Tânia Ribeiro, a PhD student from the Doctoral Program in Information and Communication in Digital Platforms at the University of Aveiro (UA), has received the SILVER Award at the 2024 “HCI Student Design Competition” with the project “Creating Empathic Characters: A Method”. This brainstorming tool, which is an outcome of her PhD research, is designed to help creating characters that effectively communicate empathy in digital games, a project under the supervision of Professor Ana Isabel Veloso (UA) and Peter Brinson, Professor of Practice from the University of Southern California.

The selection process was overseen by a distinguished seven-member international jury composed of experts from various academic institutions, ensuring a rigorous and impartial evaluation. The award was presented during the Opening Plenary Session of the HCI International 2024 conference, on Monday, 01 July 2024, from 18:30 to 20:00 EDT in Washington, DC, USA (HCI International).

This recognition highlights DigiMedia’s ongoing research and development in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) while emphasizing the importance of empathy in digital game character design, enhancing user experience in digital platforms, and contributing to the broader field of HCI.