Wholesale computer game

What an opportunity! As IALEI's 1st VP, I was invited, along with Jack Cohen, IALEI's Director of Education and IALEI Past President, to visit Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., and get to see first hand many of the wonderful student produced technology projects and inventions. Jack Cohen and I first met with Don Marinelli, Professor of Drama and Arts Management and Co-Director of CMU's Entertainment Technology Center. You can't help but notice Don's extensive Pittsburgh Pirate baseball and sports collection. Jack has been to ETC several times and has developed a great relationship with the ETC staff and students. Jack's dad was a major league umpire and worked mainly in Pittsburgh during the Pirates glory days. In fact, Jack's first job was jerking soda at Forbes Field. And before we had time to blink, Don was dressed in his pirates uniform as a real pirate. Yes, I was getting the message, drama and science goes together, somehow?

BACKGROUND

The CMU Entertainment Technology Center program is a two-year graduate masters program marketed as a model "for the left brain and right brain" project development. The purpose is to guide talented individuals to work on R and D teams to efficiently design and build prototype entertainment games and attractions using off the shelf technology (with creative applications). The next step is to connect these prototypes with outside 3rd party manufacturing and distributing companies. This is where IALEI can provide assistance and valuable feedback. The students and staff do not know the realities of the leisure industry entertainment business market or what is necessary to bring their best ideas to market.

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Tuition is $30,000 per year and the ETC program has a waiting list. Asian and international students make up approximately 30 percent of the program. The first graduating class was in 2000 and consisted of eight students. Currently there are 80 students enrolled in the program. Graduating students have landed jobs with Electronic Arts, Naughty Dog and several well-known entertainment companies. So far none have gone to work for Microsoft, even though Bill Gates and Microsoft is very closely connected and has provided much of the funding. Just imagine, people like Bill Gates, Tom Ridge (Secretary of Homeland Security), Harold Skripsky (IALEI Past President), and now me have addressed the ETC staff and students.

Korea has taken a special interest and ETC will soon be opening a branch campus in Digital Meter City, South Korea. Some of the clients that ETC has worked with or is currently working with include:

* Pittsburgh Children's Museum ("Animateering Puppets." Children get an opportunity to interact with animated versions of Jim Henson's antique puppet collection.)

* Electronic Arts (computer learning model to disseminate human resource benefits to large number of employees.)

* Kodak (archiving systems with avatars walking you through the process.)

* 'X-Arcade' (emulation technology--the company is now in residence at CMU.)

* 'Lights of Liberty' (synthetic interview with the ghost of Ben Franklin.)

* NYC Fire Department (Hazmat simulation training program designed to assist the team leader in making the best decisions in order to save victims lives and protect his/her team.)

We next went on a tour of the entire ETC facility with Tina Blaine, Professor of Entertainment Technology/Musical Interactivist, affectionately known as 'Bean,' for the entire day. In between classes Brenda Bakker Harger, Director of Interactive Theater, and Don joined us whenever possible. In all, Jack and I had the opportunity to see about a dozen working projects.

WHAT WE SAW WAS FASCINATING ...

'Improv Class': To start the bonding process, students do various improvisation performances to level the playfield and create shared experiences through humility and learning to laugh at themselves and at each other. Business can learn a lot from the ETC program, which is very efficient and obviously cost effective.

'Building Virtual Worlds' (BVW). We were very fortunate to be able to attend the end-of-semester live performance and judging (Vicarious Virtual Reality) of a few of the 13 projects for Assignment #4. In attendance that day was Jaron Lanier, the inventor of the 'Data Glove' and who is known as the 'Father of Virtual Reality.' He was in town on business and stopped in to help judge the performances. Student teams of four to six are assigned five projects per semester with each project lasting only two weeks. Each team is made up of students with different background skills from both the creative and scientific sides, such as computer programming, art, filmmaking, sound and graphics. The students get to approve their teammates (with a little help from the staff). All of the students are team players and help the other teams when needed. ETC staff officially critiques each project at the end of the 1st week (half way through). All projects must be completed by 11 p.m. the day before they are due so as to make sure that the students at least get some sleep the day before they show the other students and staff their project results. Some of the reasons why I think this approach works so well is that: 1.) There are no excuses accepted; 2.) The students are paying for the privilege of being at ETC; 3.) They are all highly intelligent and have been screened for admittance; 4.) They are all approximately the same age; 5.) They are all highly motivated; and 6.) The faculty team is a combination of Hollywood movie directors, professors, and major league baseball managers/coaches all rolled into one.

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"Quasi" the artificially intelligent robot that senses the environment. This cute little robot was shown at Fun Expo. It took six students only a total of 15 weeks to get 'Quasi' into its present form. Hardware cost is approximately $7000 at retail component prices. ETC students do not have the time to source wholesale components but with IALEI's supplier contacts this may soon change. Leading ideas for making 'Quasi' profitable are for it to perform karaoke, be a part of a photo-kiosk, or an attraction for a vending machine. One idea I suggested is to simplify 'Quasi' and place it inside a three-sided clear cabinet (similar to a single crane cabinet or fortune teller machine) and have 'Quasi' interact with customers and be a coin-operated interactive experience. Each play 'Quasi' could do something different as it could see/hear and see the customer(s) who are in front of it. A tangible object or printout would provide the customer with something of value and encourage repeat play. Of course, 'Quasi' could always be removed from the cabinet display, have its brain upgraded with a custom robot kit, and then roam around the facility as an interactive attraction.

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The 'Entertainment History Time Line Wall' shows pictures and descriptions in chronological order of the history of technology breakthroughs in the entertainment industry. There are some of the coin-operated games listed but IALEI could help fill in the gaps. Tina Blane entered the industry in 1987 with 'D'Cukoo which opened a 'Grateful Dead' Concert. Other examples show 1975 when Dolby Stereo was introduced; Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded a microcomputer software company that Bill called 'Microsoft.' All of the current history has been put on a Web site called www.GameInovation.com.