San Francisco-based startup Mind Pirate and the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) have announced four participants selected to participate in the ideaBOOST/Mind Pirate Production Lab, a three-month boot camp that gives developers the resources to create games and apps for wearable technology devices.
Three of the four winners are Canadian:
• Normative – Toronto
• Imaginary Computer – New Mexico
• Little Guy Games – Toronto
• Smokebomb Entertainment – Toronto
Mind Pirate is a company located in Silicon Valley that makes games and technology for smartphones and next-gen mobile computing devices. The partnership between Mind Pirate and CFC was announced in early October. The four participants will now will use Mind Pirate’s next-generation game platform, Callisto, to create products for mobile wearable devices, like Google Glass. Callisto does not release publicly to third parties until 2014, “making ideaBOOST/Mind Pirate Production Lab program participants among the first in the world to get their hands on this next-generation technology.” The program is three months in length.
“The responses from high caliber developers eager to participate in the production lab have been amazing, so our biggest challenge has been narrowing the field,” said the CFC’s Ana Serrano. “As we work with our developers to explore new ways to create games and apps for wearable technology such as Google Glass, this project continues to strengthen CFC’s commitment to the future of entertainment.”
Participants get a $10,000 US award grant to help bring their ideas to life, and at the end of the program, “any of the four games or apps may be selected and brought to market at a later date.”
The award-winning CFC Media Lab production team will also be creating a Google Glass app to round out these four companies.
“We have received many creative, highly innovative, and refreshingly unique game ideas that push the boundaries of what wearable technology devices can do. For developers and consumers alike, this is very exciting,” said Mind Pirate’s Shawn Hardin. “Developers are ready to push the envelope and create new experiences that will help make wearable technology tomorrow, what the iPhone is today. We can’t wait to enable the next generation experiences that these talented developers will create.”
The CFC is a charitable organization that promotes and invests in Canada’s diverse talent, accelerating careers in film, television, screen acting, music, and digital media. It’s program ideaBOOST identifies early stage companies in the media and technology industry. ideaBOOST is a four-month, part-time prototype development and audience engagement boot camp, which “enables participants to build successful products and sustainable companies that stay in Canada and build employment.”