The 8th Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment

21-22 July 2012, Auckland, New Zealand

          The Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment  is

          a  cross-disciplinary  conference   that   brings   together

          researchers from artificial intelligence,  audio,  cognitive

          science, cultural studies, drama,  HCI,  interactive  media,

          media studies, psychology, computer  graphics,  as  well  as

          researchers  from   other   disciplines   working   on   new

          interactive entertainment specific technologies or providing

          critical analysis of games and interactive environments.

                               PLAYING THE SYSTEM

          We like to think of play not as an effective  tool  that  is

          used to a certain end, but rather, that play is valuable  in

          itself and has  the  power  to  transform  our  systems  and

          change our view of the world. Play is close to its  players,

          free  and  challenges  (external)  control.  The  notion  of

          playing the system can be associated with   counter-culture,

          taking on the system, emancipation from domination,  change,

          doing  things  differently,  unintended  use,  trying   out,

          tinkering around and taking control. The struggle  over  the

          control of the computer can be shown in many situations.

          Using computers has become mainstream today. Will  users  be

          happy being consumers or will they start to  be producers of

          the  digital  medium?  Interaction  is  hard,  and   without

          initiative and  considerable  skills, the  results  will  be

          trivial. The process  includes  failure.  Many  so-called

          interactive experiences are shallow and narrow, not offering

          the user any real participation. Being passive is easy.

          But the computer is not used to its full  potential  if  the

          users limit themselves to copy, re-do or re-create  what has

          been done before. The interaction with the  computer  places

          the control over it in the hands of its users, arguably more

          so than previous media. Users demand and take  ownership  of

          the digital medium, when they start to  (mis-)  use  it  for

          producing, extending, changing and creating reality. In this

          process  media  consumers  turn  into  users,  artists   and

          players.

          Users who playfully interact with their  computers  are  not

          necessarily playing  computer  games,  but  fight  with  the

          computer, accept a challenge, try to reach their  own  goals

          and not the ones that were  anticipated  by  somebody  else.

          Competent users can change the medial form, not only  fiddle

          with the (arbitrary) content; they can reformat the  medium,

          and modify the rules of play. The world of media is changing

          fast. People who watched TV ten years ago will never go back

          to linear  media.  Their  attitude  towards  technology  has

          changed. They are not asking  for  permission,  reading  the

          manual or following orders. They are playing the system.

                                     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.

                             SUBMISSIONS AND REVIEW

          IE2012 will only accept submissions via

          https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ie20120

          IE2012 will accept four kinds of submissions; all  accepted

          submissions will be included in the conference proceedings.

          Long Papers â€" Maximum 10 pages.

          Regular papers represents mature work where  the  work  has

          been rigorously evaluated. All regular papers will be  peer

          reviewed for technical  merit,  significance,  clarity  and

          relevance to interactive entertainment. Accepted papers are

          required  to  give  a  15-20  minute  presentation  at  the

          conference.

          Short Papers â€" Maximum 3 pages.

          Short papers represent novel work in progress that  may not

          be yet as mature  as   regular   submissions,   but   still

          represents a significant contribution  to  the  field.  All

          short papers will be peer  reviewed  for  technical  merit,

          significance,  clarity   and   relevance   to   interactive

          entertainment. Accepted papers are required  to  present  a

          poster at the conference.

          Demo Submissions â€" Maximum 1 page.

          Technical  demonstrations  show  innovative  and   original

          implementations to interactive entertainment.  Demo  papers

          will be reviewed by the conference chair  and  the  program

          chair for significance and relevance. Demo  presenters  are

          responsible for bringing the necessary equipment to set  up

          their own demo at the conference.

          Exhibition Submissions â€" Maximum 3 pages.

          Exhibition papers can represent both mature and novel  work

          related to interactive  entertainment.  Applicants  are  to

          submit a short write-up outlining and  contextualising  the

          work to be exhibited, including  pictures. They  will  need

          provide a clear understanding  of  the  proposed  exhibited

          design  work,    its    relationship    with    interactive

          entertainment  supported   by   design   argumentation.   A

          detailed description of what and  how  the  work  needs  to

          be exhibited should also be  included.  Exhibit  presenters

          are responsible for bringing  the  necessary  equipment  to

          set up their own exhibit at the conference.

          All submissions must be in PDF format, formatted  according

          to the official ACM proceedings format  using  templates at

          http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/proceedings-templates

          For a submission to appear in the proceedings, at least one

          author must register for the conference by the deadline.

          All conference papers will be fully  peer  reviewed using a

          double-blind process (i.e., authors names and  affiliations

          are omitted) by  an International Review  Panel  to  ensure

          research dissemination of the highest quality. IE2012  will

          not accept any paper that, at the time  of  submission,  is

          under review for or has already been published or  accepted

          for publication in another journal or conference.

                                IMPORTANT DATES

          Long Paper Submission                       31 March    2012

          Short Papers Submission                     31 March    2012

          Exhibit Submissions                         31 March    2012

          Demo Submissions                            31 March    2012

          Author Notification                          1 May      2012

          Camera Ready Papers                         31 May      2012

          IE Conference, Auckland, New Zealand        21-22 July  2012