Pasta-making video game a novel X-perience

This article first appeared on October 4th, 2011.

Making tortellini has gone viral, with computer scientists in Bologna developing a game that teaches players how to make the dish using motion-sensing software and a webcam.

Tortellino X-perience features a sfoglina (professional pasta maker) and combines a traditional video with a 3D representation of the player’s hands.

The sfoglina takes players through the process step by step – combining ingredients, kneading and rolling out dough, cutting, stuffing, sealing and finally twisting the tiny packages closed.

The players must successfully complete each stage before moving on to the next and when all stages are complete a player has “won”.

Diners who played the game at Bolognese restaurant Cantina Bentivoglio, which specialises in tortellini, were impressed.

Does this represent a new frontier in terms of hospitality and tourism?

It certainly suggests that there is demand for more of a gaming element with regard to food, so perhaps start-ups in Australia can develop their own culinary-inspired concepts.