## Breadcrumb 1. [Home](/index%2Ephp/) 2. [Overview](/index%2Ephp/academics) 3. [Faculty Members](/index%2Ephp/academics/explore-faculty) 4. [Cindy Poremba](/index%2Ephp/markdownify/node/3995) # Cindy Poremba ![](https://ultima7-its.ocadu.ca/bios/cporemba/portrait) cporemba@ocadu.ca Faculty Information Associate Professor, Tenured Faculty of Arts & Science Areas of Expertiseexperimental videogames interactive documentary digital capture artgames sustainable games postmedia images Cindy Poremba is a digital media researcher, gamemaker and curator. They are an Associate Professor (Digital Futures) at OCAD University (Tkaronto/Toronto, CA) and Co-Director of OCAD’s game:play Lab. Dr. Poremba has presented internationally at conferences, festivals and invited lectures, on topics relating to game art and curation, capture in postmedia practices, and interactive documentary. Their research and critical writing has been published in journals such as Eludamos, Loading, Game Studies and Games & Culture, as well as edited collections, art catalogs and magazines. Cindy has held positions on award juries including the Independent Game Festival (Design and Nuovo), served as Co-Chair for the IndieCade, and is a past Board member of the Hand Eye Society. They currently sit on the Board of the Game Arts International Network (GAIN). Cindy also organizes non-traditional exhibitions as an independent curator, including Joue le jeu/Play Along (FR), and XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (US). Their award-winning game and “New Arcade” work, independently and as a member of the kokoromi experimental videogame collective, has been featured in both international game and digital art exhibitions. ### Works #### Exploring Sustainable Gamemaking through an Artgame Residency The Game Needs to Change Towards Sustainable Game Design Published: December 31st 2025 [View Article »](https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781003512400-14/exploring-sustainable-gamemaking-artgame-residency-cindy-poremba-kara-stone-ian-garrett-ben-abraham?context=ubx&refId=3cd94704-e900-44c0-aac3-d3b3ce3e8ce8) #### A Renewable Artgames Residency: exploring sustainable practices for art game design Abstract Proceedings of DiGRA 2024 Conference: Playgrounds Published: October 7th 2024 #### Going Deep: Hybrid Capture in Documentary The Interactive Documentary in Canada Published: October 7th 2024 [View Article »](https://www.mqup.ca/interactive-documentary-in-canada--the-products-9780228021087.php) #### Ansel and the (T/M)aking of Amateur Game Photography Screen Images. In-Game Photography, Screenshot, Screencast Published: October 7th 2023 [View Article »](https://www.zem-brandenburg.de/en/publikationen/screen-images-2/) #### Enacting Photojournalism in Videogames Abstract Proceedings of DiGRA 2023 Conference: Limits and Margins of Games Published: October 7th 2023 #### La remédiation des images de cinéma dans le jeu vidéo Published: October 7th 2023 Bien avant l’apparition des simulations photoréalistes en 3D, les développeurs de jeux vidéo ont été obnubilés par un désir de mimétisme. Le jeu vidéo est prisonnier d’un paradoxe qui explique en partie cette obsession : foncièrement interactif, il procure un effet d’immédiateté bien supérieur à celui des médias produits à partir de prises de vues réelles. Cependant, en matière de réalisme visuel, il parvient difficilement à les égaler. Ce livre numérique raconte l’histoire de cette obsession, mettant en relief les efforts que les concepteurs de jeux ont déployés ainsi que les multiples défis technologiques rencontrés. Il souligne également en quoi la remédiation de séquences vidéo filmées a donné lieu à un phénomène intermédial inédit : la vague du « cinéma interactif » des années 1990, dont la contribution à l’histoire du jeu vidéo demeure sujette à débat. [View Article »](http://dx.doi.org/10.62212/1866/32875) #### A Visual Programming Interface for Experimenting with Volumetric Video 2022 IEEE Games, Entertainment, Media Conference, GEM 2022 Published: October 7th 2022 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85147544117&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### As the End Drew Near: Exploring Volumetric Video in Videogames (Demo) 2022 IEEE Games Entertainment Media Conference Gem 2022 Published: October 7th 2022 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85147537995&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### Bodies in Play zine DIY Methods 2022 Conference Proceedings Published: October 7th 2022 [View Article »](https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:48563/) #### Capturing Volumetric Video for Remote Learning in the Studio Arts Published: October 7th 2022 #### WING COMMANDER III: HEART OF THE TIGER (1994) Fifty Key Video Games Published: October 7th 2022 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85142819337&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### Any one, anyWare: Perceiving sentience and embodiment in a distributed sculpture Proceedings of the 26th International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA 2020) Published: October 7th 2021 #### Fiction façade and the zero player game Art After Dark Published: October 7th 2021 #### VVV: Volumetric video in videogames Proceedings of the 26th International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA 2020) Published: October 7th 2021 #### From Dead-end to Cutting Edge: Using FMV Design Patterns to Jumpstart a Video Revival Game Studies Published: October 7th 2020 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85142831792&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### Ten years of Digital Futures: An oral history, part 1. Virtual Creativity Published: October 7th 2020 #### Ten years of Digital Futures: An oral history, part 2. Virtual Creativity Published: October 7th 2020 #### Ten years of Digital Futures: An oral history, part 4. Virtual Creativity Published: October 7th 2020 #### Ten years of digital futures: An oral history, part 1 Virtual Creativity Published: October 7th 2020 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85092511044&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### Ten years of digital futures: An oral history, part 2 Virtual Creativity Published: October 7th 2020 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85092517810&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### Ten years of digital futures: An oral history, part 3 Virtual Creativity Published: October 7th 2020 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85092491994&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### Ten years of digital futures: An oral history, part 4 Virtual Creativity Published: October 7th 2020 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85092535453&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### Ten years of digital futures: An oral history, part 5 Virtual Creativity Published: October 7th 2020 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85095695565&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### Ten years of digital futures: An oral history, part 6 Virtual Creativity Published: October 7th 2020 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85092448616&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### VVV: Volumetric video in videogames Published: October 7th 2020 VVV: Volumetric Video in Videogames is a research-creation project aiming to advance experimental development using volumetric video (a computational fusion between captured depth data and video images) in expressive videogames by drawing upon successful patterns from early game design practices foregrounding captured media. Such exploration is essential given the complexity of hybrid capture images. This ongoing project presents new ways of understanding captured media within highly interactive postmedia forms. fullmotion video)/interactive cinema games, incorporating both historic and more recent examples in this niche genre. Using the HACS (Historical-Analytical Comparative System) system \[1\], common and potentially useable patterns were identified, evaluated, and later translated from formal pattern language into more accessible descriptions for use in design ideation and/or troubleshooting (see Fig 1 for examples). [View Article »](http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/3186/) #### Fiction façade and the zero player game Published: October 7th 2019 [View Article »](http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/3188/) #### Rock Stars & Plastic Guitars: Designing & Playing with Captured Experiences in Music Videogames Abstract Proceedings of DiGRA 2019 Conference: Game, Play and the Emerging Ludo-Mix Published: October 7th 2019 #### " Play belongs to Everybody": An Interview with the Ludica Collective Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture Published: October 7th 2017 #### ARTcade: A Canadian Game Studies Association Symposium Vignette Loading… The Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association Published: October 7th 2017 #### Beyond boy’s toys: Women, play and Mindstorms™ Robotics Life by Design: Everyday Digital Culture Symposium Published: October 7th 2017 #### Critical potential on the brink of the magic circle DiGRA 2007 Situated Play Conference Published: October 7th 2017 #### Discourse engines for art mods Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture Published: October 7th 2017 #### Patches of peace: Tiny signs of agency in digital games. DiGRA International Conference: Level Up Published: October 7th 2017 #### Performative inquiry and the sublime in Escape from Woomera Games and Culture Published: October 7th 2013 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84883348333&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### Discourse Engines for Art Mods Published: October 7th 2010 This paper presents a genealogy of "art mod" (artistic videogame modification) definitions and frameworks. Such frameworks serve, either intentionally or unintentionally, to establish modding within a tradition of analysis and critique: whether participatory design, alternative media, folk art, and/or fine art. By situating the definition and history of art mods within a particular discourse, researchers construct the ground from which to make arguments towards organizing the reception and critique of these works. Such arguments include whether mods in general (and art mods in particular) are inherently political or banal (even boring), whether these works speak back at all to games themselves (and whether they should), whether these works are powerful and disruptive; or compromised (by virtue of their parasitic position), and as a result marginal. A genealogy of art mod frameworks highlights the boundary politics of the critique of art mods, and the problem of presenting transparent interpretive lenses in an interdisciplinary field such as game studies. [View Article »](https://doi.org/10.7557/23.6113) #### Frames and simulated documents: Indexicality in documentary videogames Load. J. Can. Game Stud. Assoc Published: October 7th 2009 #### Game art on a dematerialized web Magazine électronique du CIAC / Centre International d'Art Contemporain Published: October 7th 2009 [View Article »](https://id.culturegraph.org/gateway-bayern:BV040768519) #### JFK Reloaded: Documentary framing and the simulated document Loading... Published: October 7th 2009 #### JFK reloaded: Documentary framing and the simulated document Published: October 7th 2009 [View Article »](http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/1358/) #### Making Sense of Game Aesthetics \[Panel Abstracts\] Proceedings of DiGRA 2009 Conference: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory Published: October 7th 2009 #### Can games get real? A closer look at 'documentary' digital games Computer Games as a Sociocultural Phenomenon: Games Without Frontiers - War Without Tears Published: October 7th 2008 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-73949126218&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### “Play belongs to Everybody”: An interview with the Ludica Collective Published: October 7th 2008 [View Article »](https://eludamos.org/index.php/eludamos/article/view/vol2no2-8) #### ARTcade: A Canadian Game Studies Association Symposium Vignette Published: October 7th 2007 [View Article »](http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/1356/) #### Critical potential on the brink of the magic circle 3rd Digital Games Research Association International Conference: "Situated Play", DiGRA 2007 Published: October 7th 2007 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-79551503781&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### Play with me: Exploring the autobiographical through digital games Proceedings of DiGRA 2007 Conference: Situated Play Published: October 7th 2007 #### Point and shoot: Remediating photography in gamespace Games and Culture Published: October 7th 2007 [View Article »](http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-43249144497&partnerID=MN8TOARS) #### Against embedded agency: Subversion and emergence in GTA3 The Meaning and Culture of Grand Theft Auto: Critical Essays Published: October 7th 2006 #### Real/Unreal: Constructing Actuality through the Documentary Digital Game Published: October 7th 2005 #### Against Embedded Agency: Subversion and Emergence in GTA III Published: October 7th 2003 #### Patches of peace: Tiny signs of agency in digital games. Published: October 7th 2003 One of the more interesting and distinct aspects of digital games is the proliferation of player produced artifacts. The reworking of original game materials is an integral part of game culture that cannot be ignored in the study of these games. This paper explores player authorship in digital games through the rhetoric of select peace-themed game modifications. [View Article »](http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/1401/) #### Player as author : digital games and agency Published: October 7th 2003 [View Article »](http://summit.sfu.ca/item/8534) #### Remaking each other’s dreams: Player authors in digital games New Forms Festival 2003 Published: October 7th 2003 #### Remaking each other’s dreams: Player authors in digital games Published: October 7th 2003 One of the more interesting and distinct aspects of the digital game genre is the proliferation of player-produced content and artifacts. The reworking of original game materials is an integral part of game culture that can not be ignored in the study of these games. This paper explores playerproduction as a mode of authorship reflecting the agency of the game player. [View Article »](http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/2903/) #### This is Research; Poremba: VVV: Volumetric Video in Videogames VVV: Volumetric Video in Videogames is a practice-based research inquiry that uses full motion video (FMV) videogame design patterns to scaffold the design of new games using volumetric (spatial 3D) video. It aims to advance critical discourse and design knowledge surrounding volumetric video and other emerging forms of hybrid captured media, within videogames and related immersive experiences. VVV is a multi-institution collaboration between experimental game designer Dr. Cindy Poremba (OCAD University), game historian Dr. Carl Therrien (Université de Montréal), and Prof. Nicolas Hesler (Sheridan College); in partnership with Scatter, the engineers of the volumetric video platform DepthKit. [View Article »](http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/2921/) ### Education #### PhD Interdisciplinary Humanities **Type:** Graduate Studies Concordia University #### MASc Interactive Arts **Type:** School of Interactive Arts and Technology Simon Fraser University - Surrey #### BA, Rhetoric and Professional Writing (New Media Specialization) **Type:** English University of Waterloo ### Employment #### Associate Professor **Type:** Digital Futures OCAD University #### Interim Graduate Program Director, Digital Futures **Type:** School of Graduate Studies OCAD University