CMU grads use tech expertise to start new ‘Burgh business

While working on their second-semester project, three Carnegie Mellon University grad students… While working on their second-semester project, three Carnegie Mellon University grad students knew they wanted two things: They wanted to help kids, and they wanted to create something for the medical field.

The three met at the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon where students can pitch projects as they complete their degrees. They developed an idea for a game kiosk for hospital waiting rooms and began to set the design in motion.

Their idea evolved into a full-fledged company, and the students became businessmen.

Fred Gallart, now the president and CEO of their company, Electric Owl Studios, chief technical officer Phil Light and CCO Patrick Mittereder decided on a game kiosk so that kids would have something quick, fun and easy to do while they wait at Children’s Hospital in Oakland.

“At first, we had the whole idea we wanted to do crazy things like turn the waiting room into a playground,” Gallart said. “We wanted to use our varying talents and expertise to do something positive.”

But upon visiting a waiting room in Children’s, the three decided on something with animation that provided more stimulation than the traditional toys, something that would reach all ages and something that kids could leave behind when their name was called without too much fuss.

Their taxing process meant a lot of late nights, sometimes forcing them to sleep in the lab since it was a 3-mile bike ride from their homes in East Liberty. They developed prototypes, tested the product and, in addition to classes and other mandatory projects, pitched the idea to Children’s, that they were connected with through professors at ETC.

Luckily for them, the late nights paid off, and Children’s bought their concept.

“These visits for kids can be pretty stressful, not only for the kids but also for the parents,” said Carmen Furfaro, Children’s project manager who oversees the kiosks. “They’re very easy games to use.

“I think [the developers] really went full throttle with this, and I’m really happy that they are able to entertain these kids while they’re waiting to be seen, and it’s occupying the parents, too,” he said.

The kiosk, K.I.C.K, Kid’s Interactive Creation Kiosk, has four games kids and parents can play simply by touching the screen: Magic Coloring Book, Search n’ Find, Picture Town and Free Form. In Magic Coloring Book, kids touch a color then put the color on objects in the room. When they’re done, the picture sets into motion for a quick, fun scene.

In Search n’ Find, kids can look for objects hidden on the screen which will check off the items as they go. If a kid doesn’t see an object, the screen will prompt them vocally.

“A lot of people ask us, ‘Why don’t you just put in an Xbox in there?'” Light said. “Well, the thing with that is the controllers break or get stolen or a game gets stolen.

“Also, our games are designed for a 10 to 20 minute wait, but those games are designed for a $40 to $50 value,” he said. “You’ve just figured out the controllers, you’re halfway through level one, and it’s time to go.”

All three creators love the fact that they were able to make something fun, as well as positive. They turned down various job offers from companies like Schell Games, LeapFrog and IBM to keep going with their own project.

“We have a chance to work on these projects and improve quality of life at the same time,” Light said. “We can’t cure their cancer but maybe we can give them something to play with while they’re in the hospital.”

“We just found our calling here,” Gallart said. We’re making a positive social impact and bringing different types of technology strategy to the region.”

The name Electric Owl is a tribute to the company’s Pittsburgh heritage. While searching for a company name, the team went through old railroad train glossaries and saw the name “Electric Owl.”

“He’s the guy who runs the midnight switch operator,” Gallart said, “and we thought, you know, we work late hours, we’re kind of like that.”

The three wanted to stay in the area as the technology and entertainment industry begins to boom in the city and have tried to honor the town with the project.

They also know they wouldn’t have been able to start it without the support and confidence from UPMC, that runs Children’s.

“They’ve been an unbelievable client,” Light said.

The first prototype went into Children’s emergency waiting room in the summer of 2006; and not long after, Children’s ordered seven more for other waiting rooms.

Since the latest round of kiosks was installed, there have been 5 million touches on the screens.

“We’re getting tens of thousands of unique play sessions which is really exciting for us because it shows it’s doing its job,” Gallart said.

All three have graduated and now work out of an office in East Liberty along with five interns and another partner, Brad Patton. Their next step is to place the product in other waiting rooms beside hospitals, such as car dealerships, and also to downsize the product to make it more expendable.

“We’re working now on how to bring labor intensiveness down,” Light said. “We’re trying to appeal to different-size practices. Not everyone has resources like UPMC.

“We’ve gone through the phase of student, we’ve gone through the phase of establishing the product, now it’s time to start going out there and saying here is what we have and the ways it can work.”