Academic AI and Videogames: A Case Study of Incorporating Innovative Academic Research Into a Videogame Prototype

Artificial intelligence research and video games are a natural match, and academia is a fertile place to blend game production and academic research. Game development tools and processes are valuable for applied AI research projects, and university departments can create opportunities for student-led, team-based project work that draws on students’ interest i n video games. The Digital Media Collaboratory at the University of Texas at Austin has developed a project in which academic AI research was incorporated into a video game production process that is repeatable in other universities. This process has yielded results that advance the field of machine learning as well as the state of the art in video games. This is a case study of the process and the project that originated it, outlining methods, results, and benefits in order to encourage the use of the model elsewhere.