Welcome to Anuja's Website

Give Kids the World: Sweet Dreams
Pillow Machine

Project Description:

Give Kids the World: Sweet Dreams is a project at the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University to create an interactive experience for guests at the Give Kids the World village that will provide a memorable encounter through a combination of a themed installation, virtual characters, game play, and a physical souvenir.

We are creating the next version of the Pillow Machine, a popular attraction at GKTW that allows wish children and their families to create a dream pillow infused with good wishes and magic through an exciting and fun series of games and interactions.

Give Kids the World and the Entertainment Technology Center has partnered with Bob's Space Racers to create a sturdy and reliable product for installation in the park.

The design phase of the project will end in December 2007. We will then pass a full design package over to Bob's who will commence construction in May 2008.

My Role:

Although my primary role is to design the experience and interactions, I am also in charge of developing and maintaining our project website, background research, user-testing, documentation, and sound.

I also collaborate with a team of 2 artists, 2 mechanical engineers/3-D modelers, and a programmer for this project.

Game Design

Given the unique audience and theme of GKTW, we chose to make the game play for the Pillow Tree largely experiential. The experience relies on an immersive sensory experience (lights, sounds, touch, and video screens) to convey the theme and emotion rather than constructive action. Thus the only interactions required of the player will be choosing a gender, holding onto an object, and pulling a rope (to receive the pillow), all of which are quite simple.

Click here to read the back story/treatment (.pdf)

Images:

The Old Pillow Machine

The New Pillow Machine (Small Scale Model and Artist's Rendition)