Erik Sand, Director of Strategic Relationships Dr. Thomas Carbone, Technical Director at UCF’s Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA) Mike Eakins, Creative Lead | Mixed Emerging Technology Integration Lab (METIL) at UCF Institute for Simulation & Training Finding Partners in Applied Research – A Case Study on Industry/Academic Collaboration Sometimes financial, physical and content constraints on graduate programs force university researchers to be creative. This presentation talks about how FIEA faculty designed a class called GameLab to help expose students to Serious Games while simultaneously fostering lasting research and development partners outside traditional entertainment industry partners. We will talk about how the development life cycle of a simple handheld game that teaches cleaning protocols for hospital janitors in the VA hospital network helped develop a template for how FIEA now finds and interacts with industry partners. It is a case study to show how a project can move from relationship to MVP to full-on build and deployment of a robust application in the context FIEA’s student centric curriculum. UCF’s Institute for Simulation and Training then finished the final product for delivery to the VA. Orlando, University of Central Florida, UCF, July 24-26, 2019

1. APPLIED RESEARCH AT FIEA
Erik Sand, Director of Strategic Partnerships, UCF/FIEA
Dr. Thomas Carbone, Technical Director, UCF/FIEA
Michael Eakins, M.F.A, Creative Lead, METIL, UCF/IST

3. THE MISSION OF
PARTNERSHIPS AT FIEA
Increase the opportunities for our students
outside the traditional entertainment
industry.

4. WHAT? YOU DON’T HAVE
ANY GRAD STUDENTS?
Typical Graduate
Program
Research Focused
Tenure Track Faculty
Curriculum Flexibility
FIEA
Professionally
Focused
Professors of
Practice
Lock-step program
with premium tuition
Significantly constrains the resources that
might otherwise be available to typical
graduate program.

5. How did the VA opportunity
come about?
Two words:
Networking.
Coincidence.

6. GameLab is born
Noticed increasingly varied student placement
 Military training
 Advertising
 Medical Simulation
 Education
Seeking ways to encourage it

7. SME model
What’s different?
Working with SME – developer not the expert
Year 1 - Learning
Engaged SMEs means engaged team
SME Types emerge
Researchers
K12/Higher Ed Teachers
Medical community
Product Innovators

8. Partners & Opportunities 2018 (4th year)
Partner
Game/
Project
Tablecraft
Teaching
ASL
Speed
Limit
Laparoscopic
Simulation
Public
Speaking
VR Game
Universal
AR Project
Treasures
in Time
Description
A virtual reality
game that
teaches middle
school students
chemistry
A sign language
game designed
to teach
beginning sign
language
An eye-tracking
technology
game to teach
law enforcement
to identify
problems while
driving
A VR game that
simulates
laparoscopic
surgical removal
of a kidney tumor
A VR game
where players
practice giving
effective
presentations
A game which
overlays ghost
characters into a
real-world scene,
allowing players
to try to capture
ghosts as they try
to hide in boxes
A game for a UCF
Judaic studies
class where
players explore
underground
Jerusalem in
search of artifacts
Employment
Opportunities
FLETC & L3 Universal R&D
Research
Opportunities
Team presenting
at Games for
Change &
applying for grant
Collaboration
with School of
Communication
& Media
NAS
Transportation
Research Grant
application (Fall)
Collaboration
with Florida
Hospital
Technology &
Mimic Simulation
Collaboration
with School of
Communication
& Media
Collaboration
with College of
Arts & Humanities
Entrepreneurship
SBIR Grants
submitted to NSF
& IES
Team has
business plan for
Venture
Team has
business plan for
Venture

9. Partners & Opportunities 2019 (5th year)
Partner
Game/
Project
AR Buddy Drones Oceana Delirium
Japanese
Language
Oasis
Psychomotor
Skills
Research
Description
A mobile
augmented
reality app to
children
recovering from
trauma.
An app to help
screen and train
drone retail
delivery pilots in
mission planning
and execution.
Creating a VR
experience that
enhances an
orchestral piece
written for short
film on our
polluted oceans.
A “light weight”
VR application
that simulates
symptoms of
delirium to
improve clinical
staff’s
understanding.
Creation of a
game that trains
Japanese pitch
accent to novice
learners of
Japanese.
An app using VR
to perform high
level screens of
executive
functions
preventing more
expensive test.
Backend and
Frontend
application
supporting
research into how
psychomotor skills
are measured in
a game setting
Employment
Opportunities
Research
Opportunities
Entrepreneurship

10. The Applied R&D process looks
like (now)….
Partner
Development
Concept
Vetting
Selection
MVP
Development
Fall Semester
Follow-on
DIG 6944C / 6947C
Post
Graduation
Follow-On
GameLab
DIG 5856 (Spring)
Internship
Venture
Research
Applied
Research

11. Partner
UCF/FIEA
Student
GAME LAB IS DEMONSTRATING THAT
IT IS PROVIDING VALUE TO ALL
PARTICIPANTS.
Value Proposition
• Deeper relationships with Partners
• Insight to partner/ industry issues
• Reputation
Value Proposition
• Resume/Portfolio
building
• Exposure to other
industries and real-life
problems
• Access to potential
employers
Value Proposition
• MVP creation and
opportunity to vet
project ideas
• Access to expertise
• Access to talent