Brain City Ambassador: Prof. Thomas Bremer

Credit: L. Nussbaum

30.09.2021
Prof. Thomas Bremer, DE:HIVE Game Hub, HTW Berlin University of Applied Sciences

Brain City Berlin

For most of us, games are associated with fun and entertainment. However, for Professor Thomas Bremer, Head of the DE:HIVE Game Incubator at the HTW Berlin University of Applied Sciences (HTW Berlin) which was founded in 2016, they are above all an exciting research topic.

“My research is all about games and methods of playing. It concerns games in general as well as digital games in particular. One focus of my research is on the rules and mechanisms of games. In other words: How these correlate with our actions and perceptions,” explains Brain City Ambassador Thomas Bremer. What fascinates him most about his field of research is that games have the potential to become one of the most interesting aesthetic forms of expression of the 21st century. “We can negotiate civic, cultural, social and aesthetic questions in them and play them out in the truest sense of the word. To do so however, a critical examination is required.”

As a scientist, Thomas Bremer is concerned with uncovering and questioning established game principles and rules in society, reflecting on the society-changing potential of games – and also trying out the creative powers of games artistically. The study of fine arts at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts (HFBK Hamburg) and a simultaneously awakened interest in new technologies and computer science originally brought the game researcher to digital games, “because both combine here in a fascinating way. I can bring my scientific as well as my artistic interests together in this field in a variety of ways. This is hardly possible in any other discipline.”

But game design skills can also be transferred to other areas – which is another aspect of research at DE:HIVE. An example: the SMART GAMES project. “This is about the development of game mechanisms that implement cognitive training methods. In this way, games can be created that have a positive influence on our brain functions.”

The great variety of scientific institutions in the city offers excellent conditions for implementing cooperative projects – at the same time with short distances.