Current Projects
This project will be building off of the tech demo and research done in the previous Action in Motion project to create a 5 minute action-game experience using hybrid input on the Kinect. There will be a focus shift from the previous semester, moving from tech-development to game design. The team will research good design practices for using hybrid input, and play test the best/most intuitive methods for implementing it with the
Kinect.
While the pure Kinect input provides powerful motion tracking, it is still limited by its inability to track fine movements. The team will be focused on developing game
mechanics where the Kinect tracking is the primary input method, but is supplemented with other input devices to allow for more nuanced actions, and to provide context for actions in a "hack-and-slash" action game environment.
The goal of the project is to build a system that feels fun, and enables a certain level of skill-based mastery when playing the game, as well as encapsulate these mechanics into an experience for the ETC demo room.
Anihccam del 3000, the mechanical ballet subtitled Interpretazione e riproduzione dei movimenti e rumori delle macchine, whose costumes have become enduring icons of futurism, is being re-imagined at Entertainment Technology Center, CMU by using the modern animation techniques and advanced motion capture technology. The ballet was conceived by Fortunato Depero in 1924. It is a sort of futuristic dialogue between a few locomotives in love with the stationmaster.
The project has been commissioned by Museum of Modern Arts in Rovereto, Italy.
Project Beyond The Stage is
creating experiences that take
drama straight to the audience -
either online, in their community,
or interactively while they watch a
performance! We use technology to
enhance the transformational power
of theater and reach new audiences.
This semester we are working in
cooperation with Kristoffer Diaz
and Lynn Nottage to bring their
works to life on the web. These
new experiences are designed by the
playwrights to augment and inform
stage productions of their plays.
Crescendo Encore is continuing the
work done by Crescendo. Last
semester, Crescendo created a
classical music game geared for
families that encourages
cooperation, brings people together
and gives players the feeling of
playing real instruments. We are
working with SmileGate, a Korean
game developer.
Smilegate has given us two major
directives this semester. Whereas
the game created by Crescendo was
playable only for the PC,
SmileGate’s first directive is to
explore the possibilities of making
the game playable on different
consoles. SmileGate and Crescendo
Encore have agreed to move forward
with Xbox Live Indie Games as a
platform. SmileGate’s second
directive is to build upon the
existing framework and enhance the
game with better feedback, better
hardware and a better UI, all the
while leveraging our industry
contacts to create a great
experience. The goal of the project
is thus to deliver to SmileGate a
game built upon the game created by
Crescendo that can be played on the
Xbox360.
Digital Dream Lab is working with
the Makeshop at the Children's
Museum of Pittsburgh, where
children are provided with a hands-
on workshop to learn about creation
through small projects. Sewing
machines, woodworking tools,
electronic circuit blocks, various
other materials, and amazing
facilitators provide children with
an exploratory environment that
starts with the simple question,
"What do you want to make today?"
Our focus this semester is to
explore how a digital creation
experience can function in the
Makeshop. With a current gap and
request to bring programming
concepts into the process, we have
proposed a tangible block interface
to teach the basics through a
storytelling framework. The
physical blocks will represent
characters, actions, modifiers,
etc. in the digital space, and a
projector will provide a window for
children to explore and create!
Factomo is a project team at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center charged with creating a new interactive game experience through which players can create and operate the manufacturing factory of the future for General Motors. We are working with our client representatives, Robert Tilolve and Ronald Lesperance from the GM Research and Development Center to create new ways to visualize the manufacturing process in a virtual environment, which is both fun and informative. Our project will work to create a competitive environment in which teams can compete in categories such as plant efficiency and productivity to design their vision of future automobile production. Simultaneously, it will feed the choices the players make during this process back to GM R&D for consideration during actual facility design and construction.
Microsoft Kinect Fun Labs is a
part of Microsoft Studios that
specializes in pushing the
boundaries and limits of the Kinect
sensor. The goal of the semester
for the Fun Kinection ETC team is
to create a polished and shippable
gadget to add to the Fun Labs
lineup.
The team will be working closely
with client representatives from
Microsoft to ensure the delivery of
a high-quality and fully realized
end product. The team will not stop
short of an experience with the
Kinect that will be groundbreaking
and foster innovation throughout
the industry.
Generosity is infectious, and positive energy spreads faster than wildfire. Project Glatitude is a client-based initiative working with the Linden Foundation, a charitable organization based in Pennsylvania. The Linden Foundation has challenged us to create a gaming experience centered around the "Pay It Forward" concept that encourages people to get out of their comfort zone and through generosity of spirit, change other people's lives.
With this goal in mind, Glatitude is creating a game in which the playing space is your own community. Players will pass along acts of charity and kindness that branch out and with enough momentum, go viral. The game is supported by an online component that visualizes the generosity of the players within a digital network. The goal is to deliver to the Linden Foundation a polished game model that encourages players to be kinder to their fellow man and to help make the world a better place.
Jokers and Gestures is a client- based project at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center working with WMS Gaming. WMS Gaming is a casino style gaming company based in Chicago. The goal of the project is to create a novel interactive and immersive experience for slot machine players at the casino. The team will create custom hardware and software to demonstrate and test this new slot machine experience.
Madhouse is an ETC semester project in cooperation with the University of Salford and based in MediaCityUK, Salford, UK. The first ETC project to be based in Manchester, Madhouse is working to merge interactivity and live performance using Salford’s high-tech media lounge, the Egg. Equipped with a dozen interactive devices and one of the highest definition video screens available, the Egg presents unique opportunities to create location-based interactive entertainment.
To accomplish this goal, Madhouse is adapting Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s 1969 monodrama 8 Songs for a Mad King, a tragic opera based on the infamous madness of King George III and his efforts to teach caged bullfinches to sing specific tunes. The Madhouse team plans to combine the piece with the latest multimedia technologies available to create an innovative performance experience.
The Electronic Arts Office of the
Chief Creative Officer has tasked
us with creating a game using WebGL
that will redefine the expectations
of browser-based gaming. WebGL is
an exciting new software library
that expands Javascript to generate
interactive 3D graphics in web
browsers without cumbersome
plugins.
The game we’re making is a tower
offense game, based on original EA
IP. The game will feature fast
paced multiplayer battles,
different character classes with
distinct weapons and abilities that
can be upgraded, and a customizable
battle kit of units that the player
can summon to help them win the
day.
One of the most exciting parts
about this project is that we are
working so closely with the OCCO.
Our close proximity and
relationship with the OCCO this
semester will be a great help to us
on the road to success. We are very
excited to be working with them.
mindful xp is about making games with meaning – not solely through narrative or aesthetic choices, but instead using mechanics, dynamics, interactions, and all the things that make games “games” to experiment with their expressiveness as a medium.
Oceanus 4 is an Entertainment Technology Center project that will continue the development and completion of two interactive crowd experiences that will be exhibited at the Expo 2012 in Yeosu, Korea. Our client is GL Associates. Our team is based at the ETC’s Osaka, Japan location, and our advisors are Dr. Salvador Barrera, John Dessler, and Shirley Saldamarco.
All guests attending the Expo 2012 will pass through the Expo Digital Gallery (EDG), and walk underneath a massive LED ceiling display that exhibits our content. Hundreds of guests will be able to interact with our Sumi Twitter and Polar Rescue experiences. Sumi Twitter is an animated visualization of a Twitter feed that comes to life with the help of colorful koi fish. Polar Rescue is an augmented reality experience that uses a network camera to virtually transport people to an arctic environment where they will help to reunite a polar bear family. The theme of the Expo 2012 is “The Living Ocean and the Coast,” and our interactives express this theme while creating a fun and immersive experiences for all expo attendees.
Visit us at the Expo 2012 in Yeosu!
Pixel Pushers is an educational
game and modification project under
the supervision of our client,
MinecraftEdu. We are creating a
toolset that allows teachers to
create lessons in the popular indie
game Minecraft, easily share those
lessons with other educators, and
allows them to effectively monitor
and review their students'
progress. Further, we aim to
explore what academic subjects best
lend themselves to the game’s
format through a series of proof-
of-concept lessons. Finally, we
want the student experience to be
as safe and constructive as
possible, whether sessions are
being held in real classrooms or
virtual youth centers.
The goal of the Pixel Pushers
project is to make game-based
learning through the MinecraftEdu
software more accessible to
students and educators alike. With
the target student age ranging from
K-12, and a target teacher audience
spanning continents and countless
disciplines, we aim to create a
flexible application that enables
educators to use the fun game
environment of Minecraft to
effectually complement their lesson
plan.
Project Xense is a museum exhibit that showcases both the challenges and the advances in implant and prosthetic technology. The project is part of a larger “CyberPeople” exhibit at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, located in Washington D.C. and features interactive experiences about retinal (vision) implants, cochlear (hearing) implants, and neuroprosthetics. Simulations utilizing EEG headsets, head-mounted displays, real-time video processing, and more will allow guests to gain first-hand experience of the mental and physical challenges of using implants and to learn more about both the current and future technologies involved. This union of medical science with media technology will hopefully educate and inspire the researchers as well as policy-makers of this generation and beyond.
Project Xense is funded by the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) and produced by students at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC).
Initiated by DARPA, this multi-semester project is the first step towards inspiring young minds to pursue science and engineering as a career. This year we are focusing on creating several games for children ages 5-7 through which they learn science. We are collaborating with many institutions, such as the Sesame Workshop which will give us guidance on the age-appropriateness of our work, and Carnegie Mellon’s Human Computer Interaction Institute which will help us measure how the games affect childrens' knowledge and skills.
The goal of this project is to develop an interactive experience for the Schrader Center to enrich guests’ visits and promote interest in the local wildlife. Visitors will be able to engage and learn from meaningful content in a fun way, with the focus especially on kids and their families. The experience will also promote awareness and involvement in nature, encouraging kids to continue their outdoor adventures beyond Oglebay’s Schrader Center.
Spring Entertainment is an ETC
project focused on creating
interactive digital media
experiences for the Seven Springs
Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania,
which hosts a wide variety of
clients, including large numbers of
vacationing families year-round,
and an increasing number of
snowboarders, drawn by their new
and unique urban terrain park, The
Streets. Our client would like to
expand its digital presence, with
an eye toward increasing its
attraction to the 21st century
digital native, and furthering its
status as a popular destination
where families and other groups can
share fun, memorable experiences in
any season.
We have been asked to create a way
to extend the guests’ resort
experience beyond the confines of
the resort itself. To that end, we
will provide Seven Springs with a
mobile application that will both
entertain users and allow Seven
Springs to more effectively spread
the word about the wide variety of
activities it offers over the
course of a year.
The Grid is a client project sponsored by The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry (MSI). The Grid is one piece of the larger Future Energy exhibit scheduled to open in the Chicago MSI in October of 2013. The purpose of the exhibit is to raise awareness amongst young museum goers about the use of renewable energy. The Grid will be achieving this through an interactive touch screen experience that will become a permanent installation in the exhibit. The experience will focus on renewable energy sources across North America and how those sources are harnessed and distributed.
A web-based interactive simulation
of Pittsburgh's future crown jewel.
Team VT has been tasked to create
a virtual simulation of a proposed
venue to be built atop the USX
Tower in downtown Pittsburgh. This
hopeful construction will involve a
three story, sixty-five thousand
square foot space that a
restaurant, media gallery,
performance center, glass lofts and
an open-air rooftop promenade that
will put visitors in the highest
point between New York and Chicago.
Working in partnership with
architecture students from Carnegie
Mellon we will be creating a
virtual destination of this
structure that will give guests the
freedom of movement and exploration
as if they've been transported from
their desktop computer to on top of
Pittsburgh's tallest building.
Simulation set to release on May
3rd.
Wall# is a result of collaboration between the Entertainment Technology Center and Microsoft Retail. We are pleased to be stationed alongside our client in their offices and are enjoying benefits of continuous guidance.
Our project aims to explore various avenues of interaction to enhance the end customer's experience. In addition to this, we are also aiming to innovate with tools and frameworks to further enrich the content production pipeline.
“Whale R U” is a Master´s of Entertainment Technology student project based in the Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute, M-ITI. This semester we are working with the Madeira Whale Museum, which is located in Caniçal.The Museum has an educational section, where groups of school children are taken on field trips, as well as two main exhibition rooms, one that portrays the history of the whaling industry in Madeira and another room that showcases whales and also information about whale watching activities supported and organized by the museum itself.
