MSc Human Centred Artificial Intelligence for Games Development

Mixed Realities: Build an advanced understanding of the methods, techniques, and critical theories that underpin the design and development of innovative mixed reality experiences. Covering virtual worlds, VR/AR, and immersive experiences.

Applied Programming for Data Science: Develop fundamental programming skills to effectively use state-of-the-art tools and technologies for Data Science, and introduce application of basic AI models.

Human Computer Interaction: Develop the design and methodological skills required to develop AI solutions that interact with human end-users effectively and safely.

Ludonarrative Design: Study the design and innovative technologies that support storytelling through play itself. Developing a ludonarrative experience that use gameplay mechanics as a story medium and advanced narrative systems.

Explainable and Ethical AI: Start to build a strong foundation and understanding of the range of AI approaches and techniques, focusing on real-world challenges of ethical application of AI / ethical use of data. 

Industrial Skills and Professional Issues: You'll have the opportunity to develop transferrable professional skills in preparing you for both your independent project and future career.

Programme specifications provide definitive records of the university’s taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry. If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.

Honours degree at 2:2 or higher in any discipline, or extensive industrial experience in this area.  

An unclassified degree with extensive industrial experience will also be considered.  

Qualifications equivalent to the above may also be considered on a case-by-case basis. 

Such applicants may be invited to interview and are encouraged to discuss their application with the programme leader.  

You can find details of the international qualifications we accept, and what level of study they apply to, on our entry requirements for non-UK students' page.

Please see below some examples of the qualifications for entry:

• India: Bachelor’s degree (4 years) from a recognised HE institution with a minimum overall result of 55% 
• Nigeria:  Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution with a minimum classification of 2:2 
• China:  Chinese Bachelor's (Honours) degree from a recognised higher education institution with 65% or above 
• Turkey: Bachelor’s degree (Lisans Diplomasi - four years) with a minimum overall GPA of 2.3/4.0 
• Vietnam:  Bachelor's degree/Bang tot nghiep dai hoc with an average score of 6.5/10, or 2.25/4, or a Master’s degree/Thac si. 

All applications will be subject to a minimum grade and your degree may need to be in a relevant subject area.

Applicants may be invited to interview if they do not have a Psychology degree accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS). 

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, you will need to provide evidence that you understand English to a satisfactory level. English language requirements for this course are normally:

IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in writing, speaking, listening and reading, or equivalent.

View further information about our English language requirements.

Bournemouth University International College offers a number of pre-sessional English and preparatory programmes to prepare international students for postgraduate study at BU. Admission to the degree is guaranteed on successful completion of your course to the required level. 

For MSc Human Centred Artificial Intelligence, we're looking for applicants who:

• Have an interest in applied computing, working with data and technologies to develop hands-on experience
• Bring a sense of curiosity, creativity, drive and enthusiasm to the learning environment
• Being a responsible and autonomous learner, capable of working independently and reflecting critically upon your learning
• Prepare for, attend, and actively engage in the range of learning opportunities provided
 

Please see our website for the application deadlines. You should apply as early as possible to be considered for your course of choice. If you require a student visa, apply for the visa as soon as you have an unconditional offer and receive your CAS. There may be delays in visa processing in your country and you need to be in Bournemouth ready to study for the start of term.

December and January is one of our busiest application periods and therefore it may take us a little longer to process incoming applications. For courses with a January start date, we recommend submitting your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Click the green ‘Apply now’ button to submit your application free of charge online through myHub, our application portal. You will create your own myHub account so that you can track the progress of your application. Don’t forget to save your application as you go; you can return to it at as many times as you want before you submit it. For more information visit our How to apply section.

Employment prospects are now truly international and BU encourages students to consider an international work placement or volunteering experience during their degree. One way could be through the EU funded Erasmus mobility programme which supports placements or study exchanges in Europe.

Students can also participate in international placements outside of Europe. There are opportunities to engage with summer schools and volunteering projects. These experiences help students to enhance their global employability skills.

Our Careers & Employability Service and your faculty placements office will support you in finding an appropriate role and help you with your application, and we’ll support you throughout your time working in industry. 

Possible careers include:

• Data Scientist
• Data Analyst
• Machine learning and AI Consultant

If you want to continue your studies after achieving your MSc, you can look into our range of doctoral programmes.

What’s included in your tuition fee?

Your tuition fee covers expenses associated with your course including tuition materials, access to facilities, mandatory field trips and the following:

• Materials for laboratory and mandatory field-based teaching activity.
• Support for finding placements (UK or abroad) and fieldwork, and non-financial support whilst on placement.
• A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service.
• The Library – access to a wide range of electronic resources (databases, e-journals and e-books), print and multimedia collections, subject librarians and study spaces.
• Access to Brightspace, our virtual learning environment, which offers a responsive and personalised learning experience with powerful learning analytics capabilities, integrated social media and advanced video features.
• IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow.
• Disability and additional learning support according to individual circumstances.
• The BU Language Centre to help you develop/improve foreign or English language skills.
• 24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.
• Loan of lab coats and safety glasses.

• Free software download to your personal device of Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus while you are studying, as well as access to applications provided on AppsAnywhere, subject to licensing and compatibility restrictions.
   

We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

• Laptops, tablets and mobile devices and any software used on personal devices. Access to a personal computer is strongly recommended for your study. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, visit our website for information regarding hardship funds.
• Textbooks, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of textbooks and online resources, free of charge. The Students’ Union shops stock a wide range of stationery supplies on both campuses.
• Accommodation and living costs. Please visit our website for more information. 
• Travel costs, for optional field trips, outdoor wear and footwear for mandatory and optional field trips (if applicable).
• Travel costs to and from your placement (both in the UK and overseas) if this is part of your course of study. Placement year funding information can be found on our website.
• Expenses relating to placement or research projects e.g. travel etc. up to a maximum of £200 per student.
• SportBU membership.

While all aspects of the programme, including required field trips, are included in the fee, additional, optional or extra curricula activities may be available for which a student contribution is required.

If you need to repeat one or more units during the course of your studies (with or without attendance) the pricing will be pro-rata of the full-time fee.

Financial help available from BU

We offer a range of scholarships and bursaries to eligible students who are beginning their studies at BU. Please visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/funding for details on living costs, budgeting and paying your tuition fees.

International (not Rep. of Ireland) students need to pay a non-refundable deposit to secure their place on a postgraduate course. For September 2024 and January 2025 entry, a £5,000 deposit is required. You will need to pay your deposit by the date stated in your offer letter. The remainder of your fee will be payable on registration/enrolment. There are two exceptions to the non-refundable rule on the deposit:

• You fail to meet the academic or English requirements of your offer
• You are refused a visa to enter the UK, provided the reason for the refusal is not a fraudulent application.

We offer a range of scholarships to students who are beginning their studies at BU. Our website also provides details on living costs, budgeting and paying your tuition fees.

Prof Fred Charles main research interests focusses on Computational Intelligence applied to Computer Games including Artificial Intelligence combined with Human-Computer Interaction. He has been involved in research on Interactive Storytelling which led to the development of several interactive systems which have won several awards.

Prof Nan Jiang is Deputy Head of Computing and Informatics and Professor in Human Computer Interaction. He joined BU in 2010. Prior to this, Nan was an Open Distance Learning (ODL) tutor at Queen Mary, University of London, where he also received his PhD in Web Usability and MSc in Advanced Methods.

Nan has 10+years of full stack web development experience as a freelance technical consultant and technical writer. He is specialised in web/mobile app architectural and interface design but he also provides technical support on backend development.

Marcin's research interests lie in a broadly understood area of machine learning and data science, with a particular focus on practical applications.

"Innovation is what makes our world a better place. I believe that deep down each of us is an innovator. The committed and inspiring team at BU will help you unlock this hidden potential".

Some of Marcin’s recent research projects include data analytics and predictive modelling for public transport, computer vision techniques for retail (self-checkout) and forensic applications (shoeprint and gait analysis) or link prediction in complex network systems (like social networks). Many of these projects involve students at various levels.

Dr Huseyin Dogan joined Bournemouth University (BU) in 2012. He is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Computing and Informatics Research Centre. Dr Dogan is also the Co-founder and Co-chair of the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research group. His research focuses on Human Factors, Assistive Technology, Digital Health and Systems Engineering.

Prior to this, Dr Dogan led the postgraduate courses (2012-2015) and then the undergraduate courses (2015-2017) in Computing at BU, managing over 900 students. He is also the Co-Founder of four MSc programmes: (1) MSc Digital Health; (2) MSc Digital Health & Artificial Intelligence; (3) MSc Cyber Security & Human Factors; (4) MSc Marketing & User Experience.

Avleen Malhi received her PhD in autonomous vehicles (2016), ME in Computer Science (2012) from Thapar Univesity India and BE in Computer Science Engineering (2010). As part of her PhD research (2012-2016), she was working on an industrial project by Tata Consultancy Services. Between 2016-2018, she was working as an Assistant professor in computer science at Thapar University and from 2019-2020, she was working as postdoctoral researcher at Aalto University, Finland. During her postdoctorate, she has worked on different EU H2020 Projects and received significant funding for various projects. She has a leading role in Business Finland project, eparkly (real time smart parking managemnet system) which is 0.9M€ project.

Vedad is a Deputy Head of the Creative Technology Department and will be the lead of the Mixed Reality unit on this course. 

His research involves exploring the multi-user Extended Reality (XR) experience in collaborative cultural heritage applications. He was a PI for a HEIF (Research England) funded project "Feeling the UNfelt (FUN): Assistive Technology accessible digital environments with a haptic interface". He participated in two large-scale EU projects and a number of small- and medium-scale research projects.

He has a PhD in Engineering from the University of Warwick, UK, and a first degree in Computer Science from the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has a long-standing interest in serious games, digital cultural heritage, XR technologies, assistive technology, and UX in which he has been a published author.

Dr Charlie Hargood is a Principal Academic in the Department of Creative Technology and the lead on the Ludonarrative Design unit of this course. He is an internationally recognised research leader in narrative systems, and a regular contributor to ACM Hypertext and Social Media where he has twice won the SIGWeb Englebart prize for models of location aware narrative, is organiser for the Narrative and Hypertext Workshop, and regularly serves on the programme committee. He has contributed to numerous research projects, and was technical lead for both the Leverhulme funded StoryPlaces project investigating interactive location aware stories, and the EPSRC funded UBhave project exploring mobile behavioral interventions. He has lead and contributed to the development of significant applications that remain widely used within research, and has published in a range of internationally recognised conferences and journals.

Dr Mohammad Naiseh's research is in advanced Explainable AI and Human-Computer Interaction. He has a keen interest in studying user trust, which he defines as a crucial requirement of deploying AI-based solutions in real-world problems. He focuses on the principles, methods and tools needed to engineer trust-aware technology to calibrate trust in such technologies.