RSE Curious is the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s summer events programme, designed to make you question and learn more about the world around you.
This year, the whole programme will of course take place online. The organisation is using a format it’s calling ‘Tea and Talk’, inspired by the coffee house discussions of the Scottish Enlightenment, where people would gather to debate issues of the day.
From August 7 – August 30, 25 Tea and Talk sessions will take place on Zoom.
Audio & Applied Gaming
The programme features and number of sessions looking at different aspects of gaming, including several on the topic of applied gaming from some of the country’s leading academics.
These should be of interest to every developer, studio and student across the country. If you’re not familiar with the concept of applied gaming, you need to be. It’s the application of games tools, technologies and techniques outside the realm of gaming.
Think of it as ‘gamification’, but based upon actual understanding and application of incentives, drives and rewards, rather than adding random badges and leaderboards to non-gaming activities.
Here’s how the RSE describes it:
In what ways are games more than entertainment?
Video games are a global, multi-billion pound industry but often face a media spotlight that shines brightly on claims that games are harmful and damaging. Games have been making positive contributions to people’s lives for generations, and continue to grow as one the most important industries for twenty-first century living.
In these talks, Abertay University and RSE Young Academy Academics will demonstrate how universities and the public sector are applying games to a wide variety of academic challenges and societal problems. The talks will focus on where games can help researchers with investigations, engage with different audiences, contribute towards solutions – and still entertain!
Audio
There’s also a session on audio, with the founder of the incredible audio software company Krotos, discussing how audio is created for blockbuster movies, games and TV series such as Game of Thrones.
Here are the game elements of the RSE Curious programme..
The Sounds of Movies, Games, and TV
August 8
A lot of sounds in movies are created and added after filming, such as weapons firing or a character’s footsteps – but how? And how do you create sounds for creatures that don’t exist like Game of Thrones’ unforgettable dragons? Now you get the chance to find out by talking with RSE Enterprise Fellow, Krotos Founder and CEO, Orfeas Boteas.
Krotos’ audio software has been used in top films, series and video games such as The Avengers, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, Jungle Book, Frozen, Cyberpunk and Far Cry.
More Than Playthings
9th August
Gaming in the real world
Dr Andrew Reid, Abertay University, will introduce to the world of Applied Games – designed with a primary purpose other than entertainment – and its many applications in education, scientific exploration, health care, engineering, and politics. Kevin Jones, they will share their experience in the use of games for training at the University of St Andrews and the School of Chemistry’s Game Jams.
16th August – Using games for public engagement
Games are wonderful tools to start conversations – presenting big ideas in intuitive ways to encourage players to problem solve and understand the world around them. Dr Jonathan Wilkin, Abertay University, and Erik Gauger, Heriot Watt University, explore how they bring their research in food science and quantum physics (respectively) to a wider audience.
23rd August – Learning through play
Join Dr Lynn Love, Abertay University, as she discusses the importance of play, its role in bringing people and the impact on the individual, group, community and culture – is play a good indicator of the health of society? She will be joined by Dr Iain Donald, Abertay University, whose recent research into applied historical games explored commemoration and memorialization in games.
The rest of the programme looks similarly fascinating, focusing on topics from sleep, drugs and genes to space, the oceans, building a resilient society and future foreign policy.
You can find it here. The whole RSE Curious programme is free to attend, but spaces are limited in order to create space for debate and discussion.
We’ll see you there.
