For the third time the track “Entertainment Interfaces” will take place together with the German HCI conference Mensch & Computer and the German Usability Professionals (UPA) track.
Within the past years the market of entertainment products has seen an overwhelming growth and has become an important part of the creative industries. This steady growth is not only based upon the changing demographics of users of interactive entertainment. One important reason is the diversification of interactive entertainment products converting more and more casual users into active consumers. The motion-sensitive controllers of the Nintendo Wii game console, the music instruments of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, and also products like Microsoft’s Kinect, which are currently in development offer innovative and user-friendly interfaces to attract new target groups. Computer- and videogames are not the only area the diversification changes: In the course of the growing media convergence new entertainment products evolve between the different fields of the creative industries. Interactive audio books, innovative toys and building blocks, game-based learning and serious games, virtual and augmented realities, and artistic installations and products give a first idea of the potential of this area.
The track “Entertainment Interfaces” offers researchers, developers and designers a platform to present innovative ideas in the area of interactive entertainment with a focus on interaction in games and other entertainment products and to discuss design challenges and the evaluation of entertainment interfaces. The aims of the track are to strengthen the awareness of the relevance of user-friendly and innovative interfaces for entertainment applications in the research community and in the public, to encourage the research activities and the education in this field, and to foster the knowledge transfer between researchers and developers. We like to emphasize the interdisciplinary background of the “Entertainment Interfaces” track and welcome contributions from the areas of computer science, psychology, design and engineering sciences as well as contributions from developers and designers working in the field of interactive entertainment.
Organizers
Jörg Niesenhaus, University of Duisburg-Essen
Rainer Malaka, University of Bremen
Matthias Rauterberg, Technical University Eindhoven
Maic Masuch, University of Duisburg-Essen