{"id":21,"date":"2026-02-02T15:00:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/?page_id=21"},"modified":"2026-05-04T20:55:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T01:55:57","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Brick-Zone_Logo-01-scaled.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-106\" style=\"width:746px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Brick-Zone_Logo-01-scaled.png 2560w, https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Brick-Zone_Logo-01-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Brick-Zone_Logo-01-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Brick-Zone_Logo-01-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Brick-Zone_Logo-01-2048x1152.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Brick Zone Promo\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8FqAJ_4rwD4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Brick Zone is creating a 5 minute performance that blends physical and digital Lego elements to excite and engage middle school students and demonstrate a technical innovation to broadcast TV. This is accomplished through the combination of an interactable island made in Unreal Editor for Fortnite, as well as a physical Lego set and filming area for live action elements. We are also leveraging the Entertainment Technology Center\u2019s Outreach Extension and Engagement department with their experience in Lego-based initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inspired by the work at CodeJoy, Brick Zone will be created a multi-player runner game where players are zombies chasing down a living human through a school in a comedic fashion. While this is going on, a live host will provide commentary and feedback while showing how the player&#8217;s actions in the digital world are mirrored to a real world set.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/john-portrait-full-size-color-john-balash.jpg.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-434 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/john-portrait-full-size-color-john-balash.jpg.webp 500w, https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/john-portrait-full-size-color-john-balash.jpg-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/john-portrait-full-size-color-john-balash.jpg-150x150.webp 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-x-large-font-size\">John Balash<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">Client<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">John Balash serves as the Director of Academic Outreach, Extension, and Engagement at the Entertainment Technology Center and the Head of Partnerships at the Center for Transformational Play and at Carnegie Mellon University &#8211; also his Alma Mater. John works across hardware, software, and analog mediums to create joyful, playful experiences. &nbsp;John has nearly a decade\u2019s experience in the classroom and has presented on the national and international stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">John Balash joined the ETC in 2018.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-x-large-font-size\">CodeJoy<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">Project Inspiration<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">CodeJoy is a company based in Pittsburgh, PA that focuses on educational content to teach programming to students, as well as educate instructors on how to use technology. The primary inspiration from their work is their live shows where the livestream 40-50 minute programs where kids can send in their code to make small robots made of cardboard move.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More about their work can be found here: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.codejoy.org\/about\">codejoy.org\/about<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"341\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kelseyandmattandaerobics.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-259 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kelseyandmattandaerobics.jpeg 512w, https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kelseyandmattandaerobics-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brick Zone is creating a 5 minute performance that blends physical and digital Lego elements to excite and engage middle school students and demonstrate a technical innovation to broadcast TV. This is accomplished through the combination of an interactable island made in Unreal Editor for Fortnite, as well as a physical Lego set and filming [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":498,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21\/revisions\/498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/brick-zone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}