We are happy to announce that our tutorial “Serverless Orchestration on the Edge-Cloud Continuum: From Small Functions to Large Language Models” (by Reza Farahani) has been accepted for IEEE/ACM UCC 2025, which will take place in Nantes, France, in December 2025.

Venue: IEEE/ACM International Conference on Utility and Cloud Computing (UCC) (https://ucc-conference.org/)

Abstract: Serverless computing simplifies application development by abstracting infrastructure management, allowing developers to focus on functionality while cloud providers handle resource provisioning and scaling. However, orchestrating serverless workloads across the edge-cloud continuum presents challenges, from managing heterogeneous resources to ensuring low-latency execution and maintaining fault tolerance and scalability. These challenges intensify when scaling from lightweight functions to compute-intensive tasks such as large language model (LLM) inferences in distributed environments. This tutorial explores serverless computing’s evolution from small functions to large-scale AI workloads. It introduces foundational concepts like Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) and Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) before covering advanced edge-cloud orchestration strategies. Topics include dynamic workload distribution, multi-objective scheduling, energy-efficient orchestration, and deploying functions with diverse computational requirments. Hands-on demonstrations with Kubernetes, GCP Functions, AWS Lambda, OpenFaaS, OpenWhisk, and monitoring tools provide participants with practical insights into optimizing performance and energy efficiency in serverless orchestration across distributed infrastructures.

In July 2025, the ATHENA Christian Doppler Laboratory hosted four interns working on the following topics:

  • Leon Kordasch: Large-scale 4K 60fps video dataset
  • Theresa Petschenig: Video generation and quality assessment

At the conclusion of their internships, the interns showcased their projects and findings, earning official certificates from the university. The collaboration proved to be a rewarding experience for both the interns and the researchers at ATHENA. Through personalized mentorship, hands-on training, and ongoing support, the interns benefited from an enriched learning journey. This comprehensive guidance enabled them to build strong practical skills while deepening their understanding of research methodologies and technologies in the video streaming domain. We sincerely thank both interns for their enthusiasm, dedication, and insightful feedback, which contributed meaningfully to the ATHENA lab’s ongoing efforts.

Leon Kordasch: My internship at ATHENA was an incredibly valuable experience. The team was welcoming and supportive, and I especially appreciated the guidance of my supervisor, Mohammad Ghasempour, who did a great job explaining the theoretical background and technical concepts needed for my work. During my time there, I developed a high-quality and diverse 4K60 video dataset for applications such as AI training, real-time upscaling, and advanced video encoding research.

Theresa Petschenig: My four-week internship at ATHENA was a really enjoyable and meaningful experience. I worked on a project related to video generation and quality assessment, which allowed me to dive into some fascinating topics. I got a much better understanding of how AI-generated videos are created and evaluated, and what makes them look realistic. The internship gave me a perfect balance of practical work and learning new concepts. My supervisor, Yiying, was very nice and helpful throughout the internship. The atmosphere in the office was calm and welcoming, and the team was really friendly. I’m grateful for everything I’ve learned and for the chance to be part of such a supportive environment. This experience gave me both valuable knowledge and great memories.

 

Kseniia, Felix, and Tom at Video Game Cultures 2025
Prague, Czech Republic, 10-12th September 2025

Kseniia, Felix, and Tom presented at the VGC 2025 in Prague. This academic research conference dealing with video games from a variety of different angles was also held in Klagenfurt two years ago, and is likely to be hosted here again in the near future.

Author: Kseniia Harshina
Title: Traces of Memory, Traces of Home: Trauma-Aware Environmental Storytelling in Games
Abstract: This presentation explores how game environments can function as emotional architectures, spaces that do not just represent trauma, but embody it. In particular, I examine how digital environments can reflect fractured relationships to memory, identity, and home. I propose a twofold approach: a critical reading of trauma in environmental storytelling, and a participatory design method grounded in co-creation and lived experience.
First, I examine how games such as Silent Hill 2 use space to externalize grief, memory, and emotional fragmentation. These environments are not just settings, they are structured by loss. They invite players to navigate emotional landscapes through movement and embodiment, instead of exposition.
Second, I reflect on my research-creation work with people who have experienced forced migration, in which we co-design adaptive environments that shift in response to memory, emotion, and identity. I would like to introduce a dual-role framework: Survivors, who shape and embed memory traces into environments; and Witnesses, who explore these spaces with limited agency. This distinction reflects different relationships to trauma: those who have lived it, and those invited to listen. This model invites reflection on authorship, the emotional labor of sharing trauma, and the ethics of game design. It also challenges dominant design assumptions, suggesting that withholding agency can be a powerful act of care. This work argues that trauma-aware environmental storytelling offers a way to reimagine home, not as a static setting, but as a shifting, layered space where pain and longing coexist.
Ultimately, this approach makes space for grief and displacement not just thematically, but architecturally. What remains are not just spaces, but traces, of memory, of home, of stories that ask us to listen more deeply to others, and to the pasts we carry with us.

 

Author: Felix Schniz
Title: In Cardboard Space, No One Can Hear Your Scream The Alien Universe Between Digital and Analogue Game Experiences
Abstract: The science-fiction horror that began with Alien (Scott 1979) has long since evolved into a transmedia universe spanning a diverse set of media artefacts (cf. Heinze 2019). Its unique selling points – dark, confined environments and the clearly defined protagonist/antagonist conflict of alien Xenomorphs and human Colonial Marines taking place within them – make the setting an especially favourable topic for game adaptations. Intense digital survival horror games, such as Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly 2014), have received a fair share of
academic attention in game studies (cf. Švelch 2020). Analogue Alien games and their unique mechanic potential on environmental storytelling, however, yet deserve more attention. In my talk, I focus on the analogue interpretations of the Alien universe and how they differ from the digital. I identify the opportunities and demands of digital and analogue game spaces that capture the essential experience the universe provides – a storytelling world deeply laden with political, gothic, and evolutionary horrors – and illustrate their manifestation in twodimensional cardboard and table spaces.
After introducing the universe and the parameters for game design set by its pivotal spaces, I establish a dialogue between spaces of play and represented spaces. Relying on the foundational works on transmedia adaption theories (cf. Hutcheon 2006 and Rauscher 2012), cross-sectioning them with environmental storytelling concepts (cf. Rauscher 2015) and a look at horror in gaming (Perron 2018), I provide an overview of key Alien game adaptations, analysing how said parameters define game mechanics. I focus on the differences in how digital
interfaces and systems, as seen in video games such as the already mentioned Alien: Isolation or the recent Aliens: Dark Descent (Tindalos Interactive 2023), compare to the material and social interactions demanded by analogue forms. These observations include rarely discussed works such as the Aliens Predator Customizable Card Game (Ackels et al. 1997), the tabletop war game Aliens Vs Predator: The Hunt Begins (Ewertowski and Olesky 2015), and the board game Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps (Haught 2020).
My outcome is a nuanced understanding of how analogue games adapt an established cinematic universe/environmental storytelling world, revealing specific design strategies employed to evoke shared yet medium-specific, universe-encapsulating space. I ultimately offer insights for debate into the mechanic translation required for cross-platform IP adaptation.

Author: Tom Tuček
Title: The Costs of Generative AI in Video Games: Using Locally-Running Models for Sustainability
Abstract: Generative AI is reshaping video game worlds by providing developers and designers with quick and easy access to assets, as well as by allowing for the dynamic creation of environments, dialogue, and narrative during gameplay. While generative AI brings increased potential for creativity and accessibility, it also brings many new issues and questions. We highlight the ethical implications and problems of AI-native games (video games using real-time generative AI as a core part of their design) by focusing on their environmental impact.
Following a short discussion on the ethics of generative AI, we frame the topic within the ongoing climate crisis and investigate the energy demands of models used for and within video games. By comparing the costs of various approaches, we highlight the potential for the use of smaller models in video games, which can run on local end-user machines, such as PCs or game consoles, while using less power. This approach also helps with other issues, such as online dependency and data privacy.
To ground these arguments, we present a case study of our game, One Spell Fits All, an AI-native video game prototype that runs offline on consumer laptops. Preliminary findings show the potential of this approach, showcasing reduced energy consumption while maintaining a high-quality game experience.
Based on these critiques and findings, we propose guidelines for more responsible AI-native video game design, such as prioritizing low-power models and client-side inference, selecting appropriate models for each task, and monitoring the energy consumption of games during the development process.
By looking at AI-native games through the lens of climate ethics, this work contributes to our understanding of the novel field of generative AI in games while also offering best practice approaches for designers, developers, and players committed to greener virtual worlds.

IEEE Conference on Games 2025

In Lisboa, Portugal, 26-29th August, 2025

 

Author: Tom Tucek

Title: Using Large Language Models to Create Meaningful and Dynamic Interactions in Serious Game Contexts

Abstract: Video games have become the most successful entertainment medium, both in terms of financial success and as a carrier of modern culture. At the same time, recent trends in generative artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large language models (LLMs), are bringing about a paradigm shift in how humans interact with games and computers in general. The unpredictability of generative AI has already been utilized to create fun experiences within games, but the same aspect makes it difficult to use in serious contexts (e.g., games dealing with minority status), where unwanted output can potentially cause harm. This doctoral research proposes to find out how LLMs can be used in video games with serious contexts to create and enhance meaningful experiences. Following design science principles, role-playing game (RPG) prototypes that utilize this new technology and deal with serious topics are created and tested for their efficacy in terms of user engagement, narrative coherence, and lasting impact (e.g., changed views or behavior after extended periods of time). Iterative development and validation, through user tests and heuristic evaluations, ensure that the created video game prototypes have the desired effects and findings are incorporated into a framework, which in turn is validated in a long-term study. Other aspects, such as data privacy and latency, are also addressed by focusing on the local deployment of AI models, instead of cloud-based services. The main contribution of this research is a framework that improves the reflected use of generative AI in video games, increasing narrative coherence and player engagement while enabling the creation of games that allow for meaningful, personalized, and dynamic experiences.

IEEE Conference on Games 2025

In Lisboa, Portugal, 26-29th August, 2025

Author: Kseniia Harshina

Title: Developing a Video Game for Empathy and Empowerment in the Context of Forced Migration Experiences

Abstract: This dissertation explores how video games can be designed to foster empathy and empowerment in the context of forced migration. While existing games often focus on raising awareness, they frequently exclude displaced individuals from the design process. To address this, the project proposes a participatory, AI-assisted storytelling system that allows people with lived migration experience to co-create and replay interactive scenes based on personal memories.

The research follows a three-phase structure: data collection through surveys and a participatory game jam; iterative development of an interview-to-game prototype using a locally run large language model (LLM); and a mixed-methods evaluation. The system includes an interview-based chatbot interface, automatic scene generation, and post-game reflection tools. The evaluation examines the system’s emotional, psychological, and representational impact across three player groups: scene authors (migrant participants), other displaced individuals, and players without migration experience.

The project contributes to generative AI research, HCI, and game studies by combining participatory design, storytelling, and technical implementation. It offers both a theoretical framework and a functional prototype to inform future practices in socially responsive game design.

 

Main Organizer: Kseniia Harshina (AAU)

Co-Organizers: Rachel Gorden (AAU), Tan Schütz, Tom Tucek (AAU)

Date: September 19-20th 2025, fully online

The Games Intersectional Symposium is being held for the first time this Friday and Saturday. It is a space for queer and other under-represented voices in video games to share their thoughts and experiences. The schedule is full of speakers from various backgrounds, who will present their talks, performances, game demos, and many other things! The event is organised by the Games Intersectional Round-table and will be held fully online, using Gather.

More information can be found here: https://gamesintersectional.github.io/gi-symposium25/

If you have any questions or would like to join, please contact Kseniia (kseniia.harshina@aau.at) or Tom (tom.tucek@aau.at)!

 

On Thursday, July 30, 2025, Daniele Lorenzi successfully defended his PhD thesis (QoE- and Energy-aware Content Consumption for HTTP Adaptive Streaming) under the supervision of Prof. Hermann Hellwagner and Prof. Christian Timmerer. The defense was chaired by Assoc.-Prof. DI Dr. Klaus Schöffmann and the examiners were Assoc. – Prof. Luca De Cicco and Dr.-Ing. habil. Christian Herglotz.

We are pleased to congratulate Dr. Daniele Lorenzi on successfully passing his Ph.D. examination!

On 10 June 2025, Dr Felix Schniz presented the Virtual Campus Environment, a central achievement of the UNESCO-funded project Global Campus Online (GLOCO). The project is led by the UNESCO-Chair Univ.-Prof. Dr Hans Karl Peterlini and revolves around the organisation of global meeting platforms to foster supportive environments and knowledge exchange.

The Virtual Campus Environment was fully developed and designed by ITEC staff members affiliated with Game Studies and Engineering, including Tom Tuček, Felix Schniz, and several generations of GSE students who supported the project as a part of their research internship.

Present for the public presentation were rector Ada Pellert and State Governor Peter Kaiser.

Journal of Visual Communication and Image Representation Special Issue on

Multimodal Learning for Visual Intelligence: From Emerging Techniques to Real-World Applications

In recent years, the integration of vision with complementary modalities such as language, audio, and sensor signals has emerged as a key enabler for intelligent systems that operate in unstructured environments. The emergence of foundation models and cross-modal pretraining has brought a paradigm shift to the field, making it timely to revisit the core challenges and innovative techniques in multimodal visual understanding.

This Special Issue aims to collect cutting-edge research and engineering practices that advance the understanding and development of visual intelligence systems through multimodal learning. The focus is on the deep integration of visual information with complementary modalities such as text, audio, and sensor data, enabling more comprehensive perception and reasoning in real-world environments. We encourage contributions from both academia and industry that address current challenges and propose novel methodologies for multimodal visual understanding.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Multimodal data alignment and fusion strategies with a focus on visual-centric modalities
  • Foundation models for multimodal visual representation learning
  • Generation and reconstruction techniques in visually grounded multimodal scenarios
  • Spatiotemporal modeling and relational reasoning of visual-centric multimodal data
  • Lightweight multimodal visual models for resource-constrained environments
  • Key technologies for visual-language retrieval and dialogue systems
  • Applications of multimodal visual computing in healthcare, transportation, robotics, and surveillance

Guest editors:

Guanghui Yue, PhD
Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
Email: yueguanghui@szu.edu.cn

Weide Liu, PhD
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Emai: weide001@e.ntu.edu.sg

Ziyang Wang, PhD
The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK
Emai: zwang@turing.ac.uk

Hadi Amirpour, PhD
Alpen-Adria University, Klagenfurt, Austria
Emai: hadi.amirpour@aau.at

Zhedong Zheng, PhD
University of Macau, Macau, China
Email: zhedongzheng@um.edu.mo

Wei Zhou, PhD
Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Email: zhouw26@cardiff.ac.uk

Timeline:

Submission Open Date 30/05/2025

Final Manuscript Submission Deadline 30/11/2025

Editorial Acceptance Deadline 30/05/2026

Keywords: Multimodal Learning, Visual-Language Models, Cross-Modal Pretraining, Multimodal Fusion and Alignment, Spatiotemporal Reasoning, Lightweight Multimodal Models, Applications in Healthcare and Robotics

 

Dr. Reza Farahani presented 3-hour tutorial titled “Serverless Orchestration on the Edge-Cloud Continuum: Challenges and Solutions” at the 16th ACM/SPEC International Conference on Performance Engineering (ICPE) on May 5.

Abstract: Serverless computing simplifies application development by abstracting infrastructure management, allowing developers to focus on building application functionality while infrastructure providers handle tasks, such as resource scaling and provisioning. Orchestrating serverless applications across the edge-cloud continuum, however, poses challenges such as managing heterogeneous resources with varying computational capacities and energy constraints, ensuring low-latency execution, dynamically allocating workloads based on real-time metrics, and maintaining fault tolerance and scalability across multiple edge and cloud instances. This tutorial first explores foundational serverless computing concepts, including Function-as-a-Service (FaaS), Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS), and their integration into distributed edge-cloud systems. It then introduces advancements in multi-cloud orchestration, edge-cloud integration strategies, and resource allocation techniques, focusing on their applicability in real-world scenarios. It addresses the challenges of orchestrating serverless applications across edge-cloud environments, mainly using dynamic workload distribution models, multi-objective scheduling algorithms, and energy-optimized orchestration. Practical demonstrations employ Kubernetes, serverless platforms such as GCP Functions, AWS Lambda, AWS Step Functions, OpenFaaS, and OpenWhisk, along with monitoring tools like Prometheus and Grafana, to deploy and execute real-world application workflows, providing participants with hands-on experience and insights into evaluating and refining energy- and performance-aware serverless orchestration strategies.