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VERSION:2.0
PRODID:icalendar-ruby
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
X-WR-CALNAME:A brief introduction to fun (and other stories players tell ab
 out themselves)
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20261011T045704Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_52638121973064
DTSTART:20260423T180000Z
DTEND:20260423T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: Fun has a bad reputation. Even among career video gam
 e designers\, there is a pervasive defensiveness\, a need to clarify at an
 y opportunity that "games don't need to be fun." This is true\, but it dis
 tracts from another obvious fact\; games often are fun\, and in this talk 
 we will take that fact seriously. What exactly is fun? Are there different
  kinds of fun? How do we design for fun? In a workshop adapted from a sess
 ion of their INFSCI 1450 (Game Design) course\, Pat Healy will explore the
 se questions in a tour of psychology\, human-computer interaction\, game s
 tudies\, and game design literature\, including subjects where these liter
 atures disagree. By the end of the session\, you will have a stronger idea
  what fun is\, what is fun\, and strategies for designing fun narrative sy
 stems. \n\nBio: Pat Healy is a researcher\, educator\, and game developer 
 with nine years of experience designing and evaluating serious games\, vir
 tual reality applications\, and virtual worlds\, both in academia and in i
 ndustry. Their work has spanned games applied in education\, healthcare\, 
 and digital cultural heritage projects. Their recently-defended dissertati
 on covers a project called "the Playable Archive\," and a deployment of th
 at system named "The Virtual Museum of Charles 'Teenie' Harris\," a commun
 ity-engaged codesign project that resulted in a museum virtual world to fa
 cilitate inter-generational communication about local Pittsburgh history t
 hrough the photography of Charles Harris. Pat will graduate from the Unive
 rsity of Pittsburgh with a PhD in Information Science in Spring 2026.
GEO:40.447593;-79.952055
LOCATION:Bellefield Professional Building\, Fifth Floor
SUMMARY:A brief introduction to fun (and other stories players tell about t
 hemselves)
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.pitt.edu/event/a-brief-introduction-to-fun-a
 nd-other-stories-players-tell-about-themselves
CATEGORIES:Lectures\, Symposia\, Etc.
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