Whaaat!? is the reaction to an amazing interaction or novel experience - the feeling when your expectations are shattered. The Whaaat!? Lab, directed by Matt Bethancourt and Danny Rankin, explores new ways to create this feeling and bring more delight to the world through games and experimental interactions.

whaaat lab logo

Updates

Matt Bethancourt awarded Engineering Excellence Fund grant to support Whaaat!? festival

Lab Directors

Danny Rankin
Danny Rankin
Teaching Assistant Professor and Interim Associate Director of Undergrad Programs • Whaaat!? Lab • MATERIALS, GAMES, GRAPHIC DESIGN

Associated Researchers

Noelle Ireland
Noelle Ireland
Undergraduate Student
ATLAS

Alumni

Lillie Bahrami
Lillie Bahrami
BS, CTD–Creative Technology and Design '21
ATLAS
Zayna Sheik in front of a brick wall.
Zayna Sheikh
BS, CTD–Creative Technology and Design '22
ATLAS Institute / Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences
Dylan Turner stands in front of a brick wall.
Dylan Turner
Summer Intern • BS, CTD–Creative Technology and Design '21
ATLAS Institute

In the news

composite of images illustrating ctrl.alt.gdc winners
Four ATLAS teams selected for coveted GDC showcase

Jan. 19, 2022

Miniature cardboard arcades, ketchup and mustard bottle game controllers, physically mining for cryptocurrency and manic pizza, candy and gold stock trading over the phone: These are the concepts behind four games developed in CU Boulder's ATLAS Institute that have been selected to participate in alt.ctrl.GDC 2022, a coveted showcase of...

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Whaaat!? Festival returns from virtual wilderness

Oct. 6, 2021

ATLAS Institute's Whaaat!? Festival has returned from the virtual wilderness! Back in-person in November, the fourth annual event promises an arcade and conference packed with phenomenal guest speakers, bizarre games and experimental interactions.

Tracy Fullerton
Whaaat!? Festival offers video gamers a walk in the woods

Feb. 9, 2021

As part of the ATLAS Institute’s third annual Whaaat!? Festival, Tracy Fullerton, game designer and creator of the award-winning, "Walden, a game" will lead an interactive excursion into the world of nature and video games in an online talk on Feb. 24. Fullerton is a professor in the USC Games program at the University of Southern California and the director of the university's Game Innovation Lab.

What Festival banner advertising John Sharp
Whaaat!? Festival is on!

Sept. 22, 2020

ATLAS Institute’s third annual Whaaat!? Festival announces its second event, an Oct. 28 talk with John Sharp, author of "Works of Game." In place of the in-person, all-day annual event, the festival has switched to remote programming that will last throughout the academic year.

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