I blog a lot about how a transmedia approach to narrative can be a great way for content creators to immerse their audiences in entertainment experiences. But this week I saw TWO THINGS that made me think less about transmedia narrative extensions, and more about the simple act of sitting on a couch and watching a screen. What I saw has me believing that in-home experiences rivaling the Holodeck of Star Trek, and the Metaverse of Snow Crash are just a couple of years away.
The FIRST thing I saw was a 103" Panasonic Plasma TV running a demo of 3D content. The quality of that image was staggering. A Disney movie, some footage of the Olympics in China, a trip to the Grand Canyon, a music video with a CGI background. All of it was good enough to take me one step closer to being there. Off angle viewing is no problem with this tech. Yeah you still need to where the glasses -- but they're clear and comfortable. It's a similar setup to watching a DREAMWORKS 3D movie in IMAX theaters, or that U2 concert flick that was making the rounds. But this was in a home setting, running on a modified BluRay player designed for consumers. And there was nothing special about the TV (Other than it was 103" inches!). By Q1 2010 these things will be available to the public. Wow. That's crazy. A high level 3D experience in your house that doesn't require you to buy a new television? 72 hours ago -- I would've thought that statement absurd.
The SECOND thing I looked at was FAR CRY 2 on my XBOX 360. I used my HD projector to put this thing up on my big screen at 720P -- getting an image that is 140" inches diagonally. The experience I had playing through the intro and first few levels of that game was crazy immersive. The game takes place in war torn Africa and Ubisoft has done an impeccable job replicating the scenery and sounds of that beautiful and deadly environment.
It wasn't hard to imagine 3D TV and NEXT GENERATION GAMING coming together to blow the doors off home entertainment. That's no great revelation. It's talked about all the time. But these two elements aren't theoretical -- they're here. And with the way tech innovation is accelerating and Hollywood is scrambling to hold onto its audience -- I give it two years or less before this kind of experience is ready to replace prime time in the home.
P.S. -- I just read somewhere that nobody pays for PORN anymore. There is just too much free porn on the net that it doesn't make sense to pay for it. Does that mean porn will be transitioning to an entertainment model that is more experience based? Media biz pundits like to say that porn leads the way for the mainstream entertainment business. If that's true -- what will they do with 3D TV? Yikes.
3D TV sets and porn, yes, that should be a bit of a messy future. But I am glad you praise the beauty of HD projectors, as I just decided to engage in counter-cyclic comsumption and get a Toshiba one. I expect that the prospect of immersive experience possible through home entertainment systems will actually affect the narrative: movies have been developed for cinematic experience, console games for tv size. I expect the graphics and interface to change once authors start taking the new usuage situation into account. WII is doing it, but yet clumsily, I find.
Jim Cameron has been silently crusading for 3D TV sets for years. Of all the meetings at Microsoft Research he spent the longest talking about the potential of 3D monitors not just for narratives but medical technology, etc. Jim has brilliant used the advancement of monitor technology and home theater systems to push exhibitors into retro-fitting their theaters with 3D technology. Go see Bolt, the future is here.