The Center for Experiential Narrative Technology (CENT) will begin offering for-credit classes in the Fall 2025 semester, according to Director Donald Marinelli.
CENT’s class will likely be part of Point Park’s Discover Technology elective credit, according to Marinelli. He said it also might be part of the professional studies graduate program.
Marinelli was one of the co-founders of Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC). The ETC is renowned for its work innovating animatronics and video games, according to its website.
CENT is akin to ETC, according to Marinelli. It was founded to educate students on technology’s expanding professional impact.
“CENT recognizes that these really aren’t new technologies,” Marinelli said, “but they are part and parcel of your world today. And, consequently, they need to be part and parcel of what we teach and what we immerse ourselves in as educators.”
These “technologies” are cross-disciplinary, according to Marinelli. As an example, the field of psychology recently developed new VR programs to treat PTSD. Patients are immersed in simulations that replicate their traumatic experiences, which then is used as a form of cognitive behavioral therapy.
Marinelli said he wants CENT to teach students how to use advanced programs like – but not exclusive to –VR in their chosen career fields.
“Everything that CENT is doing has application across the board,” Marinelli said.
Chris Gaul, CENT’s assistant director, was solely an esports coach for Point Park before he and Marinelli teamed up to create CENT.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Gaul said. “I enjoy working with [Marinelli]. He’s a good mentor, he has a lot of experience and he has a lot of different ideas than myself. So, I think that we bounce ideas off each other quite well.”
Gaul said he and Marinielli have the same vision for the program.
“I think that’s one of the reasons that we work well together,” Gaul said. “We have a very strong shared view of what the end goal is and of how to get there.”
Last semester, four students within a “special topics” course of CENT developed a board game called “Elemental Clash.” The game was created in three weeks and had immersive reality elements, according to a university press release.
“What they accomplished in three weeks would’ve taken about 15 weeks [at the ETC],” Marinelli said.
Chris Gaul said the game’s augmented reality module utilized Unity engine and Blender modelling to bring its characters to life, allowing students to move virtual models in 3D space.
CENT was first launched over the summer last year, after Marinelli was promoted from a senior consultant to its director.
Since retiring from Carnegie Mellon in 2012, Marinelli has consulted for universities around the country and the world, offering them guidance on game design and keeping up with continually evolving technology.
Those schools range from Columbia University in New York to the University of Nanjing in China. Marinelli also lectures video game courses virtually in Vietnam.
“I’m a globalist at heart,” Marinelli said, “and the great thing about gaming and digital media is its the lingua franca of young people all over the place.”
Marinelli said, despite his wide outreach, Point Park’s CENT program will be different from the many others he established.
“I think what will jumpstart Point Park is creating and facilitating the synergies between different departments,” Marinelli said.
