Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Center Projects
Semester long projects that emphasize interdisciplinary teamwork to create a product

Patient Experience: Develop and experience which improves the experience of physical therapy patients recovering from total knee or hip replacement surgery. Role: Producer/Game Designer/Technologist Semester: Fall '08 Electives: Web Application Development

Patient Experience involved creating casual experiences for patients who had just undergone total knee or total hip replacement surgery. Our client was the Innovation Center at UPMC. They looked at using various items before such as Wii Fit and an exercise bike game. The problem was neither of these were designed for joint replacement patients, due to the level of activity required. We created three different experiences using the Wii Fit board. For those patients that just wanted a rep counter we had clouds floating in the background while the reps ticked away. We created a puzzle experience that removed a piece of the puzzle for each rep, revealing the image in the end. The last experience was a video experience that allowed the patient to travel through a few different videos with each rep. In each case the Wii Board was used to track if the rep was a good one or not, the correct leg and duration. We also did a proof of concept for table exercises which used an IMU to count reps.

Classroom of the Future: Create an environment where "digital natives" can excel. Role: Producer/Technologist Semester: Spring '08 Electives: Intro to Maya and Auditing Computer Graphics

During this project we looked at problems that exist in the classroom environment today and asked ourselves "What would the ideal classroom be?" We then looked at current and emerging technologies to see what we had to create. The deliverables for this project are a multi-touch student desk, a teacher station, note taking software, and interactive documenation. The documenation will allow peole to look at what technologies will be in widespread use in the classroom from now and into the future.

First Semester - Boot Camp Semester

Building Virtual Worlds: Rapid prototyping of virtual experiences, most worlds were made in two weeks by teams of four. Role: Sound Design Semester: Fall '07

	Round 5: Big Wave - Create a world that will get into the BVW Show. I worked with the team to come up with a surfing simulator controlled by the audience. The audience controlled the waves by how high they stood which was detected by the audience interaction code. This world was one of the worlds to be in the BVW Show. I did the sound design as well as the sound programming in Panda.
	Round 4: Having a Ball - Round 4 focused on telling a story in 90 - 180 seconds in which the players had a meaningful effect. Our group developed a story involving 3 Giraffes. The big Giraffes would not let the short giraffe play. Two players bounced a ball by controlling the giraffe heads with the playmotion, a device that detects shadow points. When they loose the ball into a cave the audience decides if the short giraffe will help free the giraffes from the lion or let them die. In addtion to sound design I served as producer.
	Round 3: Starry Night - Create an activity that is fun. For this round I was part of a team that created a world in which the guest created a night sky. The guest could pick from a variety of star and galaxy shapes. They could then choose a color and mix with other colors and place them in the sky. At the end the guest clapped their hands and the camera pulled back so they could view their creation. This was done on the Head Mounted Display. This world was selected for the BVW show. I was sound designer.
	Round 2: Space Station Voyage - Create a feeling of freedom for a naive user. Our team created an HMD world that allowed the guest to fly though space with a jetpack. The guest had to collect oxygen to stay alive long enough to get to the space station. Every time the guest collided with debris they lost oxygen. This world was selected for the BVW shows. In addition to sound design I helped with texture art and served as producer.
	Round 1: Cemetary Detour - Create a world in which one character is afraid of another. Our team created a world in which little girls got lost in a cemetary. The players had to rescue the girls before the ghost got too many. The platform was the jammo-drum. I did sound design and Lighting Programming.

Visual Story Semester: Fall '07

	Music Video Assignment: For this assignment assisted the team in refining the concept as well as a large portion of the shooting and editing.
	American Beauty Scene: This assignment involved recreating the American Beauty Scene from a script. For this assignement I helped with the shot list, storybaord, camera work, and most of the edititing.
	Intro Assignment: We had to create a video which introduced our team members. For this assignment I helped with the idea and did most of the shooting and editing.