Megaphone provides server technology which listens for key presses, transforming your cell phone keypad into a game controller. You can check out their services at http://www.playmegaphone.com/
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Deep Local is Carnegie Mellon spin-off company specializing in design, development and consulting. The Get in Line team has partnered with them to power our text messaging service for Spring Carnival, and you can check out their services at http://www.deeplocal.com/
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Guests will be able to play our games, earning points and achievements along the way which will be tracked online. Leaderboards will run on video interstitial between games, showing the avatars of the top players for all to see! When you get to carnival stop by our booth near the Alumni relations booth and pick up a map to check out all our game locations!
]]>In the presentation is our progress since the quarter, demo [...]]]>
In the presentation is our progress since the quarter, demo of our avatar system (check this out on the carnival page!), and updates on our scope and deliverable for the rest of the semester.
Note: the resolution of the camera in the presentation space is pretty low, so please bear with it! We’ve included the slides for you separately in the video.
As [...]]]>
New for 2009, Carnegie Mellon’s annual Spring Carnival will receive a technological addition in the form of Get in Line!
As a proof of concept of their latest technologies as well as a test bed for a ‘real-life theme park’ installation, Get in Line will be installing several interactive games across various events and locations at the Spring Carnival event and connecting them with a lifetime achievement system and avatars!
From button mash and trivia games at the Midway to voting and racing games at the famous ‘Buggy Races’, guests will be immersed in myriad experiences whether they wait in line for funnel cakes or leisurely walk around the fair.
As a proof of concept of their current research and development, guests will be able to create ‘robot avatars’ online before or during Carnival which will appear onscreen as they log in to games at the event. Furthermore, the avatars will keep track of their points and achievements as they play, which will open up a whole new set of ‘real world/online’ gaming possibilities!
You can make your avatar now on our website at www.getinlinegames.com/avatar or at the Spring Carnival official website: www.springcarnival.org
]]>Guests visiting the event could make their avatars for Carnival right there with the help of Get in Line team members. We had dozens of people sign up and even more take information home to share with their friends! Not only do people have some pretty sweet avatars, they are also super excited for Carnival and the games that are going to be featured!
Look below at some of the guests we had sign up for avatars!
Look for the video in the coming days.
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According to their website, Creative Technology Nights for Girls focuses on exposing middle school girls to various creative technologies with the hopes of engaging the next generation of women in technology. We had 22 girls plus 7 from the Western PA School for the Deaf, 3 translator/teachers, 5 Tech Night volunteers, plus Carol and Mary - program facilitators.
Our guests played the Get in Line games, mostly with their own phones, and had a great time! One team even demanded a rematch on one of the games!
The girls from the School for the Deaf were also able to play because our games (luckily) had sufficient explanations built into the gameplay, so they did not need our sound queues. (Adding this to the checklist of playtesting to make games even MORE accessible to all…)
The ETC received a lovely letter from Mary, the facilitator of Girl Tech Night!
excerpt:
“The girls really enjoyed the “Get in Line” games–a big thank you to Tracy, Carlos, Chris and Andrew for hosting them to play.”
Well - we enjoyed having them here too! Nothing beats watching people have fun playing something that you have built! Check their site out at http://women.cs.cmu.edu/technights/.
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It was a great opportunity to share what we’re doing with a new audience (mostly computer science people, so we were pretty popular), as well as catch up with Charles Palmer, faculty member at Harrisburg and friend of the team!
The trip was a great success, and we stayed to enjoy the great festivities of the building dedication that evening.
Charles, Josh, Tracy and Chris at the Dedication Ceremony Reception
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