An Emulated Mind is a walking sim made in Unreal Engine 5 with the intent to confront the overwhelming emotions of grief and sense of lostness one feels after the deaths of those they care about. The project was spurred on by the passing of the creator's grandfather, Edward Alexander in April 2022, his close friend, Ethan Jones later the same year, and finally his father, James W. Barra in the Spring of 2023. The game tells the story of an unnamed protagonist, who, after losing their grandfather, inherits from him an A.I. emulation of his personality, kept within a cumbersome metal box. The game follows the protagonist and this device, referred to as the Emulation, throughout a planned three levels, as they converse and search for hidden data drives which are meant to help the Emulation become more alive.
The game is meant to address what is and is not preservation. When one dies, is it the things they have made that will survive them, or is it the memories and impact they have had on others?
The game was built using Unreal's blueprint coding system, which allows users to visualize programming by connecting blocks representing lines of code together with virtual cables.
The game was installed in MANA Contemporary Arts Center in Jersey City, NJ as a part of the Motus Mentis arts show hosted by Stevens Institute of Technology. For a total of three days, the game was open to be picked up and played by anybody who entered the gallery.