Case Studies
Behind the Scenes of Bold Ideas
Get an inside look at how ETC students collaborate with partners to design the future of entertainment technology.
Each semester at the ETC, students work in interdisciplinary teams to design and prototype innovative experiences—from games and tools to installations and immersive worlds. These case studies offer a closer look at standout projects from recent years: how they came together, who they were built for, and what our students learned along the way.
Created in collaboration with real-world partners and guided by faculty mentorship, these projects reflect the ETC’s core values—creativity, experimentation, teamwork, and a drive to shape what’s next in entertainment technology.
TACIT
TACIT explores how haptic gloves can turn touch into both a gameplay mechanic and a tool for emotional storytelling. Using distinct vibration patterns alongside audio and visual context, the team created a VR experience in which players become Death, feeling characters’ heartbeats through their hands to determine whose soul they must release by crushing their heart.
Case Studies
Flow
A deer and a dancer, who meet and become friends in an intricately rendered world inspired by classical Chinese art.
Ghaist
War-era scientist Joseph Priestley to life with AI-powered gameplay that invites guests to recreate his experiments and discover his story.
Spark-Smith Studio
Introducing students to welding by combining authentic techniques and safety practices with an immersive VR narrative about repairing a damaged spacecraft.
Physical Presence Pet
Finding new ways to combine tactile and virtual experience by creating a digital XR companion for the Apple Vision Pro.
Depero Futuristi
Reimagining a century-old Futurist ballet for the digital age, and presenting it all over the world.
Gravitrix
Translating the high-intensity physical experience of extreme pogo into an exciting PC game.
Miracle Workshop
Giving a beloved animatronic puppet at Give Kids The World's nonprofit resort a new animatronic body and an operating system anyone can use.
Marioneta
Turning a display of fragile antique puppets at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh into a intuitive and engaging digital experience for kids.
PlayStation Blacklight
Pushing the limits of a new Playstation product through rapid prototyping, and doing it so well it turned into full-time jobs.
Voyage
Designing a virtual reality field trip where students can explore together in real-time while learning lessons about the environment.
Quasi
Building a one-of-a-kind animatronic character capable of responding organically to guests — decades before AI made that commonplace.
Patronus
Educating players on sexual assault and bystander prevention through an interactive graphic novel adopted by schools across the country.
A History of Work & Play
Find any ETC project, since its founding in 1999.
See how our projects have pushed the boundaries of entertainment, technology and storytelling.