UW's Jeffrey Lin awarded Penny Arcade scholarship
Little brightens our day more than hearing about developers working to make games accessible for those of us with color blindness (blast you, Super Puzzle Fighter!). That's why we're so happy to write about this year's Penny Arcade scholarship winner, University of Washington PhD student Jeffrey Lin, who wooed the award committee with his "research into applying vision science to solve practical problems in game design." One such problem? How color-dependent games work with color blind players.
Specifically, Lin believes, "Vision scientists have the tools and skills to help developers tackle problems from how to reduce motion sickness some experience in FPS titles to how to make games more accessible for the color blind." Lin predicts that vision scientists will begin to play an important, ongoing role for development teams in the future. And hey, if that means making those tasty, tasty puzzle games of the past comprehensible for the color blind, then we're all for it!
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PENNY ARCADE SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED TO
UNIVERISTY OF WASHINGTON VISION SCIENCES PHD STUDENT
SEATTLE – Aug. 24, 2010 – Penny Arcade has awarded University of Washington PhD student Jeffrey Lin the 2010 Penny Arcade Scholarship. Jeffrey plans to use the award to further his research into applying vision science to solve practical problems in game design.
The PA scholarship is available to college students interested in pursuing careers that contribute to the advancement of the game industry. The annual winner is selected based on service, leadership, character, financial need and the potential to make a positive impact.
This year's winner impressed the selection committee with his interest in crossing traditional boundaries between game development and other academic disciplines. Lin plans to study how vision scientists can bring methods and insights developed in their field and apply them as members of game development teams.
"Vision scientists have the tools and skills to help developers tackle problems from how to reduce motion sickness some experience in FPS titles to how to make games more accessible to the color blind," said Lin. "My goal is to eventually prove to game developers that vision scientists would be a valuable member of any developer's team."
Penny Arcade's scholarship program was established in 2006 to help encourage the development of tomorrow's bright new stars.
"Lin represents an intriguing future where an interdisciplinary approach to game design embraces professionals from vision scientists to economists, from city planners to linguists and everything in-between," said Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade. "As each successful generation of game development becomes more advanced, the ability to draw from diverse fields will become more important."
Application information for the 2011 scholarship will be available in spring 2011 at http://www.penny-arcade.com/pas/.
