With the substantial rise of smartphone procurement and internet consumption across the globe during the pandemic, gaming has become more widespread. This requires game designers to create new characters, narratives, and game mechanics to keep players engaged and hooked. It is common for game designers to take inspiration from mythology and diverse cultures. Popular games such as Age of Mythology, God Of War, Smite, and Hades have been inspired by Roman, Greek, and Viking mythology. It becomes important for designers to consider cultural affordances in mind while designing new characters and game artifacts. In this set of research projects, we look to answer two primary questions: (1) How can culture and religion act as a design space for video games, and (2) How do players and cultural stakeholders perceive the projection of religion? In our attempt to answer these questions, we use UX methods, design-based research, AI, and Data-Driven methods. 

Key Personnel: Sai Siddartha Maram, Yash Malegaonkar, Niveditha Dudyala, Mario Escarce (as mentor), Magy Seif El-Nasr (as advisor).

Understanding how to bridge the understanding gap between AI and the users using them in an educational context.

Key Personnel: Reza Habibi, Zhiyu Lin (as mentor), Magy Seif El-Nasr (as advisor).