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HCI Games Group

HCI Games Group

Researching Affective Systems and Engaging Interactions

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People

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Faculty


Lennart Nacke

Director of the HCI Games Group

Professor Nacke teaches User Experience, Human-Computer Interaction, and Game Design at the University of Waterloo. As part of the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, the Department of Communication Arts, and the Games Institute, he is researching player experience in video games, immersive VR environments, and gameful applications. As a truly interdisciplinary researcher, he is cross-appointed and supervises graduate students in the Department of Systems Design Engineering, the Department of English Language and Literature, and the Cheriton School of Computer Science. Together with co-researchers, he published the PXI — player experience inventory, gamification user types hexad scale, guidelines for biofeedback and sound design in games, and a book on games user research. Professor Nacke has served on the steering committee of the International Game Developers Association Games Research & User Experience Special Interest Group in the past, was the chair of the CHI PLAY conference steering committee from 2014–2018. His publications have won Best Paper Awards at the CHI, CSCW, and CHI PLAY conferences. He has published more than 100 scientific papers, which have been cited more than 10,000 times. He strongly believes in understanding users first to build more engaging games and compelling player experiences.

Postdoctoral Researchers


Maximilian Altmeyer

Part-time postdoctoral researcher, Personalization of Gameful Systems

Max is a postdoctoral researcher at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and the Ubiquitous Media Technology Lab (UMTL) at Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany. He holds a M.Sc in Media Informatics from Saarland University. His research focuses on using gamification elements in behavior change support systems, on factors influencing their perception and on ways to tailor them to users. During his research visit at the HCI games group, he works on a collaborative gamification project with Dr. Nacke and Dr. Tondello.

Paula Palomino

Postdoc, Gamification in Education

Paula is a Brazilian postdoctoral researcher in Computer Science at the University of São Paulo (USP), under Dr Seiji Isotani's supervision and Dr Lennart Nacke's co-supervision. She holds an MSc and BSc in Communication from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar). Her main interests are game design, gamification, UX and digital culture and she researches the use of subjective game elements in gamification frameworks applied to educational contexts.

Ahmed Hosny Saleh Metwally

External Postdoctoral Researcher, Gamification in Education

Ahmed is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Beijing Normal University after graduating with a Ph.D. from Northeast Normal University, an assistant lecturer at Helwan University, and a visiting researcher at the HCI Games Group. He holds an MSc and BSc in educational technology from Helwan University. His research interests include gamifying learning assignments and educational resources. As part of his research, he investigates different features of gameful design and approaches that might help for better understanding perceived experience. Moreover, he participated and published international studies in acknowledged and prestigious international journals and conferences, e.g. International Journal of Educational Research, GamiFin, CSEDU, IEEE ICALT, eLmL, EITT.

Kata Szita

External Postdoctoral Researcher, Cognitive Film and XR

Dr. Kata Szita is a researcher with an interest in the behavioural and cognitive aspects of film, media, and extended reality experiences. She completed a Ph.D. degree in 2019 in cognitive film studies/neurocinematics at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. During her doctoral studies, she was visiting researcher at the Schools of Science and Art, design and architecture at Aalto University, Finland and at the School of Psychology at University College Dublin, Ireland. She is the recipient of a visiting fellowship from the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Currently, she investigates moving-image, virtual reality, and augmented reality experiences with a particular focus on cognition, embodiment, physiological reactions, decision-making, and social behaviour. Her recently published doctoral thesis "Smartphone cinematics: A cognitive study of smartphone spectatorship" discusses the psychological and technological mechanisms of interactive viewing on mobile devices.

Eugene Kukshinov

Media Psychology Postdoc

Works on immersion, presence, and critical studies of social VR.

Graduate Students


Joseph Tu

Ph.D. Student, Physiological Measures, Adaptive User Interface, Social Connectedness through Games and Gamification

Joseph Tu is a Ph.D. student pursuing a degree in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, under the supervision of Dr. Lennart Nacke and Dr. Oliver Schneider. He is interested in the field of Human Computer Interaction mainly in the domain of physiological measures, emotions, games user research and adaptive user interface. His goal is to maintain his hairline after completing his Ph.D.

Derrick Wang

Ph.D. Student, Virtual Reality, Exergame, Mental Wellness, and Gamification

Derrick is a Ph.D. student in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, under the supervision of Dr. Lennart Nacke and Dr. Oliver Schneider. His main goal is to devise new means to help the public reduce mental stress and anxiety, and improve mood through the use of Virtual Reality technology.

Iva Randelshofer

External PhD Student, Interactive Cognitive Art, University of Salzburg/Ubisoft

Iva currently works as UX Supervisor for Ubisoft and is a UXC certified HCI professional and part-time PhD student at the University of Salzburg. She is a passionate and tireless advocate for user needs and well-designed information displays. Her main fields of expertise within UX centre around cognitive neuroscience (CNS) and envisioning information of complex interfaces.

Ekaterina Durmanova

Master’s Student, Juiciness in Game Design

Ekaterina Durmanova has always held a passion for video games and their different applications, but since coming to the University of Waterloo and pursuing a bachelor in Global Business and Digital Arts at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, she has gained a passion for user experience and made it her mission to make a difference through games, the stories they tell and accessibility.

Alessandra Luz

PhD Student, Gamification and Eye Health

Alessandra is a Ph.D. student in the Cheriton School of Computer Science under the supervision of Dr Lennart Nacke and Dr Daniel Vogel. She holds a MSc in HCI-E from University College of London, where her supervisors were Dr. Nicolai Marquardt and Dr. Steven Houben. Alessandra has worked in industry for tech companies such as Google, Userzoom, DAZN, Shopify and Samsung R&D. Alessandra's main research interests are related to gamification and health. She's especially interested in the treatment and diagnosis of diseases in children, and aims to create systems that will aid doctors and parents whilst also advocating for children who cannot do so for themselves. She is also interested in accessibility and believes that technology and gaming can create an environment of inclusivity and positive experiences for all.

Lydia Choong

Master's Student

Lydia Choong is a Computer Science Master's student at the University of Waterloo. She has played games all her life and has a love for game design, specifically in user experience. Her main interest in the field of human-computer interaction is its relation to UI/UX design and accessibility. She hopes to learn how human-computer interaction can be used to create intuitive and inclusive experiences, both in games and in other areas of life.

Sukran Karaosmanoglu

External PhD student, Asymmetrical game design and VR

Sukran is a PhD student in the Human-Computer Interaction Group at the Universität Hamburg in Germany, under the supervision of Dr Frank Steinicke and the co-supervision of Dr Lennart E. Nacke. Sukran holds a BA in Psychology from Yasar University, Turkey and an MSc in Cognitive Systems from Ulm University, Germany. Her main research interests focus on asymmetric mixed reality games, social interaction in VR games, VR exergames, accessibility, and well-being.

Hilda Hadan

PhD Student

Hilda is a first-year Ph.D. student in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, under the co-supervision of Dr. Lennart E. Nacke and Dr. Leah Zhang-Kennedy. Hilda is passionate about human-centred research, particularly in video games, usable privacy and security. She holds a BS in Automation Engineering from South-Central University of Nationalities in China, a course-based MS in Information Systems Management from George Washington University, and a thesis-based MS in Security Informatics from Indiana University, United States. Before joining the University of Waterloo, Hilda was a Graduate Researcher at IoT Research Lab at Indiana University, where she worked with Dr. Jean Camp and published research studies on Public Key Infrastructure security, and privacy perceptions on IoT and during COVID.

Undergraduate Students

Alumni


AC Atienza
Undergraduate Researcher, Game Design
Albert "Eddie" Shearer
Lab Man of Mystery
Albert Bushara
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Summer 2012
Alberto Mora
Visiting Ph.D. Student, Gamification Elements
Alvin Lee
Undergraduate Researcher, Game Development
Amanda Leo
Lab Assistant
Anda Chitescu
Undergraduate Researcher
Andrew Cen
Master's Student, Game Design Research
Arda Kizilcay
Undergraduate Researcher, Resident Game Designer
Basim Sahaf
Undergraduate Researcher, Unity Development
Brandon Hope
Web Wizard, Database Director, and Code Wrangler
Brian Freiter
Undergraduate Researcher, Game Design
Colin Whaley
Undergraduate Researcher, Biomedical Sciences, Older Adults and Technology
Daniel Stepchenko
Capstone Project: Magic Sensor Game
Dario van Hout
Artist
Dennis Kappen
Ph.D. Graduate, Game Design and User Interaction for Older Adults
Dominic Elm
Visiting Master's Student
Elisa Mekler
Post Doctoral Fellow
Ethan Li
Undergraduate Researcher, Unity Development
Giovanni Ribeiro
Master's Student, Games User Research
Gustavo Fortes Tondello
Ph.D. Researcher, Personalization of Gameful Interactive Systems
Henk-Jan de Groot
Lab Intern, Server Magician, and Specialist of Nontraditional Time Zones
James Robb
Master’s Student, Player Experience
Jasper van Vught
External Ph.D. Student at University of Waikato, Videogame Classification
Jennie Heo
Master's Student and UX Researcher
Jens Johannsmeier
Lab Intern
João Costa
Ph.D. Student, Novel Game Interaction Technologies and Immersive Game Design
John Gregory
Capstone Project: Magic Sensor Game
Jose Rodriguez
Master's Student
Julia Brich
Visiting Ph.D. Student, Game Development for Human Emotions
Kai Bornemann
Visiting Master's Student, Unity Development
Karina Arrambide
Ph.D. Student, Interactive Narrative and Decision-Making
Katja Rogers
Postdoctoral Researcher, Game Audio, VR, Asymmetric Gameplay, Realism, Fidelity, Systematic Reviews
Katta Spiel
Visiting Researcher, Participatory Design and Experience
Kenny Fung
Master's Student, Unity and Angular Development
Lina Marmol
Health Worker
Lisa Freiman Cormier
Master's Student and UX Researcher
Lukas Schabler
Visiting Master's Student, Unity Development
Mackenzie Derival
Undergraduate Researcher
Mahir Hoque
Undergraduate Researcher, UX Design
Mareike Gabele
Visiting Ph.D. Student, Interaction Design, Motivation and Rehabilitation.
Maria Aufheimer
Visiting Graduate Student, NPCs and 3D Modeling
Marim Ganaba
Master's Student and UX Researcher
Matthias Klauser
Ph.D. Student, Winter 2012
Melissa Stocco
Undergraduate Researcher
Michelle Alkema (Poon)
UX Researcher, Language Learning Games
Mike Schäkermann
Master's Student
Mirza Beig
Web and Social Media Content Developer
Mitchell Loewen
Undergraduate Researcher, Psychology
Monika Brumar
Web Developer
Naeem Moosajee
Master's Student in Games User Research, Digital Wizard
Pedro Nogueira
External Ph.D. Student at University of Porto, Portugal
Pejman Mirza-Babaei
Affiliated Faculty
Raphaël Marczak
External Ph.D. Student at University of Waikato, Signal Processing to Support PX Assessment
Rina Wehbe
Ph.D. Student, Errors, Perception of AI, Health Games
Rita Orji
Post Doctoral Fellow, Persuasive Games
Ruth Castillo
Visiting Ph.D. Student, Educational Games
Rylan Koroluk
Undergraduate Researcher
Samantha Stahlke
Lab Assistant, Charlatan of Doom, Official Comma Wrangler of the HCI Games Group
Sedona Parnham
Lab Artist
Shadi Davarian
Master's Student
Sultan Alharthi
Visiting Ph.D Student, Planning Interfaces
Warren Kong
Master's Student and UX Researcher
Ruo Yu (Joyce) Liu
Software Developer and Data Analyst
Stuart Hallifax
Postdoctoral Researcher, Adaptive Gamification
Gabi Woodside
Undergraduate Research Assistant Co-Op
Ally Suarez
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Arnold Dian Abistado Jr.
Undergraduate Research Assistant
John Yoon
PhD Student, Narrative Formation in Sports and eSports
Alice Peng
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Atharv Vohra
External Undergraduate Research Assistant
Fancheng Sun
Undergraduate Research Assistant Co-op
Enrica Loria
Visiting PhD Student, Adaptive Gameplay for Gameful Systems
Mel Edens
Master’s Student, Gamification and Finance
Triskal deHaven
PhD Student (on hiatus)
Thomas Terkildsen
External PhD Student
Maneet Tut
Undergraduate Research Assistant Co-op
Lena Von Büren
Undergraduate Research Assistant Co-op
Dan Duran
Undergraduate Research Assistant Co-op
Johannes Kopf
Visiting Master's student
Olya Jaworsky
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Bragi Xia
Undergraduate Research Assistant
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Copyright © 2023 · HCI Games Group · All Rights Reserved. We acknowledge that we live and work on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. We wish to honour the ancestral guardians of this land and its waterways: the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Wendat, and the Neutrals. Many Indigenous peoples continue to call this land home and act as its stewards, and this responsibility extends to all peoples, to share and care for this land for generations to come.