{"515131":{"#nid":"515131","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Students, Alumnus March into Victories","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIt is award season here at Georgia Tech. Several students have recently earned recognition for their innovate projects at two major events. First, a video game created by a group of Georgia Tech students, a Georgia Tech alumnus, and one Georgia State student was voted best in the state by a panel of video game professionals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/globalgamejam.org\/2016\/games\/merciful-god\u0022\u003EMerciful God\u003C\/a\u003E,\u201d the team\u2019s four-player Mario Party-style, battle royale was created by three Georgia Tech undergraduates Kartik Kini, Domenic Valles, Eric Cook, a Georgia Tech alumnus Garrett Stache, and one Georgia State undergraduate Zachary Woomer during a 48-hour, race-against-time game development competition called the \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/globalgamejam.org\/2016\/jam-sites\/scad-atlanta\u0022\u003EGlobal Game Jam\u003C\/a\u003E.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was an overwhelming feeling of excitement and goosebumps,\u201d said Kartik Kini, Georgia Tech student and team member describing the moment he learned the news. \u201cIt was really amazing,\u201d adds Garett Stache Georgia Tech alumnus and lead artist for the team, \u201cit took a good week for me even accept that we won.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/globalgamejam.org\/\u0022\u003EGlobal Game Jam\u003C\/a\u003E is a nonprofit organization that sanctions a collection of two-day video game development \u201cjam sessions\u201d at multiple locations around the world. This year\u2019s Atlanta event was hosted and held at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in downtown. \u201cMerciful God\u201d won over judges with its addictive gameplay and visual appeal. The team beat nearly 200 other video game enthusiast to win first place at the annual event. Impressed with the level games developed at all the Georgia sites, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ggda.org\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Game Developers Association (GAGDA)\u003C\/a\u003E hosted a battle-of-the-best event at Perimeter Mall, where \u201cMerciful God\u201d continued to dominate earned the title of \u201cBest in Georgia.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the University of Michigan, Computer Science major Manav Dutta and his team beat nearly 150 other teams at the annual \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/mhacks.org\/\u0022\u003EMHacks\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d event held at the university and placed in the top three. Dutta and his teammates (Sunny Hong, Jeffery Chung, and Andy Chung) developed a Google Glass app that uses facial recognition to help people with autism recognize facial expressions and social cues.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor people with autism, It\u2019s hard to engage with others,\u201d says Manav, \u201cthe social cues people without autism take for granted aren\u2019t apparent to those with autism,\u201d he adds.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoth teams are using the momentum of their respective victories to boost their future plan. Dutta and his teammates are pursuing a potential startup venture while investigating how to make the app applicable to other devices and more accessible to people.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team behind \u201cMerciful God\u201d won a booth at the South\u2019s largest video game conference, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/siegecon.net\/\u0022\u003ESouthern Interactive Entertainment and Game Expo\u003C\/a\u003E (SIEGE CON), in October for winning the GAGDA state competition. The team plans to display their next project during the conference. Until then, the team is discussing what do next with \u201cMerciful God\u201d and how to use the relationships they built during the Global Game Jam.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf you would like to learn more about \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/mhacks.org\/\u0022\u003EMHacks\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d and the resources they provide, please follow the links provided.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor additional information on \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/globalgamejam.org\/\u0022\u003EGlobal Game Jam\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;or to\u0026nbsp;download your own copy of \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/globalgamejam.org\/2016\/games\/merciful-god\u0022\u003EMerciful God\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d for Windows and Mac OX, please follow the links provided.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Two teams featuring Georgia Tech students finish in top positions at developer competitions in Michigan and Atlanta."}],"uid":"30267","created_gmt":"2016-03-17 20:05:55","changed_gmt":"2022-05-26 17:09:36","author":"Devin Young","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-03-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-03-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"6053","name":"Autism"},{"id":"276","name":"Awards"},{"id":"82341","name":"Google Glass"},{"id":"2449","name":"video games"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDevin M. Young\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["devin.young@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}