Games made in NRW, Germany

New ideas and talents for the gaming sector

”Man plays only when he is in the fullest sense of the word a human being, and he is only fully a human being when he plays.” At the end of the 18th century Friedrich Schiller already knew about the great importance of play. What he could not have foreseen at the time is how rapidly the gaming sector would have developed a good two centuries later in the course of digitalisation. Current statistics show that in 2021, more than half of Germans between the ages of six and 69 played computer and video games – and the trend is increasing.

But the share of German developments is not even five per cent of the total market. The new research and innovation network Games Technology Network (GTN), co-founded by Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg wants to change this. “We want to close the gap in value added locally with the GTN,” explains Professor André Hinkenjann, who heads the project at H-BRS together with Professor Ernst Kruijff. The GTN is funded by the NRW Ministry of Culture and Science. Other members are RWTH Aachen, TH Cologne and FH Düsseldorf. Through workshops with partners from business and industry, the institutes of higher education are exploring how they can provide targeted support for the gaming sector in NRW with their research. Noticeable improvements through interdisciplinary research

Each location conducts research on different key areas. Aachen focuses on simulation, Cologne on material concepts and Düsseldorf on motion capturing. H-BRS is researching game engines, rendering and interaction. “We’re interested in how we can implement the visualisation of soft shadows or light reflections well in games,” says rendering expert Hinkenjann, explaining his focus. Interaction researcher Kruijff wants to improve haptics in games. “Up to now, the tactile experience has been mainly limited to vibration. We want to find out how we can make force effects or temperature differences perceptible.” In view of the shortage of skilled workers in the gaming industry, promoting young talent is also a topic at H-BRS. Since summer semester of 2018, there has been a Master’s degree programme in Visual Computing & Games Technology, and since 2021, the new Game Studio in the Department of Computer Science has been open to students as a creative space. Thanks to the latest technology, the gaming experts of tomorrow can expand on their own ideas here.

More: www.youtube.com/watch?v=10nsv3N2BDU www.h-brs.de/de/Games_Technology_Network

Paul Bossauer

is earning his doctorate at the Institute for Digital Consumption and heads the Mobility Research Group.

“During my doctoral work, I built up a multi-member research team on the topic of mobility with my colleague Dr Christina Pakusch. Together we’ve acquired six mobility projects since 2015 and are currently supervising three large research projects. An important component of our application-based research is the development and testing of innovative sharing concepts in rural areas. We make our developments available for user testing as early as possible in order to incorporate the feedback into our work. This is well received by everyone involved because it makes our research more transparent. Our ideas also have an impact on large mobility stakeholders such as the Deutsche Bahn national railway company. It‘s a great feeling to hear that we are advancing key topics like this for society. As a research team in the field of mobility, we place high value on good teamwork. The university is an ideal place because many different talents and competencies come together here. It offers space for creative exchange, innovative ideas and initiating cooperation projects. I believe the university can play a key role in the long term by supporting the networking of young talent, teaching relevant skills and encouraging team building.”