The game, the Tortellini X-perience recently made its debut in Bologna, Italy. The multi-media virtual reality game Tortellini X-perience was designed by Marco Roccetti, a professor of computer science at the University of Bologna for the World Expo in Shanghai last fall.
Roccetti had two goals in mind, the first was preservation, preservation of the culinary heritage of Bologna and the second goal was taking a very hard task, which tortellini is and making it a game. Using software and a 10 year old webcam, he created a console free game.
Old world met new world technology as the computer scientist created the multimedia educational game using video along with 3D imagery of the gamers’ hands. The game used a video of a sfoglina (pasta maker) creating the tortellini; mixing, kneading, rolling out the dough, cutting, stuffing, sealing and shaping the tortellini into the unique “navel” shape.
Using the webcam, the gamer’s movements are followed by gesture recognition software as they view them reproduced through stop-motion video on the screen. The players imitate each step before moving on to complete the game and the tortellini. At the debut at a restaurant in Bologna the person who had the most difficulty was the restaurant’s sfoglina. The game is not on sale but the software development used in the game has educational applications.
Executive chef/restaurateur Jody Adams, known for her passion for regional Italian food at Rialto Restaurant in Boston commented on Tortellini X-perience. “It sounds like fun. Anything that gets people into the handmade process is a joy. It is always about getting people back in the kitchen, enjoying being in the kitchen and working with their hands.” The Top Chef Masters contestant Adams teaches cooking classes at Rialto Restaurant and will soon be opening Trade Restaurant along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.
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