New ETH hub for computer games
ETH Zurich’s new Game Technology Center in the Department of Computer Science will pool Swiss know-how in the development of computer games. This was announced on Wednesday as part of the final presentation of the Game Programming Laboratory.
Last Wednesday ETH Zurich announced its intention to further expand its commitment to the development of computer games. The Department of Computer Sciences is establishing a Game Technology Center where scientists will be able to devise new technologies for computer game development in a cross-disciplinary manner and in collaboration with industry. ETH president Lino Guzzella explains the decision: “Game technology is not only interesting for start-ups and the creative industries, but also for science and teaching. In future, we want to pool ETH’s strengths and pay increased attention to this technology.”
World-class game developers from Switzerland
Five years ago, many responded by shaking their heads when Pro Helvetia launched Game Culture, a support programme for Swiss computer developers. What do first-person shooters and virtual chases have to do with culture, wondered staunch culture lovers. But Pro Helvetia made it clear that computer game development would become an increasingly important segment of the Swiss cultural landscape in which designers, screenwriters, composers and software developers would find work.
Five years later, it appears that Pro Helvetia bet on the right horse: Swiss game developers are causing a stir at international competitions, most recently at this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, where two Swiss won a Best in Play prize. The Swiss are now in first place in terms of the number of nominations per capita at the GDC. For SP National Councillor Jacqueline Fehr, the time has finally come to bring the subject to the political stage: in an external page initiative in March, she called on the Federal Council for a report on how policy can further encourage development of the Swiss game industry. The report will show not only the cultural but also the economic potential of the game industry in Switzerland.
The commitment of ETH Zurich to computer game development is not new: the Department of Computer Science has been organising the Game Programming Laboratory course for its Master’s students since 2007, where groups of three to four students develop their own computer games over the course of a semester. Last Wednesday in front of a packed audience of more than 300 people at the Maximum auditorium, students of ETH Zurich presented six of their projects. The spectators then had the opportunity to try the games out for themselves and choose their favourites.
This year for the first time the course was open not only to ETH students but also to students from Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) with a focus on Game Design. “The development of computer games is the ideal training ground for computer science students,” says Markus Gross, professor at the Computer Graphics Laboratory and director of Disney Research Zurich. “They have to apply practically all the knowledge that they’ve acquired during their studies: software engineering, artificial intelligence and even theoretical computer science. Game programming also raises issues related to art, psychology and economics.”
Gamification for Nature
For Bob Sumner, deputy head of Disney Research Zurich and director of the Game Programming Laboratory, the current interest in gaming from politics, industry and culture is no accident: “More and more decision makers are realising how much talent and potential exists in Switzerland in this field.” And interest in computer games is growing even in the sciences, says Sumner. In the meantime, a number of other world-class universities such as the external page Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), external page Georgia Tech and external page TU München are running their own game development laboratories. By reformulating scientific problems through a computer game, researchers open up new problem-solving possibilities.
Gamification is the magic word. For example, at the University of Washington, scientists at the external page Centre for Game Science developed the Open Source game external page Foldit together with colleagues from the Department of Biochemistry. The purpose of the game is to find the best way to fold the structure of selected proteins – an activity in which human intuition is still superior to automated algorithms. In 2010 in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, the scientists showed how with the help of the game community they found the structure of an enzyme that is crucial to the reproduction of the AIDS virus. And so a problem that scientists had worked on for a decade was solved in just three weeks. The 57,000 Foldit players were credited as co-authors of the paper.
ETH computer scientists develop blockbusters
Sumner is convinced that interest among ETH computer scientists in the computer game industry will grow in the future. He explains with a success story: Studio Gobo in Brighton, UK, is one of the world’s leading game developers. It counts among its accomplishments its contribution to the design of Pirates of the Caribbean for Disney Infinity, which is played by millions these days. Three members of Sumner’s Game Programming Laboratory found work there and last October two of them were commissioned to open an office in Zurich. Studio Gobo founder Tony Becksmith justified this decision afterwards with a close collaboration with Disney Research Zurich and proximity to new talent. The achievements of local students have impressed him, especially in the field of computer graphics.
Gross is convinced that the conditions at ETH Zurich are ideal for establishment of the Game Technology Center: “We are already the world leader in the field of visual computing, and even though no games are developed at Disney Research Zurich, we are still very close to the pulse of the industry.” He hopes there will be separate specific funding for the interface between creativity and technology in the future. “The new centre is an important step in this direction and a clear statement by ETH to the strengthening of computer game development in the Zurich area,” says Gross.
Game Programming Lab – final presentation
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Handy gamer equipment: game console, charger and laptop. (All images: Alessandro Della Bella) -
Bob Sumner opens the final presentation of the Game Programming Lab 2015. -
The audience was spellbound by the computer games.