Led by Neil Smith, QI associate research scientist and co-director of the Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability, this two-quarter internship for UC San Diego students focuses on serious games as applied to complex global problems such as climate change.
Using a collaborative, interdisciplinary and project-focused approach, interns learn how to employ spatial computing and immersive technology for simulation of climate change problems and solutions. Unreal Engine (UE5 and UEFN) has been a core tool for simulation, testing AI algorithms, and integration with research in archaeology, history, climatology and other fields.
Ongoing projects include:
- Development of the Climate Games, a multi-player online game project funded by a CA CARES grant, focusing on areas impacted by climate change, such as the Salton Sea, San Joaquin, California Forests and Badu Islands Coral reef.
- Visualization of chemical reactions
- Building avatars of historic figures
- Creation of a digital twin of the UC San Diego campus and Birch Aquarium
- Development of weather simulations with real time data
Interns gain practical experience in game development, virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) best practices, photogrammetry (Reality Capture) and geographic information systems (GIS).
This opportunity is offered through UC San Diego’s Academic Internship Program (AIP197). For more information, contact Smith at ngsmith@ucsd.edu.
“As someone dedicated to pursuing a career in interaction design and game design, working on [The Climate Games] project has been an invaluable experience.”
