Innovation for Games and Media Enterprise (InGAME) centre which pulls together the universities of Abertay, Dundee and St Andrews, has announced the recipients of funded Research & Development (R&D) collaborations, aimed at increasing the scale and value of the Dundee videogames cluster.
The InGAME R&D Voucher Scheme is open to Tayside-based games companies, businesses and non- profit organisations to unlock bespoke packages of academic expertise, resources and support.
The next round of R&D vouchers is now open. InGAME is https://www.innovationforgames.com/opportunities/open-call-eoi/welcoming Expressions of Interest until the 17th July 2020.
A total of six projects were approved by a panel of games industry and regional development experts, including:
- The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service Transfusion Team (SNBTS TT) will advance and develop an existing prototype to demonstrate how new gameplay scenarios can be played within e-learning delivery.
- Lowtek Games will develop a prototype dyslexia plug-in for game engines. The tool makes it easier for developers to drop accessibility tools into existing games to support dyslexic players.
- TPLD will create an Augmented Reality (AR) app that showcases hyper local culture and history within Dundee.
- Xcen@Xcenttuate will use Augmented Reality and Beacon technologies to build audience insights for the tourism industry.
- FLVTTR will gather audience insight and commercial intelligence on their innovative games industry networking app.
- A pre-incorporation start-up from the Oil and Gas sector will develop an oil rig decommissioning simulation tool.
Project Director of InGAME, Sean Taylor, said:
“The response to the R&D Voucher Scheme since it launched last year has been fantastic. We now have thirteen projects underway in the InGAME R&D Centre, all of which bring unique opportunities to the Dundee Games Cluster.
We want to de-risk experimentation and drive innovation within the city and are delighted with the diversity and potential of the projects awarded funding in this round.
We look forward to working with the recipients in the coming months and welcome interest from local games studios and businesses ahead of the next round.”
Susan Cottrell, Transfusion Education Specialist Nurse from SNBTS TT, said:
“The InGAME voucher scheme will provide the opportunity to advance and develop an existing prototype created in collaboration with Abertay University, which will demonstrate how new gameplay scenarios can be played within e-learning delivery.
Working with the experts as part of the scheme provides a fantastic opportunity to learn from each other and take games-based learning for transfusion education to the next stage of developing a proof of concept.
This will demonstrate the value of games-based learning aligned to clinical practice and patient safety. The outcome of the project will enhance the opportunity to collaborate with key stakeholders to invest in the next generation of e- learning tools and games based learning which is creative and innovative and responds to the needs of learners within the digital environment.”
Ally Low, founder of Dundee-based Lowtek Games, said:
“I want to create a prototype that can be shown to investors and raise awareness of the issues dyslexic players in the games industry have.
Everyone at InGAME is very friendly and their support increases the viability of the project.”
Mike Garty, TPLD Director, said:
We are pleased to partner with InGAME to investigate the potential to create an application that gives people the sense of what it was like to live, work and socialise in area of Dundee known locally as Tipperary – a collection of approximately 20 houses in area of Lochee between Marshall Street and Atholl Street. Our vision is to create an immersive and interactive application, combing various technologies including 3D VR headsets, tablet-based AR, Haptic technology, Binaural 3D sound, GPS and NFC.
Finding a funding organisation that offered a vision of developing new technology into a business opportunity, as well as having the ability to de- risk our proposition by having it evaluated by an expert peer group was very important because it give us the confidence that the assumptions we are making are sound. It was a significant bonus that this facility was available on our doorstep.”
Dr Paul Jennings, Managing Director of Xcentuate said:
“Having concluded the ‘conceive’ stage of a new project I needed to find a way of testing the idea, developing a prototype to be deployed in a real world setting. The support from InGAME will enable me to do just that, supporting the advancement of a rapid learning curve that will hopefully create a new product that can be enjoyed by a varied audience.”
About InGAME
InGAME: Innovation for Games and Media Enterprise is an £11.5 million pound R&D Centre based in the heart of the Dundee videogames cluster. Led by Abertay University, in partnership with the University of Dundee, the University of St Andrews and local and international industry partners, InGAME delivers innovative research and offers R&D support and services to games companies in the city and beyond.
InGAME is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (£5.25M) as part of the Industrial Strategy, the Scottish Funding Council (£500K) and this is matched by industry, sector and academic investment of R&D expertise.
Games industry partners include 4J Studios, BBC, Beano Studios, Biome Collective, DeltaDNA, Microsoft, Outplay Entertainment and Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe.
Business and cluster development is supported by Creative Dundee, Creative Scotland, Elevator UK, Interface, Dundee City Council, Knowledge Transfer Network, Scottish Enterprise, TIGA, Ukie and UK Games Fund.
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You can find out more about InGAME on its website, follow them on LinkedIn or Twitter, or visit the Vimeo channel.
For more information and to apply for the next round of Innovation Vouchers, go here.
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