Sydney to unveil new 3D, AI cinema experience

Scenario, the world’s first 360-degree 3D Artificially Intelligent (AI) cinematic experience, will premiere in Sydney in June 2011.

The festival (June 8-19) will allow five participants per session to enter the world of the humanoid Elizabeth K and her four children as they navigate through a series of subterranean spaces to escape imprisonment and death.

Adapted from events surrounding the infamous Fritzl case in Austria where a man kept his daughter in a bunker for several decades, the film invites the audience to help the family on their journey and embark on an immersive film experience where no two screenings will be the same. Aside from 3D animation, the film will also introduce characters with artificial intelligence, so both the audience and characters are involved with the creation of the story.

Scenario reveals a striking change in what cinema can be. Rather than being solely based upon what the audience thinks and believes, the characters on screen can now portray their thoughts and beliefs through cinema as they interact with their audience.

Dennis Del Favero, Scenario director, said, “Two decades ago, if I had described Facebook, you wouldn’t have believed it. You would have thought: ‘how is that possible?’ But now it’s increasingly becoming our public forum, where we meet and interact. It could potentially be the same with AI cinema. The future could very well surprise us.”

Funded by the Australian Research Council, the project is the result of collaboration with Del Favero, screenwriter Stephen Sewell, AI scientist Maurice Pagnucco and a multidisciplinary team at the iCinema Research Centre, University of New South Wales.