The 20th IFIP INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENTERTAINMENT COMPUTING
Date: November 2 – 5, 2021
Location: Coimbra, Portugal
Website: www.ifip-icec.org
The 20th International Federation for Information Processing – International Conference on Entertainment Computing (IFIP-ICEC 2021) will be held in Coimbra, Portugal, on Nov. 2-5, 2021: The conference is organized by the the IFIP-ICEC TC14 – Entertainment Computing Technical Committee, and will be hosted by the University of Coimbra (Portugal), in association with the Portuguese Society for the Sciences of Videogames.
IFIP-ICEC is the longest lasting and prime scientific conference series in the area of Entertainment Computing. It brings together practitioners, researchers, artists, designers, and industry on the design, creation, development, use, application and evaluation of digital entertainment content and experience systems. In addition, it brings together research on education and entertainment. This event covers a diverse array of related research issues, including game-based learning and other learning experiences associated with entertainment.
COVID-19 Information
We are fully aware that the situation regarding Covid-19 is a cause for concern. Hopefully, vaccination and traveling measures will have been adopted and the situation being normalised after the summer and therefore will hardly affect our conference schedule. Nevertheless, for those not being able to travel, we have measures to facilitate remote participation. It is our plan to bring all conference rooms online, enabling both local and distance engagement.
All accepted papers will be indexed by EI, and be published in book form in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series. In addition, selected best papers from the conference will be invited for submission of an extended version to a special issue of Entertainment Computing (published by Elsevier).
In addition, this edition will feature a special track where authors of selected recent papers from the Journal of Entertainment Computing (Elsevier), will be invited to present their work at the conference.
Aims
IFIP TC14 aims to encourage research, development and sharing of innovative ideas, models and practices, on computer applications in entertainment. To enhance computation and use studies in this field, the technical program committee invites original submissions.
Topics can include but are not limited to:
Design and Analysis
Game Design: Theory, Creation & Testing
Interactive Narratives & Digital Storytelling
Entertainment Robots, Toys & Smart Gadgets
Social Media / Social Computing Entertainments
New Genres of Interactive & Digital Entertainment
Interactive Art, Performance and Novel Interactions
Digital Art & Installations
Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality & Entertainment
Ubiquitous/Pervasive Entertainment
Sound, Music & Performance
TransMedia and Entertainment
Entertainment Devices, Platforms & Systems
Digital Entertainment Hardware & Devices
Entertainment for Nomadic Users
Ambient Entertainment
Digital Broadcasting and Digital Cinema
Interactive Television and Broadcasting
Theoretical Foundations and Ethical Issues
Experiential Aspects in Entertainment
Emotions and Affective Interaction
Theoretical Basis of Entertainment
Social / Cultural Impacts of Digital Entertainment
Issues of Public Relations & Advertising Through Entertainment
Entertainment for Purpose & Persuasion
Serious Games
Games for Learning, Health & Well-Being
Games For Change & Social Impact Games
Exergaming
Advergames and Digital Marketing
Computational Methodologies for Entertainment
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning for Entertainment
Procedural Content Generation
Computer Graphics & Visual Effects
Big Data in Entertainment
Security & Privacy in Entertainment
Algorithmic research on board and card games
New types of entertainment using information technologies
Hardware technology research and development to implement entertainment systems
Non-traditional human interface technologies for entertainment
Call for Submissions
Full Research Papers
Chairs: Jannicke Baalsrud-Hauge (KTH / BIBA, Sweden), Jorge C. S. Cardoso (University of Coimbra, Portugal);
Full papers are the main media for presenting high impact, mature research with original new results. Submissions should describe novel unpublished work addressing one or more of the research topics listed. All technical papers will be published in the official Springer LNCS proceedings. Papers must be submitted using the Springer LNCS format.
Paper length should reflect the contribution and maturity of the submission and reviewers from the program committee will be instructed to judge the contribution of a paper relative to its length. For example, typical contributions presenting significant research advances/results should be around 12 pages in length (Full Technical Papers). Papers with exceeding length relative to their contribution will be rejected. The committee may accept submissions conditionally or route them for a different category, when appropriate, and consult with authors to adjust their paper according to the review needs. Accepted papers will be scheduled for long presentations and discussion at the conference.
Submit here (anonymized for double-blind review)
Works in Progress
Chairs: Paula Alexandra Silva (University of Coimbra, Portugal), Valentina Nisi (University of Lisbon / ITI , Portugal), Teresa Romão (Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal);
Work in Progress (WiP) contributions provides an opportunity to present late-breaking work, new experimental projects, research in early phases or with more limited scope than typical full papers. A WiP submission is a shorter submission describing the research problem, contribution, and value to the community, submitted as a PDF file. Accepted papers will be included into the official Springer LNCS proceedings.
WiP submissions should be around 6 pages in length in Springer LNCS format. Submissions with exceeding length relative to their contribution can be rejected. The committee may accept submissions conditionally or route them for a different category, when appropriate, and consult with authors to adjust their paper according to the review needs.
Accepted WiPs will be scheduled for discussion at the conference. Works in progress will be given a time slot during the conference, using poster or video format, providing an interactive forum in which authors can present work to conference attendees during a special interactive session. This provides an opportunity to discuss in-depth with colleagues.
Submit here (anonymized for double-blind review)
Workshops
Chairs: Mitsuru Minakuchi (Kyoto SU, Japan), Elif Surer (Middle East Technical University, Turkey), Pedro Martins (University of Coimbra, Portugal);
We invite proposals for workshops and tutorials that will be held at IFIP-ICEC 2021.
We invite proposals in all areas of entertainment computing and serious games research (see conference topics listed above) and particularly welcome proposals that will focus on and promote discussion on new and emerging trends in these areas. Workshop proposals should be 4 to 6 pages in length (in the Springer LNCS format) and must include the following information:
– Workshop or tutorial title and short abstract (max 50 words)
– Workshop summary, short review of state of the art, motivation and goals
– Workshop format (an activity plan and its rationale towards the goals
– Workshop format for participant enrollment (eg position papers, prior expression of interest, or other applicable requirement for planning and organization);
– Profile of participants (and estimated number of participants)
– Contact or the organizers (name, affiliation, address, phone#, email);
– Short but relevant bio information of the organizers;
– Expected workshop outcomes (proceedings, special issue of journals, project proposals, etc.);
– Proposed workshop due dates (take into consideration conference schedules); workshops can be scheduled for either half a day (4h) or a full day (8h). Please submit your workshop/tutorial proposal via the electronic conference system.
– Workshops are open to all IFIP-ICEC attendees at no additional cost, even if not submitting contributions.
Tutorials
Chairs: Esteban Clua (UF Fluminense, Brazil), Eddie Melcer (UC Santa Cruz, Unites States);
IFIP-ICEC is the longest lasting and prime scientific conference series in the area of Entertainment Computing. It brings together practitioners, researchers, artists, designers, and industry on the design, creation, development, use, application and evaluation of digital entertainment content and experience systems. In addition, it brings together research on education and entertainment. This event covers a diverse array of related research issues, including game-based learning and other learning experiences associated with entertainment.
We invite proposals for tutorials that will be held in conjunction with ICEC 2021. We invite proposals in all areas of entertainment computing (see conference topics listed above) and particularly welcome proposals that will focus on and promote discussion on new and emerging trends. Tutorial proposals should be two pages in length and must include the following information:
Contact information (name, affiliation, address, phone number and email) of the tutorial organizer(s); Relevant CV information of the tutorial leader(s); tutorial title; tutorial objective; Background/relevance of tutorial topic; Intended duration (3h or 6h); and a brief summary of the content.
We intend to invite the selected tutorials for a book chapter, called “Advances in Digital Entertainment”.
This year ICEC will be held on Coimbra University, Portugal. We are fully aware that the situation regarding Covid-19 is a cause for concern. Hopefully, vaccination and traveling measures will have been adopted and the situation being normalized after the summer and therefore will hardly affect our conference schedule. Nevertheless, for those not being able to travel, we have measures to facilitate remote participation. It is our plan to bring all conference rooms online, enabling both local and distance engagement.
Interactive Entertainment / Experiential Works
Chairs: Drew Davidson (CMU ETC, Pittsburgh, United States), Troy Kohwalter (UF Fluminense, Brasil);
Peer-reviewed interactive demonstrations, installations and games show early implementations of novel, interesting, and important entertainment computing concepts, systems, installations or games, or can serve to showcase results not previously described in the research literature.
Both research and industry is encouraged to send in and showcase demonstrators of novel approaches to entertainment. We particularly encourage demonstrations with which attendees can interact and play.
Demonstration, installation, or a game submission is a shorter submission describing a novel approach to entertainment computing concepts. The submission should be composed of a document with up to four pages using Springer LNCS format, and structured as follows: (1) up to three pages for an extended abstract and (2) a final page that contains the link to an online video, a list of technical requirements (including electrical and connectivity needs), and physical space requirements (including display and footprint needs).
The extended abstract should be written according to the underlying structure of the structured abstract and must be clear, straightforward, and easy to understand. The extended abstract must contain the following sections: abstract and keywords, introduction, methodology, findings, conclusion, and references. Sections can be named differently, and subsections can be included. Supporting figures, tables and images of the results may be included in the extended abstract.
By default, demos and games will have a table, chairs and internet connection available. By their nature, interactive installations are intended for larger, potentially public spaces. We will try to accommodate for the needs of these types of installations, but please include a minimal set-up so that we know the range of requirements that we will need to meet. Successful authors of demonstration/installation submissions will be contacted by the chair to confirm the availability of the requested resources. The abstract, digital video and requirements supplement must be submitted electronically.
Submit here (anonymized for double-blind review)
Student Game and Interactive Entertainment Competition
Chairs: Erik van der Spek (TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands); Nelson Zagalo (University of Aveiro, Portugal);
Next to the Interactive Entertainment expo, IFIP-ICEC 2021 also organizes a competition for student games and interactive entertainment. All students up to and including PhD candidate level are eligible to send in their game or interactive entertainment installation, as long as the demonstrator is fully experiential, and the demonstrator is part of a research endeavor. This could be a platform to perform research with, a research through design contribution, or a design exemplar of something that advances the state of the art, but the paper detailing the game or interactive entertainment installation should make clear what the development of it may add to our knowledge of games and entertainment.
Submissions to the game and interactive entertainment competition should be done in a maximum six page extended abstract in Springer LNCS format, that among others clearly describes the research goal, a description of the experience of the demonstrator with pictures, and how the demonstrator advances the state of the art. Submissions furthermore require a video of at least 1:30 minutes that clearly shows the experience of the game or interactive entertainment installation. A download link to the executable in case of a game is highly appreciated. Teamwork is allowed, as long as the total amount of work into the game or installation does not exceed 48 person-months.
At least one of the student authors on the paper needs to register and be physically present at the conference to showcase the game or installation in order to have a chance at winning the competition. A jury of experts is formed at the conference to select the winner, and the winner will be announced at the end of the conference.
Doctoral Consortium
Chairs: Liliane Machado (Federal University of Paraíba, Brazil), Artur Lugmayr (Umea University, Sweden / University of Western Australia / UXMachines Pty Ltd);
The Doctoral Consortium provides an opportunity for doctoral students to explore and develop their research interests in an interdisciplinary workshop, under the guidance of a panel of distinguished researchers in entertainment computing and/or serious games. We invite students who feel they would benefit from this kind of feedback on their dissertation work to apply for this unique opportunity to share their work with students in a similar situation as well as senior researchers in the field. The strongest candidates will be those who have a clear idea and an area, and have made some progress, but who are not so far along that they can no longer make changes. Also, as well as stating how you will gain from acceptance, both you and your advisor should be clear on what you can contribute to the Doctoral Consortium.
The Consortium will provide a supportive setting for feedback on students’ current research and guidance on future research directions. It will also offer each student comments and fresh perspectives on their work from researchers and students outside their own institution and promote the development of a supportive community of scholars and a spirit of collaborative research.
Current graduate students pursuing a PhD project who would benefit from detailed workshop discussions of their doctoral research should submit a single PDF file consisting of a 4-page extended abstract of your thesis work in Springer LNCS format, clearly specifying the originality of the work with respect to current concepts and techniques, the importance of the work with respect to fundamental issues and themes in entertainment computing, results to date and their validity and contribution of the work (expected and/or achieved) to entertainment computing and/or serious games.
We especially search for brand new research ideas. Feel free to submit any novel proposals where you believe they will lead to scientific breakthroughs not (yet) backed by concrete implementations or experiments. Candidates must also send a biographical note, the sponsor name and affiliation and one-paragraph statement of expected benefits of participation for both yourself and the other consortium participants (i.e., what will you contribute as well as gain).
Important dates
We invite submissions under the following categories (deadlines):
Full Research Papers (June 7th, 2021) (extended to June 21st)
Works-in-Progress (June 7th, 2021) (extended to June 21st)
Interactive Entertainment / Experiential works (June 7th, 2021) (extended to June 21st)
Tutorial proposals (June 17th, 2021) (extended to June 21st)
Workshop proposals (June 7th, 2021) (extended to June 21st)
Early Submissions to Student Competition (June 7th, 2021) (extended to June 21st)
Notifications to authors (July 9th, 2021)
Accepted Workshop calls published on our website by July 15th, 2021
“Camera ready” by 13th August, 2021
Submissions to Doctoral Consortium: October 15th, 2021 (not in time for the proceedings)
Late Submissions to Student Competition: October 15th, 2021 (not in time for the proceedings)
Submissions to Workshops: October 15th, 2021 (not in time for the proceedings)
Organization
General Chairs
Licínio Roque (University of Coimbra, Portugal)
Pedro Gonzalez-Calero (U Complutense Madrid, Spain)
Program Committee
Jannicke Baalsrud-Hauge (KTH / BIBA, Sweden)
Jorge C. S. Cardoso (University of Coimbra, Portugal)
Works in Progess
Paula Alexandra Silva (University of Coimbra, Portugal)
Valentina Nisi (University of Lisbon / ITI , Portugal)
Teresa Romão (Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Workshops
Mitsuru Minakuchi (Kyoto SU, Japan)
Elif Surer (Middle East Technical University, Turkey)
Pedro Martins (University of Coimbra, Portugal)
Tutorials
Esteban Clua (UF Fluminense, Brazil)
Eddie Melcer (UC Santa Cruz, Unites States)
Interactive Entertainment / Experiential Works
Drew Davidson (CMU ETC, Pittsburgh, United States)
Troy Kohwalter (UF Fluminense, Brasil)
Student Competition Chairs
Erik van der Spek (TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands)
Nelson Zagalo (University of Aveiro, Portugal)
Doctoral Consortium
Liliane Machado (Federal University of Paraíba, Brazil)
Artur Lugmayr (Umea University, Sweden / University of Western Australia / UXMachines Pty Ltd)
Communication Chairs
Nuno Correia (Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Zhigeng Pan (Hangzhou Normal University, China)
Local Organization
Ana Paula Afonso (CISUC / Universidade Aberta)
Luís Lucas Pereira (CISUC / University of Coimbra)
Mariana Seiça (CISUC / University of Coimbra)
Rui Craveirinha (CISUC, University of Coimbra / Player Research)
Steering Committee
Rainer Malaka (University of Bremen, Germany)
Helmut Hlavacs (TU Wien, Austria)
Erik van der Spek (TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands)
Esteban Clua (UF Fluminense, Brasil)
Nuno Correia (Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Program Committee
Abdennour El Rhalibi, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Aidong Lu, UNC Charlotte, USA
André Perrotta, University of Coimbra, Portugal
André Miede, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft des Saarlandes, Germany
Andreas Scalas, CNR IMATI Genova, Italy
Andrés Adolfo Navarro Newball, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
Antonio J. Fernández Leiva, Universidad de Málaga, Spain
Artur Lugmayr, Umea University, Sweden / University of Western, Australia / UXMachines Pty Ltd
Barbara Göbl, University of Vienna, Austria
Carlos Caires, University of Saint Joseph, Macau, China
Cristina Sylla, University of Minho /ITI/LARSyS, Portugal
Daniel Thalmann, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Dmitry Alexandrovsky, Uni-Bremen, Germany
Drew Davidson, CMU ETC, Pittsburgh, USA
Eddie Melcer, UC Santa Cruz, Unites States
Edmond Prakash, IJCGT, UK
Elif Surer, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
Erik van der Spek, TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Esteban Clua, UF Fluminense, Brazil
Fernando Birra, New University of Lisbon, Portugal
Filipa Martins de Abreu, University of Saint Joseph, Macau, China
Francisco Bernardo, University of Sussex, UK
Gerald Estadieu, University of Saint Joseph, Macau, China
Guenter Wallner, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
Heiko Duin, BIBA , University Bremen, Germany
Heinrich Söbke, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany
Helmut Hlavacs, University of Vienna
Ioana A Stefan, ATS, Romania
Ioannis Bikas, University of Bremen
Jannicke Baalsrud-Hauge, KTH / BIBA, Sweden
Jingya Li, TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Jinyuan Jia, Tongji University, China
João Cordeiro, Polytechnic Institute of Tomar, Portugal
Johannes Pfau, Universität Bremen, Germany
Jorge Cardoso, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Joseph Timoney, Maynooth University, Ireland
Kai Erenli, UAS bfi Vienna, Austria
Kei Kobayashi, University of Tsukuba
László Szécsi, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary
Licínio Roque, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Liliane Machado, Federal University of Paraíba, Brazil
Maiga Chang, Athabasca University, Canada
Manuel Ninaus, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Mara Dionisio, Universidade Nova, Portugal
Marc Herrlich, University of Kaiserslautern (TUK), Germany
Maria Freese, TU Delft
Maria Magdalena Popescu, Carol I National Defence University, Romania
Mariana Seiça, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Mariano Alcaniz, Universidad Politécnica Valencia, Spain
Mateus Finco, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Mei-Kei Lai, Macao Polytechnic Institute, Macao, China
Michael Kickmeier-Rust, Graz University of Technology, Austria
Michela Mortara, CNR IMATI Genova, Italy
Mitsuru Minakuchi, Kyoto SU, Japan
Naoya Isoyama, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
Nelson Zagalo, University of Aveiro, Portugal
Nick Graham, Queen’s University, Canada
Nikitas Sgouros, University of Piraeus, Greece
Nour El Mawas, Université de Lille, France
Paula Alexandra Silva, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Pedro Martins, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Pedro Gonzalez-Calero, U Complutense Madrid, Spain
Per Backlund, University of Skövde, Sweden
Philipp Jordan, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, USA
Qingde Li, University of Hull, UK
Ralf Doerner, RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Robert Wendrich, University of Twente, Netherlands
Rui Craveirinha, University of Coimbra, Portugal / Player Research, UK
Rui Prada, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Ryohei Nakatsu, Kyoto University, Japan
Sara Kunz, CITAR, Portuguese Catholic University, Portugal
Sheng Li, Peking University, China
Sobah Abbas Petersen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Stefan Goebel, TU Darmstadt, Germany
Teresa Romão, Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal
Theodore Lim, Heriot-Watt University, UK
Theresa-Marie Rhyne, Consultant, USA
Troy Kohwalter, UF Fluminense, Brasil
Valentina Nisi, University of Lisbon / ITI , Portugal
Vanessa Cesário, Interactive Technologies Institute (ITI/LARSyS), Portugal
Wolfgang Mueller, University of Education Weingarten, Germany
Xiaosong Yang, Bournemouth University, UK
Xun Luo, Tianjin University of Technology, China
Youquan Liu, Chang’an University, Xi’an, China
Contact
For inquiries please contact: icec2021@dei.uc.pt