Customizable TV coming to a computer near you.
Customizable TV coming to a computer near you
Television shows will be made specially for viewers
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published Saturday December 15th, 2007
Imagine a TV show created especially for you. Actors, sets and props would be completely customized depending on factors like your age, gender, and location. Even the product placement would be tailor-made to suit you.
Online video game developer Kuma Games, in conjunction with the American Film Institute's Digital Content Lab, have developed such a storytelling device that merges instantaneous personalization with computer-generated filmmaking.
"With TV, this is simply impossible," says Kuma Games CEO Keith Halper. "You can't change things inside video. You can't change them the way that we do in video games and on websites. You can't measure their performance in real time. We're taking that stuff from video games and bringing it to TV."
At last month's AFI DigiFest 2007 in Los Angeles, Kuma Games unveiled PG and R-rated versions of Leaving the Game, an animated short film about a former assassin named Amber who attempts to land a more mundane job to pay the bills.
Unlike typical short films created with pre-existing video game engines, Leaving the Game allows Kuma Games to use special camera angles and dynamically swap out content like digital billboards, cars, cell phones and chunks of dialogue.
"Amber could be drinking a Coke in one scene," says Halper, "which could easily be changed to Pepsi or a beer later."
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