Game Systems for Live Events

Below are some of the many projects, products and experiments I created while working on the PSAV Research & Development team to utilize Game Engines for live events.

Real-time Walkthroughs

I worked to transition our rendering team away from static renders in 3DSMax and into a real-time visualization workflow using Game Engines. I created project templates to expedite workflow and optimize turn-around time for real-time visualization requests

I used Unity Game Engine to create many event spaces, including all of the modeling, set building, lighting and programming.

Real time visualization allowed the client to visualize their projection mapping in the event space in more detail than was allowed in static renders. Clients could preview the “feel and atmosphere” of the space as well as see the video content in context in a way that wasn’t possible with static media (screenshots and video).

Using a Unity also allowed us dynamic control at runtime to display things like Time of Day, changing animated content, and camera control.

Training and Education

I was also responsible for creating prototypes for how we could build apps to train sales and potential clients on the product offerings of live events. Being able to visualize all of the equipment in space (with dynamic highlighting!) can help everyone quickly understand the space in a more exciting format than images and documents.

This training application was playable from touch devices and included full walkthrough-capabilities and touch controls

Custom Hardware Controllers

I was tasked with building a hardware connection system that allowed us to both drive Unity with custom hardware button presses, as well as send requests back to the controller from Unity

In the above examples, I used an Arduino and a DIY circuit board to create a few sample inputs including a button to send concrete commands and a potentiometer to test slider control.

These experiments allowed our team to build custom hardware controllers that could drive game systems in Unity on the show floor.

Additional Game System R&D

I also led several other game system experiments that I don’t have media for, including:

A Jeopardy Game tool that allowed the client to run a live game session with custom buzzers, multiple display outputs and a question creation system the client could use to customize their games
AR visualization for live event scavenger hunts
And many others!