Let’s Play Pittsburgh: Pinball
Through the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, I have had the privilege of working on Let’s Play Pittsburgh! pinball project. The goal of the project is to make Pittsburgh a more playful city through installations throughout the area that promote learning through play.
KDKA
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SXSW 2026
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Vellum Fermentation
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Remake Learning Days
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ETC Fall Festival
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AI Horizons
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KDKA 〰️ SXSW 2026 〰️ Vellum Fermentation 〰️ Remake Learning Days 〰️ ETC Fall Festival 〰️ AI Horizons 〰️
Our project consisted of multiple iterations of pop-up virtual pinball.
Our controller prototype! We wanted the controller to mimic the visual and feel of real pinball as much as possible, which starts with having a real ball on a real track!
Using TouchDesigner, we designed a game where gameplay reveals a picture! The ball is like a paintbrush that reveals the image below. In our additive color version, the ball reveals colors separately
Players take a photo together (prompting multiplayer use!), and their photo is used as the uncovered background for the game! Who doesn’t love a photobooth?
Players work together to play pinball and uncover the image below! Each player has their own ball and plunger, and they each control either the left or right flippers. Teamwork required!
With help from our funders and supporters, our team set out through ever-changing design goals to create a virtual pinball game that would push for educational and social goals with several different iterations.
Where we’ve been
SXSW - March 2026
We brought our project to Austin , TX to help represent Pittsburgh at The Keystone House for SXSW 2026!
AI Horizons
We featured our AI iteration at Pittsburgh’s AI Horizons event in 2025.
Remake Learning Days
In partnership with Remake Learning, we’ve brought different iterations of the project to Remake Learning Days events.
KDKA
We were featured on KDKA!
Pittsburgh Pop-ups
We’ve brought our project to multiple places around Pittsburgh, and are excited to pop-up many more times!