CIIGAR Lab @ NC State
The CIIGAR Lab @ NCSU is a research laboratory housed in the Computer Science Department at North Carolina State University. The Lab is also affiliated with NCSU's Digital Games Research Center. The work we do in the CIIGAR Lab is multidisciplinary. Housed in a computer science department, we are primarily computer scientists; however, we view computers and algorithms as tools - tools that can help provide insights into cognition, behavior, learning, creative processes, and social interactions.
What does the CIIGAR acronym stand for? Well, that's a great question. We have two main research thrusts in our Lab: research with games and research with canines. Depending on who you ask and what their focus is, they will tell you that CIIGAR stands for one of two things (or maybe it doesn't stand for anything at all, we'll leave that up to you to decide).
Computational Intelligence and Interactive GAmes Research
Our games research is centered around the idea that the ways we interact with and within games can reveal information about who we are and how we think. Virtual experiences afford unprecedented access to fine-grained data and analytics that reflect things about players. The types of research questions we examine address how computational models can be used to gain insights into human behavior, personality, and cognition in the real world, using computer games as the vehicle to collect the data that informs the computational models. There are more details and some project descriptions on our dedicated games research page.
Canine Instruction with Instrumented Gadgets Administering Rewards
In our canine research, the questions we ask address the processes human trainers use to effectively communicate and teach canines, and what those insights can tell us about the design of algorithms for machine learning. We additionally emphasize the design of hardware and software that mediates communication between canines and their handlers. Here, we examine how computers can provide more effective and efficient communication between humans and dogs, and how lessons learned about existing human-dog communication can enable more effective algorithm designs. There are more details and some project descriptions on our canine research page.
- Artificial Intelligence
- Machine Learning
- Human Computer Interaction
- Cognitive (Neuro)Science
- Social Psychology
- Behavioral Psychology
Regardless of what you call the CIIGAR Lab, our research interests lie at the intersections of many disciplines both within Computer Science and elsewhere.
Thanks for visiting the CIIGAR Lab on the web. You're welcome to direct comments, questions, or inquiries to Dr. David L. Roberts, the Lab's director. Additionally, you can follow us on Facebook.