Maarten Lamers

He has been teaching at the Institute for Informatics of Leiden University (LIACS) since 2002. He is a member of the board committee of the Media Technology MSc program. His cross-disciplinary research combines computer science with other interests, for example exploring the integration of biological entities (micro-organisms, fungi, insects) in digital games.

Outside the university walls, he co-founded the laser tag brand LaserMaxx, a major brand of laser tag worldwide, for which he still designs game technology. Through this work he was a technical game producer for the Dutch TV show “Wie is de Mol?” (2000-2014).

Digital landscapes

Real-time growth of bacteria and fungi can be used to generate real-time game environments. The appearance of terrains generated by our method looks natural. To a geologically untrained observer, they appear as possible results of geological processes. Natural growth of the organisms is indeed reflected in the change of terrains over time.