Paul Watson

For over a decade, Paul has guided students through the expansive field of game design and prototype development. Game design is a captivating space where each student's passion can evolve into an engaging experience for others to enjoy. Paul has dedicated his teaching career to cultivating a creative process that realises this journey.

Paul actively explores the use of games and emerging technologies beyond entertainment. His research examines how these platforms can be designed and applied to real-world contexts such as education, positive wellbeing, and fostering discussion. His passion lies in developing approaches that inspire positive change and personal growth.

As an experienced educator, Paul integrates game design expertise and research practices into the studio classroom. The aim is to cultivate an effective design process for each student that fosters empathy with the player's experience, leverages the psychology of engagement, and delivers compelling interactive experiences that leave a lasting impression.

Research Interests and Research Subject Specialisms:
Games Design, Virtual Reality, Applied Games, Games for Positive Change

Teaching specialisms;
Games Design, Level Design, Design Process, Psychology of Games, Applied Games, Virtual Reality.

Publications and Research:
Watson, P.W., House, S., Hart, R., Abbas, J., Asthana, S. and Gaudl, S.E., 2023, August. A Case Study Using Virtual Reality to Prime Knowledge for Procedural Medical Training. In IFIP Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 189-208). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.

Watson, P. and Gaudl, S.E., 2022, March. Ragdoll Recovery: Manipulating Virtual Mannequins to Aid Action Sequence Proficiency. In 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW) (pp. 415-418). IEEE.

Watson, P. and Gaudl, S.E., 2021. Walking Through Virtual Doors: A Study on the Effects of Virtual Location Changes on Memory. In ICAT-EGVE 2021 - International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence Eurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments. The Eurographics Association (pp.1-7)

Varga, M.N., Merrison-Hort, R., Watson, P., Borisyuk, R. and Livingstone, D., 2021. Tadpole VR: virtual reality visualization of a simulated tadpole spinal cord. Virtual Reality, 25(1), pp.1-17.

Watson, P. and Livingstone, D., 2018. Using mixed reality displays for observational learning of motor skills: A design research approach enhancing memory recall and usability. Research in Learning Technology, 26.

Professional Online Profile Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-watson-07016513/

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.se/citations?hl=en&user=_WNrmMkAAAAJ

Affiliations:
Fellow, Higher education Academy (FHEA)