Atakan Akcali

Atakan Akcali is a Lecturer and PhD candidate in the School of Arts and Creative Industries at Teesside University. His research focuses on integrating play, role-playing games, and digital media into museum environments to enhance adult visitor engagement. He holds a Master's in Digital Media (Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, 2022) and a Bachelor's in Visual Communication Design (Bahcesehir University, 2016), both with distinction. His work includes EU-funded projects like the "Sofias Smuggling" game initiative across museums in Germany and the Netherlands.

Research interests span museum digital transformation, gamification strategies, UX design for cultural spaces, and the intersection of social interaction and art experiences. He actively explores how tabletop RPG mechanics and AI-driven tools can innovate creative industry practices. His recent work emphasizes social connections through immersive art and gender representation in collaborative research.

• Received Associate Fellow (AFHEA) accreditation for teaching excellence in higher education (2023).
• Contributed to over 10 peer-reviewed conference papers, including studies on generative AI in game design and social apps for museums.
• Leadership roles: UX/Game Design team member and User Test Lead for EU-funded projects.

Current projects investigate representation diversity in AI-driven persona creation and participatory action research in creative industries. He collaborates internationally with institutions like the University of Kent (Film Studies, 2014) and maintains strong ties to German and Dutch cultural institutions.