Creative Technologies for Multidisciplinary Applications (Advances in Media, Entertainment, and the Arts)

Given that institutions of higher education have a predisposition to compartmentalize and delineate areas of study, creative technology may seem oxymoronic. On the contrary, the very basis of western thought is found in the idea of transcendent knowledge. The marriage of opposing disciplines therefore acts as a more holistic approach to education. Creative Technologies for Multidisciplinary Applications acts as an inspiration to educators and researchers who wish to participate in the future of such multidisciplinary disciplines. Because creative technology encompasses many applications with the realm of art, gaming, the humanities, and digitization, this book features a diverse collection of relevant research for the modern world. It is a pivotal reference publication for educators, students, and researchers in fields related to sociology, technology, and the humanities.

Andy M. Connor is a Senior Lecturer at Colab, the collaboratory at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. His undergraduate training is in mechanical engineering and he holds a PhD in mechatronics. He has worked at the Engineering Design Centres at both the University of Bath and the University of Cambridge in the UK. Following a number of years of commercial experience as a software engineer and a systems engineering consultant, Andy migrated to New Zealand and took up a number of roles in software engineering and computer science at Auckland University of Technology prior to joining Colab in 2012. Andy has a broad range of research interests that include automated design, computational creativity, education, evolutionary computation, machine learning and software engineering.

Stefan Marks is a Lecturer at Colab, the collaboratory at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. He has several years of industry experience as a hardware and software developer, a diploma in microinformatics, a masters degree in human-computer interaction, and a PhD from the University of Auckland for his research on virtual reality medical teamwork simulation. His research interests include virtual and interactive environments, 3D data visualization, human-computer interaction, simulation of physical processes, serious games, robotics and electronics, and computer science education. In his spare time, he enjoys photography, preferably while exploring beautiful New Zealands outdoors.