Global Game Jam 2016 returns to Londonmet

48 hours of game production as part of the Global GameJam 2016, streaming live on twitch

Read about the weekend here: http://www.thinkmakeplay.co.uk/?p=688
and here: http://kavitakapoor.org/2016/02/game-jam-2016/

See pix here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkmakeplay/albums/72157663983583452

See what the kids came up with here: http://goodomensgame.blogspot.co.uk/

Play our jam games here: http://globalgamejam.org/2016/jam-sites/london-metropolitan-university/games

Digital Toybox 2015

This year's Faculty of Life Sciences and Computing annual summer show, Digital Toybox 2015, took place on 11/12th June.

Information and photos can be seen here:
http://www.thinkmakeplay.co.uk/?page_id=10
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkmakeplay/sets/72157653057800024

Student Environmental Enrichment Course

I attended the 17th S.E.E.C. (Student Environmental Enrichment Course), run by The Shape of Enrichment, from 4-7 August 2014.

We attended lectures and did some practical workshops in rope splicing and fire-hose weaving at Lakeview Monkey Sanctuary, followed by a design and production session to create new toys and environmental enrichment for the inhabitants.

Here we are, installing some new devices - dynamic branches, seesaw, herb baskets and hammocks.  The best part was standing back to watch the capuchins and macaques enter their enclosures again and begin to explore all the toys...

I

Capuchin exploring packet of ice and strawberries

Macaque on the swinging branch, playing with rope

Londonmet FLSC Summer Show 2014

Amazing work from my students, who produced fantastic games and toys for this year's Digital Toybox  Summer Show:  www.thinkmakeplay.co.uk/show.

Designing smart toys for the cognitive enrichment of elephants

http://doc.gold.ac.uk/aisb50/AISB50-S14/AISB50-S14-French-extabst.pdf

Paper delivered at AISB 2014 (conference for The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour), ISAWEL (Symposium on Intelligent Systems for Animal Welfare)

track.

My co-authors were Clara Mancini, Neil Smith and Helen Sharp from The Open University.

Tanya playing in the mud, Colchester Zoo, Feb 2014

Elephants

So I'm currently undertaking a PhD in Animal Computer Interaction at The Open University...  "Designing smart toys for the cognitive enrichment of elephants". 

I've been doing some behavioural studies of elephants at Colchester Zoo - Tanya, Opal, Zola and Tembo.  Check the link for some video-clips: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkmakeplay/sets/72157642927226824/


Paper presented next week at AISB 2014.