Computer
game developed by DCU Multimedia students nominated for Europrix Top Talent
Award
A BSc in Multimedia project called ‘Blowaway’ was nominated for the Europrix Top Talent Award in the Cross-Media category. Blowaway was developed by Kevin Cannon, Nicola Kavanagh, John Lynch, Therese Veale and Ciarán Vipond, all from the BSc in Multimedia in the School of Communications.
Blowaway is a collaborative computer game in which up to 6 players work together to control the movement of a balloon. They must collect items and avoid enemies across four different islands. The game uses an innovative physical interface; players use custom-built sensors, located around a table, to move the balloon over the game landscapes. While the game is loyal to many of the conventions of traditional computer games, it breaks others, facilitating physical, collaborative and gender-neutral play.
The Top Talent Award is Europe’s contest for innovative projects and creative contents for top students and young professionals using all multimedia channels and platforms.
A total of 414 projects were submitted for consideration by a distinguished panel of judges, and only 24, including ‘Blowaway’, went through to the final stage of the competition which took place in Vienna, Austria in November.
Launch
of the Intercultural Workplace Project
Beatrice Ornstedt of the European Commission, Directorate General for Education and Culture, launched the pan-European project on the European Intercultural Workplace in December. The event was held in the Helix and was attended by representatives from BITC, NCCRI, ICTU, the Equality Authority, the Immigrant Council of Ireland and the Department of Education. The project, which has received over €750,000 funding from the ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ programme, commenced in October 2004 with the partners drawn from Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the UK. Ireland, represented by DCU, is the lead partner.
Greater international labour mobility is creating more culturally diverse workplaces which has implications for employers, managers, employees and clients alike. Growing racism and the search for new ways of dealing with xenophobia, racist prejudice and discrimination have tended to focus attention on intercultural communication competence and management as a preventative measure for dealing with these issues. While some organisations have taken the lead in adapting their workplaces to take into consideration cultural diversity, the groups being targeted by this project are finding it increasingly difficult to deal with the challenges arising from an increasingly intercultural workplace. (See page 20 for interview with Dr Aileen Pearson-Evans, EIW project director about the rise and diversity of the intercultural workplace).