Hasta La Gadget!

If you manage to make it to the back of the L.A. Convention Center, past all the bright flashing lights of the gigantic booths from Microsoft and Activision and Nintendo, you’ll find a small collective of independent game designers: folks like Diana Hughes. A recent USC grad, Hughes is showing off her MFA thesis, Pluff.

Pluff is a fuzzy little game controller–make him happy or annoy him and you’ll affect his on-screen digital counterpart. Pluff’s not available commercially, but Hughes is in talks with game developers about bringing him to market. His creator has also spoken to hospitals about how Pluff might be able to help kids with autism and other conditions.

You can check more Pluff over at Hughes’ home page.