Immersive technologies like augmented reality, mixed reality and virtual reality have been subjects of interest to entrepreneurs for long. But today we are discussing not about immersive technologies but interactive content. A new era of start-ups are sprouting up which are not using these technologies but rather building content in a way that the user feels a part of the story-telling.
Ever since Netflix’s Black Mirror Bandersnatch became a sensation, content experts have been wondering whether this is the future of content! This has been a first ever immersive series where people made choices of what the protagonist should do.
What is interactive content?
Interactive content is typically where the audience also feels part of the stories being told. Some US apps like Episodes and Choices are today among the top grossing apps on Google Playstore. In these apps, a user starts by choosing the character, deciding his/her name, gender, hairstyle, outfits etc and then playing the story as the character. The character is often presented with different situations and the story moves forward based on the response.
In Bandersnatch also, the audience gets to make different choices and the story of the protagonist proceeds accordingly. Whether you want him/her to choose the job or not, what music you want to listen and so on and so forth. On that note, in fact a Bear Grylls Survival Series is also expected to be a similar interactive web-series.
What does it mean for start-ups?
This has paved way for many budding start-ups that are building on interactive content. Content investors and evangelists have been on lookout for such ventures that are building content in which a viewer is not just an audience but also a participant. This is a unique way of gamification of the content. One can now imagine a future where many web series and even movies will have interactive content, wherein the user will make choices and decide the story flow.
There may be multiple adventures and endings awaiting. As of now, mostly romance as a genre has been explored on apps in the interactive content. Other genres like horror, superheroes etc are yet to be fully explored. This technique finds a great application in not just video content but also for comic books and novels and other story-telling formats. Previously there have been books which had multiple endings but it was cumbersome to include lot of endings in just one small book. But, when it comes to content on internet, that problem is resolved.
Here’s looking forward to exciting times for content start-ups ahead!
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