GI member John Harris won third place, with a $5,000 grant, at the Velocity Graduate Student Fund finals for his pitch to develop his enterprise, The Playful Pixel. Harris is a PhD student in Computer Science studying asymmetric games as a means of promoting inclusiveness and getting more kinds of people playing together.
The Playful Pixel's purpose is to design innovative large-scale social play experiences and will support play for 30-300 players. Harris' vision for The Playful Pixel is to integrate digital and analog components in the form of networked digital devices and sensor-embedded smart props to make the experience more accessible and enjoyable for all:
We want to provide our players with a fun and accessible way to socialize with their neighbours and communities. We're building large-scale social play experiences that combine the best of board games, video games, and good old fashioned face-to-face play. Get ready for an experience like you've never seen before!
- from The Playful Pixel website
Harris will be defending his dissertation later this month and will be developing The Playful Pixel shortly thereafter. Subscribe to The Playful Pixel's mailing list to receive updates.