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ABOUT US

"DAE-Research offers an attractive information service for organizations facing challenges, for which game technology might offer a solution"

DAE-Research is the research cell of the bachelor study program Digital Arts and Entertainment of Howest Kortrijk, where both demand-driven applied research projects and applied research projects on its own initiative are set up.

The research projects are oriented on exploring new game, VFX, animation & film technology (hard- and software) and transferring that knowledge to the bachelor program as well as companies in different sectors. Besides entertainment purposes, technology can be used in multiple ways to stimulate innovation tracks in companies, social-profit organizations as well as a partner in research consortia.

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.

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 are linked to our 6 majors within the DAE bachelor program: game development, game graphics production, independent game production, interactive sound production, VFX and 3D animation.

Research topics include immersive technology (VR/AR) and metaverse, spatial computing, applied games, artificial intelligence, conversational AI, motion capture, immersive sound, pose estimation and body tracking, procedural 3D content and automation (Houdini, photogrammetry, …)

Do contact us for more information on project ideas.

OUR LATEST REEL

HIGHLIGHTED USE CASES

Genetic mutations
As the subject of the test case on which we could test a mutagen tool, we chose a simplified parametrically constructed creature blockout in Houdini. Creature block-outs are a simple geometric representation of a creature that can be worked out at a later stage for use in a game or movie, for example. The block-out largely determines the creative view. A mutagen tool can be a very useful way to quickly generate variations of a procedurally constructed model with a minimum of user input while still retaining sufficient control over the results. The method guarantees unique results because the values are randomly generated. In addition, the method is very fast.
2D to 3D: Building environments using photoshop input
Often only 2D data is available from buildings, machines or environments that contain information about how something is constructed. When creating a 3D environment, it is also faster to draw a floor plan than to build an environment yourself in 3D. The purpose of this case was to explore the possibilities and workflow regarding the construction of a 3D environment based on 2D input.
Houdini propping pipeline
Propping in the game design and VFX world is dressing up spaces and landscapes with objects. This can range from placing stones and trees in a large park to decorating an attic room with cardboard boxes and documents lying around. Placing objects in a room is still often a manual process. The procedural propping pipeline is an example of a streamlined working method that does not detract from the artistic process.
Procedural generation in Virtual Reality
Runtime procedural 3D is still mainly used for the same purposes: world generation, player creation and world destruction. The goal of this project was to explore runtime procedural 3D in which the artist can modify the world using VR controllers, giving artists more tools to build the world than just the editor and inspector.

CONTACT US

Vicky Vermeulen – Research manager
vicky.vermeulen@howest.be

Jan Pauly – Project manager
jan.pauly@howest.be

Howest Campus The Level
Digital Arts & Entertainment

Botenkoperstraat 2
8500 Kortrijk
Belgium

Howest Campus The Square
Digital Arts & Entertainment Research Lab

Luipaardstraat 12A
8550 Kortrijk
Belgium