Duncan received his Doctorate from the University of St Andrews in 1998 where he developed techniques to quantify and predictably manipulate subtle aspects of human facial images (e.g. age, gender). After spending two years helping found the Media Interface and Network Design Lab, at Michigan State University, he joined a fledgling start-up company in New Jersey that specialises in 3D facial animation. He next spent two years working as a commercial games developer with credits including (Colin McRae Rally 3.0 and TOCA Pro Race Driver) before returning to academia at the Mixed Reality Lab, in Nottingham. Here he focused on the emerging capabilities of pervasive technologies with respect to gaming and jointly created games such as "Savannah" with the NESTA Future Lab. and the twice BAFTA nominated "Uncle Roy All Around You" with the U.K. arts group, Blast Theory. In Nottingham, he focused on investigating new areas of gameplay and entertainment technologies as part of the Equator EPSRC initiative and the European Framework VI grants iPerG and INSCAPE.

During the past three years he has been employed as Senior Lecturer in Games Development and the Reader in Social Computing at the University of Lincoln, U.K. where he is continuing his work opening up new styles of gameplay by the imaginative application of cutting edge technologies. While in Lincoln he co-founded the Lincoln Social Computing (LiSC) research centre. The Centre focus' is on the social aspects of computers and their use and the various projects include researchers from a variety of disciplines and combines their diverse interests. The Centre's activities include: computer gaming projects that investigate new game-play mechanics, exposing and exploiting the capabilities of emerging technologies (such a mobile computing), and also the development of ambient technology and the interface between pervasive systems and humans. The work draws on social psychology and other sciences which attempt to provide theoretical explanations for social interactions between humans, creatures and digital devices and media. Dr Rowland has recently returned to the University of Nottingham where he is now devoting his time solely to research in his new position as a Senior Research Fellow.

Website: www.mrl.nott.ac.uk/people/dar.html

Email: dar AT cs.nott.ac.uk