Games: An Autobiographical Take

Charli Battersby, Writer
How We Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love The Bomb

Jennifer Dalsen, UX Researcher, Facebook
Digital Privacy in Games: What Students Are Learning

Julia Pilgrim
Gaming for Justice

Speakers

Julia Pilgrim

Education for Justice (E4J) Team Leader, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Ms. Julia Pilgrim is the Team Leader of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Education for Justice (E4J) initiative. Ms. Pilgrim has previously held the position of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer with UNODC’s Corruption and Economic Crime Branch. Ms... Read More →

Emperatriz Ung

Independent Game Designer

Emperatriz Ung is a Chinese-Colombian game designer & writer from the American Southwest. Her creative work predominantly explores personal struggles with mental health, teen motherhood, and generational trauma. She earned her BA in English from the University of New Mexico, and her... Read More →

Charli Battersby

Writer

Charles [Charli] Battersby is a game designer, playwright, screenwriter, actor, and journalist. Charli has written about video games for publications including Chelsea Now, Geek.com, Venturebeat, NYC Community Media, Complex, and Joystiq. Battersby founded the organization PressXY... Read More →

Jennifer Dalsen

UX Researcher, UW-Madison

Jennifer Dalsen is UX Researcher at Facebook and a PhD graduate from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her prior experience includes harnessing qualitative and quantitative data streams to better understand player behavior at Electronic Arts (EA), Gear Learning, and Games+Learning+Society... Read More →

Wednesday June 19, 2019 4:15pm - 5:05pm EDT
Room 105

Civics & Social Issues, Project Brief