DAE-Research is the research cell of the study program Digital Arts and Entertainment of Howest, where both demand-driven applied research projects and applied research projects on its own initiative are set up.
The research projects are oriented, to a large extent, towards transferring the knowledge of game technology to sectors other than entertainment and/or on exploring new game technology (hard- and software).
Besides entertainment purposes, game technology can be used in multiple ways, for example, as an educational tool in the industrial sector, as a means to open up cultural heritage, or as an instrument to offer psycho-education in the social service sector or for innovative sports concepts.
What is applied research? Scientific findings from university and other research labs, combined with experts' experiences in the respective professional field and expectations of the envisioned end users, are creatively translated into innovative solutions and prototypes. This offers a surplus value for achieving the goals within the industry and/or social impact.
Besides its function as a project partner, DAE-Research also supports and coaches companies and knowledge institutions when starting up a project: from defining the research question, to drawing up a (subsidy) file and project plan, to executing and following up on the project. DAE-Research offers this tailor-made service to both individual companies and consortia of companies, as well as social-profit organizations.
The acquired knowledge from both small, well-defined projects and larger, exploratory research projects, contributes to a constantly growing knowledge basis, which, combined with the extended network of partners, turns DAE-Research into an attractive information service for organizations facing challenges, for which game technology might offer a solution.
In addition to projects on demand, DAE-Research also conducts exploratory research on its own initiative.
Hereby, the potential surplus value of new technology, whether this is hardware or software, is mapped out to work out innovative solutions for the various sectors.
Recent research topics: immersive technology (VR/AR/MR), applied games, conversational AI, pose estimation and body tracking, procedural 3D content and automation (Houdini, photogrammetry, …)
For further information on DAE-Research, please contact Vicky Vermeulen:
vicky.vermeulen@howest.be