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The use of virtual worlds and games for serious applications has emerged as a dominating force in training, education and simulation due to the focus on creating compelling interactive environments at reduced costs by adopting commodity technologies commonly associated with the entertainment industries. This field is informed by theories, methods, applications and the state-of-the-art in a number of areas based on technological principles and innovation, advances in games design, pedagogic methodologies and the convergence of these fields. While the serious games community has made it possible to bring together such diverse fields, further academic and industrial collaboration is needed in further defining, formalising and applying the standards and methodologies for the future.

We are proud to announce the 2nd International Conference on Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications (VS-GAMES 2010). VS-GAMES 2010 is the primary conference dedicated to serious games and virtual worlds presenting state of the art methods and technologies in the multidisciplinary fields outlined above. The aim of this international conference is to encourage an exchange of knowledge and experience in this cross-disciplinary area and its application to all aspects of the use of games and virtual worlds in serious applications.

We welcome topics relevant to, but not limited to:

• Game design
• AI applications for serious games
• Serious games methodologies
• User-modelling in serious games
• Pervasive gaming
• Interactivity issues
• Game modelling
• Alternate reality games
• Virtual environments
• Augmented reality
• Visualisation techniques
• Human-computer interaction
• Mobile games
• Education and learning
• Case studies in serious games and virtual worlds
• Methodologies, theories and frameworks