A multi-million pound programme which drives innovation in the video games sector in Dundee has announced the latest round of projects which will “inject significant value” into companies.
InGAME, the £11.5 million research and development centre, aims to grow the scale of the Dundee games sector by giving packages of academic expertise, resources and support.
Companies submit a short pitch, with successful bids moving to a fully co-designed project.
Project director Sean Taylor said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the diversity of ideas and the potential application of games design to solve problems in the enterprise sector, including agriculture, health and oil and gas.
The latest round of successful projects include an oil rig decommissioning simulation tool and the development of an existing prototype to demonstrate how new gameplay scenarios can be played within e-learning for the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service.
An augmented reality app that showcases hyper local culture within Dundee will also be developed.
He said: “There is a real appetite to foster closer links between the games cluster and industry, and international talent from as far afield as China and Brazil have come to Dundee to work with InGAME.”
Founded in 2018, InGAME is led by Abertay University, in partnership with the University of Dundee, the University of St Andrews and local and international industry partners
It has eight research fellows, one director, a co-ordinator and a research assistant. A total of 20 senior academics are also involved in a part-time capacity.
Mr Taylor said the project had attracted significant levels of interest.
“We have an exciting year ahead and are very confident for the future – we have funding until 2023 and on top of that we are unlocking additional funding forging new links with key partners, locally, nationally and internationally.
“We are also working with partners in Shanghai and looking at developments in 5G.”
The centre is currently working on 13 projects across a range of industries
InGAME received £5.25m from the Arts and Humanities Research Council with additional investment of £500,000 from the Scottish Funding Council.
This is matched by in-kind support by industry, sector and academic investment of R&D expertise, facilities and resource.
Expressions of interest for the next award round can be made until July 17.
jimillar@thecourier.co.uk
