EGamesLab Portugal (Lisbon and Madeira Islands)
Multiple Doctoral and Post-Doc Positions Available
https://egameslab.pt/
ITI - Interactive Technologies Institute
https://iti.larsys.pt
The eGames Lab is a unique eGames development and creative industries cluster in Portugal, bringing together 14 companies, R&D centers, and public & private entities to leverage the sector’s competitiveness and position itself globally.
It is a national cluster across Madeira, Azores, Lisbon, and Évora; with close ties and cooperation with Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh (USA), AmazonWebServices (AWS), GameTech in London (UK), as well as with industry players and consultants from game hubs in Copenhagen (Denmark). The consortium has formal support from prominent industry leaders such as Sony Playstation, Dell’s Alienware, and Singapore’s EnjinStarter Launchpad. The consortium will also work with the prestigious University of Canterbury (New Zealand) and the famous HitLab (one of the world’s most well-known Virtual Reality labs).
ITI - the Interactive Technologies Institute - is the eGamesLab central research unit and will focus on advancing state of the art in game-related research areas. Videogame companies will have the opportunity to leverage this research into their products and services.
We are looking for 50 talented, motivated researchers wishing to join a 100+ people team in Lisbon’s Creative Hub and/or Madeira’s Cultural Research Center. We have Doctoral and Post-Doctoral opportunities in the following areas:
Advanced in-Game Virtual and Augmented Reality
Transformational Games for Health and the Green Agenda
Artificial Intelligence for Interactive Storytelling
For more general info about the eGamesLab, please write to pedro (dot) campos (at) iti (dot) larsys (dot) pt
Check the specific tracks below and contact the supervisors directly for specific information.
== Transformative Games and Storytelling for the Green Deal ==
This track aims to stimulate the green economy through transformative games and storytelling. The overarching goal is to provide information, engagement and access to nature and biodiversity with the intent to create awareness of the European Green Deal, discussions and interactions between communities and influence behaviour change through transformative games and interactive stories.
Digital Interactive Games and Narratives can create innovation and transform engagement and access to nature and protected areas stimulating awareness towards nature conservation and sustainability issues, supporting behaviour change and transforming players into agents into a more sustainable and nature respectful society. This research strand will embed the knowledge generated into actionable game design guidelines, ethical sound, and technologically advanced game prototypes that will lead to sustainable deployments and lower barriers for future development.
This eGamesLab agenda track seeks one post-doc and two PhD students in the areas of computer science and engineering or digital media, depending on their background or profile. All candidates are expected to have excellent spoken and written English skills as well as availability to work in close collaboration with industry partners of the consortium and availability to travel and meet communities and organizations in the broader international consortium:
One Post-Doc in transformative games capable of coordinating an interdisciplinary team working on interactive stories and implementing concepts through digital storytelling and gaming. This research profile should provide co-design skills for analysing and conceiving interactive narratives with end-user communities and promoting behaviour change through transformative games.
One PhD Student in Digital Media - conduct a literature review on the opportunities and challenges of the European Green deal in relationship with transformative games and digital storytelling. Following a research through design approach, prototype, develop and test a novel transformative game that tackles a green deal related challenge. Conduct “in the wild” case studies of the transformative game in collaboration with industry partners and end-user organizations of the eGames consortium. Conduct an impact assessment of the transformative potential of the game and the viability for commercial deployment through the eGames consortium.
One PhD Student in game development - analyse game development frameworks with an emphasis on digital storytelling and games for good. Get familiar with tools and technologies for enhancing the game experience (e.g. AR/VR, AI, etc.), and other development tools for serious game frameworks. Prototype and develop game concepts for the eGames consortium in close collaboration with industry partners and focusing on transformative games for the green deal (e.g. climate change, nature, biodiversity, behaviour change, etc.).
The candidate will enroll in the IST CSE and Digital media PhD programs and work towards a PhD thesis detailing research questions from the topics above.
Workplace and supervision:
The work will be conducted at ITI (Lisbon or Funchal, Portugal), under the supervision of Prof. Valentina Nisi, Prof Nuno Nunes, and Prof. Pedro Campos as members of the PhD accompanying committee and Principal Investigator of the Funded project.
Contact: valentina (dot) nisi (at) tecnico (dot) ulisboa (dot) pt
== Arts and Gaming, Convergent Feminism and Speculative Futures ==
This track calls for 1 post-Doctoral and 2 PhD candidates in the field of arts and gaming, convergent feminism, and speculative futures. The aim of this area of research is engaging future candidates in speculative arts and design-based research who will reflect about the art of living on a damaged planet. Taking advantage of playful interactive technologies and transmedia strategies to inquire how arts, play and gaming methodologies can integrate women studies to generate convergent and sustainable futures. The role of NTFs and the convergence of analogue and digital technologies in transmedia arts will also be considered.
The goal of this research is to generate knowledge in arts and design environments that take advantage of the internet as a mass popular medium. Workshops to engage participants in civil discussions about ethics and moral choices concerning future challenges will be developed under this area of expertise.
This track also calls for 2 PhD candidates in the field of social sciences and game studies, convergent feminism, and speculative futures. Preference will be given to research projects that focus on qualitative analysis of the impact of media and technology on everyday life, as well as research that focuses on diversity, inclusion and social justice in the digital games sector.
Media technologies, and technologies as media, permeate all aspects of contemporary life in advanced societies, and play an increasingly important role in regulating social and individual behavior. In the emerging context of the digital transition, research that explores ecosystems diversity and inclusion in the games sector will be prioritized. Research that includes workshops to engage participants in civil discussions about ethics and moral choices
concerning future challenges will be well accepted in this area of expertise.
Workplace and supervision:
The work will be conducted at ITI (Lisbon or Funchal, Portugal), under the supervision of Prof. Patrícia Gouveia, Prof. Luciana Lima, and Prof. Pedro Campos as members of the PhD accompanying committee and Principal Investigator of the Funded project.
Contact: p (dot) gouveia (at) belasartes (dot) ulisboa (dot) pt
== Advanced in-Game Virtual and Augmented Reality ==
This track calls for four post-doctoral level researchers interested in VR/AR for videogames. This track aims at achieving more realistic and more immersive content and mechanics for the video games. It will leverage the state-of-the-art VR and motion capture equipment that will be installed in the Funchal Cultural and Creative Center in order to bring more life to the animations and characters of the games produced by the consortium. The equipment is typically used to animate characters for animated films, visual effects, gaming, sports science, vTubing, virtual production, virtual reality, and other immersive 3d applications. Traditionally, motion capture required big budgets, custom-made studios, and countless pre- and post-production hours. With the advent of mainstream technologies and fast adoption by studios, motion capture is now relatively more affordable. We will employ the well-known Rococo framework for motion capture (Mocap), structured into three different aspects: (i) Capture intricate finger and hand movements; (ii) Capture detailed full-body motion in any environment, using a smart suit; and (iii) face capture using lidar scanners, to better express emotions. Therefore it is expected to achieve more realistic and immersive content for video games.
Additionally we will pursue the following goals:
Use and evaluate Social gaze interaction as a novel game mechanics.
New physical and virtual modes of locomotion achieving low latency times for realistic, immersive gameplay experiences.
Using Smart Spatial Sound systems as the main mechanics of a game.
These goals will be measured in terms of (i) Reported Player Level of Realism, (ii) Latency times, and (iii) Player Engagement Levels.
Work place and supervision:
The work will be conducted at ITI (Funchal, Madeira Islands, Portugal), under the supervision of Prof. Pedro Campos, Prof. Augusto Esteves and Prof. Élvio Gouveia.
Contact: pedro (dot) campos (at) iti (dot) larsys (dot) pt
== Storytelling for Gaming ==
This track calls for four PhD candidates who will explore the possibilities of storytelling based on literary studies, theater studies, philosophy, and film and media studies of the History and Culture of Portugal, which can be applied to the eGaming industry. One of the things that makes a game so enjoyable is the dialogue. Good dialogue serves up interactions and narrative in bite-sized portions that draw the player in, rather than pushing them away with overly long ramblings on motives or what end up being glorified exposition dumps. Much of the research and investigation will focus on defining narrative structures and the base morphology of storytelling for gaming, thus having the PhD candidate capable of developing
scripts, narratives, and dialogues from common content base structures.
Task #1: State of the Art Analysis
Study the possibilities of storytelling starting from literary studies, theater studies, philosophy, and film and media studies of the History and Culture of Portugal, which can be applied to the eGaming industry.
Task #2: Creative Writing of Scripts, Narratives, and Dialogues
Creation of flowcharts for the major stories, character and plot development, adding side quests, non-playable characters, and other small details.
Task #3: Narrative structures
Define narrative structures and the base morphology of storytelling for gaming as a basis for creating intelligent in-game dialogues.
Task #4: Transmedia Storytelling
Engage the script in Transmedia Storytelling by telling the story across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies. Ideally, each medium makes its unique contribution to the story’s unfolding.
Task #5: Guidelines to engage different publics with storytelling for gaming
Testing different narratives/plots with varying publics of age to understand which features trigger their engagement to pursue the story/game. Distill guidelines for practice on engaging various age publics in storytelling for gaming as a basis for creating intelligent in-game dialogues.
Workplace and supervision:
The work will be conducted at ITI (Lisbon or Funchal, Portugal), under the supervision of Prof. Pedro Campos, Dr Vanessa Cesário as members of the PhD accompanying committee and Principal Investigator of the Funded project.
Contact: pedro (dot) campos (at) iti (dot) larsys (dot) pt
== Artificial Intelligence for Gaming ==
Number of PhD candidates: 4
These doctoral thesis topic will investigate new ways of creating dynamic plots between the different characters of a game in order to increase the level of entertainment for the players as well as intends to build toolkits where artificial agents can form their own strategies and guarantee more fluid, unexpected, and varied experiences. So far there are few examples in industry and research on how to capture the free nature of multi-linear narratives in video games. In the same way that machine learning has influenced the way software and data are applied and used, this influence will also happen in the area of video games. The Artificial Intelligence should be based on a framework that will significantly increase the degree of realism of the characters, playable and non-playable, in electronic games.
Task #1: State of the Art Analysis
Study the possibilities of storytelling within Artificial Intelligence engines that can be applied to the eGaming industry.
Task #2: AI-powered engine
Create an AI-powered engine for storytelling in games.
Task #3: Testing
Testing of the AI-powered engine with different publics and writing of dissemination articles.
Workplace and supervision:
The work will be conducted at ITI (Lisbon or Funchal, Portugal), under the supervision of Prof. Pedro Campos, Dr. Vanessa Cesário and Prof. Diogo Cabral as members of the PhD accompanying committee and Principal Investigator of the Funded project.
Contact: pedro (dot) campos (at) iti (dot) larsys (dot) pt
== Pro-Social Computing for Energy Communities ==
This track aims to leverage data science and artificial intelligence to manage assets and resources in energy communities. The main focus will be on developing so-called pro-social agents that will act on behalf of the energy community members (typically one per house/dwelling) to make decisions in near real-time. Pro-social behavior occurs when people and agents perform costly actions that benefit others on the basis that others will behave the
same in the future, hence returning the "favor." To this end, several aspects have to be considered, including understanding the conditions and mechanisms that lead societies to become more pro-social, modeling and developing Digital Twins of Energy Communities, and creating demand management control strategies that are themselves pro-social. The final
objective is to conduct a real-world pilot with a minimum sample of 10 dwellings.
This track will require two full-time researchers (1 Ph.D. Student – RH1 and 1 Post-Doc – RH2) and another with 50% dedication (Ph.D. Student – RH5).
- RH1 (Ph.D. Student 1): with a profile in CS and a background in AI, the researcher will focus on modeling and developing energy communities and evaluating different business models, including baselines (e.g., greedy meta-heuristics) and pro-social control. Will also be responsible for developing the digital twins and real-world demonstration in year 3.
- RH2 (Post-Doc 1): will be an agent-based computing expert, preferably with
experience in developing pro-social agents. Will be responsible for the initial
developments of the pro-social load balancing schemes, developing, validating, and executing the evaluation protocols. This researcher will also assist in the coordination of the real-world pilot. Finally, one of the main goals of this person is to seek additional funding through writing grants at regional, national, and international levels.
User-Centric AI4EO: Applications to Agriculture at Multiple Scales
The track aims to leverage Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observation (AI4EO) from a user-centric perspective to improve current practices in agriculture at multiple scales, i.e., from tiny fields on Madeira Island to large farms on mainland Portugal. The main focus will be twofold: first, develop mechanisms to engage farmers in the AI4EO loop by providing annotated data (i.e., ground-truth) and validating AI algorithms. Second, study the fundamental limits of AI and EO using satellite data in agriculture by matching end-users’ expectations with the actual capabilities of AI4EO in this domain. To this end, several aspects will have to be considered, including the development of a distributed social network with gamification and persuasive technology features for user engagement and recruitment, the development of low-cost sensing for measuring soil properties, development of AI algorithms for different challenges in agriculture (e.g., soil nutrient estimation), and user-centric performance evaluation. The final objective is to conduct a real-world trial with at least 100 participants in Madeira and mainland Portugal.
This track will require two full-time researchers (1 Ph.D. Student – RH3 and 1 Post-Doc – TH4) and another with 50% dedication (Ph.D. Student – RH5).
- RH3 (Ph.D. Student 2): with a profile in CS/ECE (or related) will have three main tasks: 1) developing low-costing sensing technology for annotating soil samples, 2) developing distributed social-network features for continuous user engagement, and 3) developing AI algorithms for specific agriculture applications and perform the user-centric evaluation.
- RH4 (Post-Doc 2): with a background in AI and experience with EO data for
agriculture applications. This researcher will be responsible for the initial development of agriculture applications and for developing and validating performance evaluation protocols that assess the fundamental limitations of AI4EO for agricultural applications (e.g., minimum data resolution to achieve the performance required by the end-use application). Finally, this person will also seek additional funding through writing grants at several levels, including, for example the European Space Agency (ESA).
- RH5 (Ph.D. Student 3 with 50% in each project): with a background in social sciences or humanities, this person will be responsible for conducting the tasks related to user recruitment and engagement for the two lines of work. To this end, one of the main tasks of this student is to design and implement recruitment strategies that are adequate for the two target samples (electricity consumers/prosumers and agriculture practitioners). The student will then study the potential of social agents and distributed social networks for long-term user engagement and pro-active participant recruitment (e.g., recruitment by existing participants or opt-in).
Workplace and supervision:
The work will be conducted at ITI (Lisbon or Funchal, Portugal), under the supervision of Dr Lucas Pereira and Prof. Pedro Campos.
Contact: lucas (dot) pereira (at) tecnico (dot) ulisboa (dot) pt
== Artificial Intelligence for Interactive Storytelling ==
This track calls for two post-doctoral level researchers interested in AI-powered systems for facilitating storytelling in video games. Again, the results will be streamed into the consortium’s video games during the development and production process and will facilitate and reduce time to market.
Our approach differs from the current state of the art in that it intends to build toolkits where artificial agents can form their own strategies and guarantee more fluid, unexpected, and varied experiences. We will investigate new ways of creating dynamic plots between the different characters in order to increase the level of entertainment for the players.
This track’s goals include:
AI-powered novel ways of creating dynamic plots between the different characters in order to increase the level of entertainment for the players.
Automatic Summarization of Interactive Narratives as Intelligent Feedback to Assist its Authoring.
User-friendly interfaces for AI-powered storytelling authoring systems, including multidisciplinary development teams.
These goals will be measured in terms of (i) Reported Player Engagement Levels, (ii) Satisfaction Levels of the Creators, and (iii) User adoption rates.
Workplace and supervision:
The work will be conducted at ITI (Funchal, Madeira Islands, Portugal), under the supervision of Prof. Pedro Campos, Dr. Vanessa Cesário and Prof. Frederica Gonçalves.
Contact: pedro (dot) campos (at) iti (dot) larsys (dot) pt