We鈥檙e really excited to announce a project we鈥檝e been working on for a while: an original interactive audio drama pilot for voice devices, made in collaboration with Rosina Sound.
There鈥檚 a few reasons we鈥檙e excited!First, the story and production are great! team have an excellent track record between them, and have done a cracking job of creating the audio for the piece. The story not only works well as a piece of interactive fiction, but also is an entertaining listen in its own right (and has some great jokes). The project took shape collaboratively between R&D and Rosina Sound - together, we listened to existing interactive audio stories and, taking inspiration from computer games like The Stanley Parable and Papa Sangre and authors like Franz Kafka and Douglas Adams, the piece evolved into a comedy science fiction audio drama.
Second, we鈥檙e trying out a new way to interact with a story. We鈥檝e seen a lot of examples of interactive audio stories which operate like a Choose Your Own Adventure book - short chunks followed by a choice: would you like to go down the stairs or through the door? We don鈥檛 think this works particularly well for entertainment - it takes you out of the moment and forces you to step back and consider your choice at a level of remove from the story and in the context of all the other choices you鈥檝e made. In this pilot, you鈥檙e actively playing a part in the story, using your own voice - we wanted to make it feel like you鈥檙e having a genuine, direct interaction with the other characters in the piece. We haven鈥檛 come across any other interactive stories like this on voice devices, and we鈥檙e excited to see how people respond to it.
- Is this what is felt like when the first radio show fired out across the airwaves? The 成人快手 has been on the forefront of entertainment technology since it first embraced radio way back in 1927. Now it鈥檚 making another hugely significant jump with a show that involves the listener interacting thanks to the Alexa AI.
Third, we鈥檝e built a story engine which allows us to release the same story across different voice devices. We鈥檒l be releasing for and to start off with, but we鈥檝e got the potential to add to that roster of devices and it鈥檒l be interesting to see if we could get it on to, for example, , or and other devices as they come along. As far as we know, there aren鈥檛 many people developing cross-platform voice experiences in this way.Update, November 2017: We've now released the pilot on for Amazon Alexa devices.
Credits成人快手 R&DHenry Cooke - ProducerBarbara Zambrini - ProducerAntony Onumonu - DeveloperTom Howe - DeveloperAndrew Wood - User ExperienceJoanne Moore - User ExperienceRosina SoundNicky Birch - Executive ProducerTim Wright - WriterJoby Waldman - DirectorBen & Max Ringham - Sound DesignFeaturingAmelia Bullmore as KayeTom Bennett as JosefLaurel Lefkow as DAVE
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- 成人快手 R&D - The Unfortunates: Interacting with an Audio Story for Smart Speakers
- 成人快手 R&D - Singing with Machines
- 成人快手 R&D - Better Radio Experiences
- 成人快手 R&D - Responsive Radio
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The Internet Research and Future Services section is an interdisciplinary team of researchers, technologists, designers, and data scientists who carry out original research to solve problems for the 成人快手. Our work focuses on the intersection of audience needs and public service values, with digital media and machine learning. We develop research insights, prototypes and systems using experimental approaches and emerging technologies.