Dr. Veli-Matti Karhulahti is a leading researcher in mind, culture, and lifestyle fields, a visiting faculty member at the Faculty of History, Culture and Art Studies of Turku University in Finland. He spoke at the conference on the ethical and cultural implications of e-sports. The summary of his speech was as follows:

Dr. Julian Togelius, is an associate professor in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at New York University (NYU), director of the NYU Game Innovation Lab, and Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Games Journal. He is one of the leading researchers in artificial intelligence, evolutionary computing, procedural content production, and computer games fields with an h-index of 62, and spoke at CGCO'2021 on the machine learning revolution in procedural content generation. The summary of his speech is as follows:

Procedural content generation is a key need in many types of games and virtual worlds. From humble beginnings in the 1980s, PCG methods have advanced rapidly, and as a result, PCG is more widely used than ever. Levels in platform games can be generated, as well as maps in strategy games to quests, characters, textures, items, and planets. Early approaches typically relied on special-purpose algorithms that could not easily be controlled. Academic research on PCG started in earnest a little over a decade ago, coinciding with the rise of indie games and partially catalysed by the success of evolutionary algorithms. Since a few years, another revolution is underway in PCG: the machine learning revolution. I will showcase some recent results in applying machine learning, in particular deep learning, to generating game content. I will also point out some of the limitations of this approach, in particular the training data problem and the constraint modeling problem. I will also point to some ways in which hybridizing with search, optimization, and constraint satisfaction methods can help.
 

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Dr. Sebastian Risi, a full professor and director of Robotics, Evolution and Art Lab (REAL) at the IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark. is a leading researcher in artificial intelligence, neural networks, and neural evolution fields with an h-index of 26 and spoke at CGCO'2021 on Adaptive Game Playing Agents through Deep Neuroevolution. The summary of his speech is as follows:

Many recent breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence (AI) would not have been possible without the help of games. Especially video games with their complex worlds and large action spaces offer unique testbeds for advanced AI methods. In this talk, I will present some of our work on creating agents that can learn to play games through deep neuroevolution, a combination of deep neural networks and evolutionary algorithms. I will show that these algorithms do not only allow agents to play games but also enable them to (1) learn 3D tasks directly from pixels, (2) learn models of the world for rapid planning, and (3) adapt quickly to task changes through a biologically-inspired form of meta-learning.
 

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Dr. Zahra Vahhabi, is a neurologist and faculty member of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. She is a leading researcher in the field of cognitive science for the elderly and spoke at CGCO'2021 about the effects of cognitive games on the elderly. The summary of his speech is as follows:

The world's elderly population is increasing and it is important to pay attention to different aspects of the elderly. One of the most important and effective aspects in the life of the elderly (the stage of life that we all reach!) Is maintaining the power of cognition and memory and controlling behavior. Paying attention to this aspect of old age has a long and stable place in basic sciences, neuroscience and psychology. Advances in technology and attention to the use of these digital methods in this field (Digital Health) are also expanding. As a result, the role of digital games in improving the cognitive and functional status of older people in society is increasing day by day.
How to improve the assessment, rehabilitation and cognitive development of the elderly through the digital gaming space is a major and challenging question. In the world of education, indirect teaching is one of the most effective ways of education that is well experienced and demonstrated in developed countries. The use of this method in the world of aging is being studied during the last ten years. It seems that all researchers in this field should pay attention to the implementation of these methods in early old age and even before entering this period. Rehabilitation assessments and exercises are usually not very attractive and motivating. Therefore, it seems important to enjoy this aspect of medicine and psychology and it should be considered.
Communication between playmakers and therapists in the field of aging and marketing specialists and neuroscientists is one of the main ways to develop and improve this method.
 

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Dr. Mahmoud Talkhabi is a faculty member of Farhangian University and director of the Department of Mind, Brain, and Training of the Higher Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Secretary of the Cognitive Education Working Group of the Cognitive Science and Technology Development. Dr. Talkhabi is one of the leading researchers in the field of cognitive education and spoke at CGCO'2021 about activating cognitive processes through play. The summary of his speech is as follows:

The brain is a plastic organ, and its architecture changes through our experiences. So we can change the structure of our brains by choosing and managing our experiences. Experience refers to the interactions we have with the world around us, through which we understand the phenomena and events of the world around us and find solutions to our problems. Our experiences have different types and it seems that by changing the type of experiences, different cognitive processes are activated. These experiences can be divided into two general types: serious experiences and gaming experiences. Recently, however, an interpretation of the combination of these two types of experience has been made: serious play. However, in general, the game seems to provide different opportunities for activating cognitive processes that can be considered a special place in educational programs and life programs.