IFIP-ICEC 2025: Call for Papers

The 24th International Federation for Information Processing – International Conference on Entertainment Computing (IFIP ICEC 2025) will be held in Tokyo, Japan, from August 27th to 30th, 2025 at Nihon University.

Aims

IFIP TC14 aims to encourage research, development and sharing of innovative ideas, models and practices, on computer applications in entertainment. To enhance computation and use studies in this field, the technical program committee invites original submissions.

Topics

Topics can include but are not limited to:

1. Design and Analysis
   • Game Design: Theory, Creation & Testing
   • Interactive Narratives & Digital Storytelling
   • Entertainment Robots, Toys & Smart Gadgets
   • Social Media / Social Computing Entertainment
   • New Genres of Interactive & Digital Entertainment
2. Digital Art & Installations
   • Controllers for Musical Expression
   • Music Collaboration Tools
   • Public Interactive Art Installations
   • Interactive Art, Performance and Novel Interactions
3. XR Entertainment
   • Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality & Games
   • Ubiquitous/Pervasive Entertainment
   • TransMedia Storytelling
   • Metaverse Entertainment
4. Serious Games
   • Games for Learning, Health & Well-Being
   • Games For Change & Social Impact Games
   • Exergaming
   • Advergames and Digital Marketing
5. Inclusivity of Gaming and Interactive Entertainment
   • Game Accessibility Hardware
   • Guidelines for Inclusive Design
   • Special Needs Considerations
   • Theoretical Foundations and Ethical Issues
6. Experiential Aspects in Entertainment
   • Emotions and Affective Interaction
   • Theoretical Basis of Entertainment
   • Social / Cultural Impacts of Digital Entertainment
   • Entertainment for Purpose & Persuasion
7. Computational Methodologies for Entertainment
   • Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning for Entertainment
   • Procedural Content Generation
   • Computer Graphics & Visual Effects
   • Big Data in Entertainment
   • Security & Privacy in Entertainment
   • Algorithmic research on board and card games
   • New types of entertainment using information technologies
   • Hardware technology research and development to implement entertainment systems
   • Non-traditional human interface technologies for entertainment

Calls for Submissions

1. Journal and Conference Tracks

Full papers are the main media for presenting high impact, mature research with original new results. Submissions should describe novel unpublished work addressing one or more of the research topics listed. As a new feature this year, authors can submit their papers to either the journal track or the conference track.

1.1 Journal Track

This year, ICEC offers a journal track submission option. Authors may submit Full Papers to Entertainment Computing or the Full Paper conference track. Journal submissions will undergo a double-blind review and may be accepted, accepted with resubmission to the conference track, or rejected. We recommend submitting only highly developed works to the journal track.

The Journal track will publish accepted papers in a special issue of Elsevier’s Journal of Entertainment Computing (ENTCOM). Papers will be presented at the conference and published in the journal later, following ENTCOM’s submission and publication process. Submissions may be conditionally accepted in the journal track, conditionally accepted in the conference track after resubmission, or rejected. The conference track deadline will be after the journal track notification. At least one author must register and present at the conference for inclusion in the special issue. Videos are encouraged and can be included in the paper or as supplementary material.

Please read the Guideline for the Journal Track page for more information.

1.2 Conference Track

Conference papers will be published in a book form in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series. Conference track submissions will undergo a double-blind review process and may be accepted either for the conference or the Works in Progress track, or rejected. Authors will be able to have an advantage of a later submission deadline compared with the Journal Track.

Accepted papers will be scheduled for long presentations and discussions at the conference. Papers accepted to this track will be published in LNCS, only if at least one author registers and presents their work at the conference.

Paper length should reflect the contribution and maturity of the submission and reviewers from the program committee will be instructed to judge the contribution of a paper relative to its length. For example, typical contributions presenting significant research advances/results should not exceed 12 pages in length excluding references.

Please read the Call for Conference Track page for more information.

2. Works in Progress

Work in Progress (WiP) contributions provide an opportunity to present late-breaking work, new experimental projects, research in early phases or with more limited scope than typical full papers. A WiP submission is a shorter submission describing the research problem, contribution, and value to the community, submitted as a PDF file. Accepted papers will be included into the official Springer LNCS proceedings and will be scheduled for presentation and discussion at the conference.

WiP submissions should not exceed 8 pages in length, excluding references, in Springer LNCS format. Submissions with exceeding length relative to their contribution can be rejected. The committee may accept submissions conditionally or route them for a different category, when appropriate, and consult with authors to adjust their paper according to the review needs.

Please read the Call for Work-in-Progress page for more information.

3. Workshops and Tutorials

We invite proposals for workshops and tutorials that will be held at IFIP-ICEC 2025.

3.1 Workshops

We invite proposals in all areas of entertainment computing and serious games research (see conference topics listed above) and particularly welcome proposals that will focus on and promote discussion on new and emerging trends in these areas. Workshop proposals must include the following information:

• Workshop or tutorial title and short abstract (max. 50 words)
• Workshop summary, short review of state of the art, motivation and goals
• Workshop format (an activity plan and its rationale towards the goals)
• Workshop format for participant enrollment (e.g., position papers, prior expression of interest, or other applicable requirements for planning and organization)
• Profile of participants (and estimated number of participants)
• Contact of the organizers (name, affiliation, address, phone#, email)
• Short but relevant bio information of the organizers
• Expected workshop outcomes (proceedings, special issue of journals, project proposals, etc.)
• Proposed workshop due dates (take into consideration conference schedules); workshops can be scheduled for either half a day (4h) or a full day (8h)

Workshops are open to all IFIP-ICEC attendees at no additional cost, even if they do not submit any contribution to the workshops.

Submissions need to adhere to the stated workshop proposal deadline. Additionally, to be considered for inclusion in the conference proceedings, authors of workshop proposals may also submit a 6-page (maximum, excluding references) paper in the Springer LNCS format, observing the deadline for full paper submission. Regular workshop proposals will not be included in the proceedings.

Please read the Call for Workshop Proposals page for more information.

3.2 Tutorials

We invite proposals for tutorials that will be held in conjunction with ICEC 2025. We invite proposals in all areas of entertainment computing (see conference topics listed above) and particularly welcome proposals that will focus on and promote discussion on new and emerging trends. Tutorial proposals should be two pages in length and must include the following information:

• Contact information (name, affiliation, address, phone number and email) of the tutorial organizer(s)
• Relevant CV information of the tutorial leader(s)
• Tutorial title
• Tutorial objective
• Background/relevance of tutorial topic
• Intended duration (3h or 6h)
• Brief summary of the content

To be considered for inclusion in the conference proceedings, authors of tutorial proposals may also submit a 6-page (maximum) paper in the Springer LNCS format, observing the deadline for full paper submission. Regular tutorial proposals will not be included in the proceedings.

4. Interactive Entertainment Showcase

Interactive Entertainment Showcase are interactive demonstrations, installations, and games that show early implementations of novel, interesting, and important entertainment computing concepts, systems, installations, or games, or can serve to showcase results not previously described in the research literature.

Both research and industry are encouraged to send in and showcase demonstrators of novel approaches to entertainment. We particularly encourage demonstrations with which attendees can interact and play.

An Interactive Entertainment Showcase submission is a shorter submission describing a novel approach to entertainment computing concepts. Submissions will be peer-reviewed and should be composed of a document with 4-5 pages using Springer LNCS format, and structured as follows:

• Up to four pages for an extended abstract
• A final page that contains the link to an online video, a list of technical requirements (including electrical and connectivity needs), and physical space requirements (including display and footprint needs)

Successful submissions will be included in the conference proceedings. Submissions should follow the underlying extended abstract structure and must be clear, straightforward, and easy to understand. The extended abstract must contain the following sections: abstract and keywords, introduction, methodology, findings, conclusion, and references. Sections can be named differently, and subsections can be included.

Please read the Call for Interactive Entertainment Showcase Track page for more information.

5. Student Competition

All students up to and including PhD candidate level are eligible to send in their game or interactive entertainment installation, as long as the demonstrator is fully experiential, and the demonstrator is part of a research endeavor. This could be a platform to perform research with, a research through design contribution, or a design exemplar of something that advances the state of the art, but the paper detailing the game or interactive entertainment installation should make clear what the development of it may add to our knowledge of games and entertainment.

Please read the Call for Student Competition page for more information.

6. Doctoral Consortium

The Doctoral Consortium provides an opportunity for doctoral students to explore and develop their research interests in an interdisciplinary workshop, under the guidance of a panel of distinguished researchers in entertainment computing and/or serious games. We invite students who feel they would benefit from this kind of feedback on their dissertation work to apply for this unique opportunity to share their work with students in a similar situation as well as senior researchers in the field. The strongest candidates will be those who have a clear idea and an area, and have made some progress, but who are not so far along that they can no longer make changes. Also, as well as stating how you will gain from acceptance, both you and your advisor should be clear on what you can contribute to the Doctoral Consortium.

Please read the Call for Doctoral Consortium page for more information.

Important Dates

The date is in AoE (Anywhere on Earth).

• Journal Track: February 3rd, 2025
• Workshop Proposals: February 18th, 2025
• Tutorial Proposals: February 14th, 2025
• Conference Track: March 31st, 2025
• Interactive Entertainment Showcase: April 18th, 2025
• Works-in-Progress: April 18th, 2025
• Student Competition: April 18th, 2025
• Late Submissions (Not Included in the Proceedings) Student Competition: July 4th, 2025
• Doctoral Consortium: July 4th, 2025
• Journal Papers (1st Review Cycle): March 14th, 2025
• Conference Papers: May 9th, 2025
• Other Tracks: May 16th, 2025
• Camera Ready Materials Conference Proceedings: May 30th, 2025

Contact

icec2025-pc [at] easychair.org