Pathfinder

The USC Game Innovation Lab is a research space
and think tank where new concepts in game design,
play, and usability can be developed, prototyped and
play tested in an environment separate from the
timelines and constraints of commercial game
development. The goal of the lab is to nurture
concepts that push games beyond their currently
defined genres, markets and play patterns and to
make breakthroughs in these areas that will be
valuable to lab sponsors and the industry on the
whole.

CHEPA has a long-standing commitment to issues of college access for low
income youth. Although we know that college counselors aid students in
preparing for and applying to college, the student to college counselor ratio in
low-income schools approaches 400:1. Given problematic funding and multiple
needs, we do not see that ratio changing. One alternative that needs to be
explored is the use of technology to supplement what college counseling
services exist in public schools.

The USC provost's office has provided the Center with $900,000 in funding for
the next three years to help kick-start the initiative. In making the funds
available to the Center, Provost Max Nikias stated, "USC has a long-standing
tradition of working on interdisciplinary initiatives that will improve the economic
and social well-being of society. Improving access to higher education is
crucial for America's competitiveness in a global economy. CHEPA's
track-record with providing research-based answers to public policy questions
combined with the technological expertise of the Zemeckis Center for Digital
Arts makes this project compelling and promising."

The technology we will develop will be in the form of a highly interactive,
entertaining, aspirational computer game that will help students apply to
college.

"As an interdisciplinary initiative," said CHEPA director Bill Tierney, "we hope
to tap the multiple resources of the university in moving aggressively forward in
our agenda to help increase the flow of low-income youth to college."