ETC R&D Agenda

The breadth of our interests is one of the strongest components of the ETC experience, and to be even more strategic about the consistent variety of projects, we are articulating an applied research and development agenda to better innovate across the range of our expertise. ETC projects will explore the following areas:

Transformational Games: including educational games, game for health, games for change, simulations meaningful game play, and in-game assessments, humanities and civics
– To continue iterative rapid-prototyping of games for impact to develop the most effective and impactful games.

Innovation by Design: including next-gen interfaces, experimental prototyping, entertainment creative development best practices, and iterative experience design
– To innovate through development processes and apply the latest technologies to create engaging experiences

Interactive Storytelling: including location-based experiences, mobile, transmedia, augmented reality, and live interactive performance
– To design the most engaging narrative experiences that incorporates multiple forms of  media and audience engagement

Across all three areas – Game, Design, and Story – we are interested in how engagement and learning occurs with different topics, media, groups, and contexts. We explore K-12, STEAM, informal learning, lifelong learning, and transference as we focus on designing the experience that the user, player, or guest has. With the ETC R&D agenda, we are applying methodological techniques (rapid-prototyping, iterative design, agile development) to discover fundamental principles (game play mechanics, indirect control, interest curves, improvisational storytelling) of how interactive experiences best perform.

The ETC balances educational goals, professional development, and engaging experiences; or learn, work and play. We emphasize leadership, innovation and communication by creating challenging experiences through which students learn how to collaborate, experiment, and iterate solutions. Entertainment Technology Center is simply different- we strive to design experiences that educate, engage and inspire.