Glorianna Davenport

As cinema frees itself from the constraints of its inherently linear, celluloid base, a new 'meta-cinema' is emerging—a cinema that is an improvisational learning partner, inviting us to articulate new hypotheses, to share multi-point-of-view stories, and to engage in sociable interchange. My passion is to create the tools that make this emerging form of human expression accessible to all people.

Throughout history, story has continuously evolved, shaped by creative exploration, social need and desire, and technological innovation. An eon ago, I made stories for television—movies that were shared with a mass audience over a one-way channel. At the same time, I collaborated on theatrical productions that were constrained by the then-norms of professional artistic performance—live perfection defined in advance of presentation to a live audience in response to the technical constraints of the channel of presentation.

In the intervening years, I have held the belief that the next-generation media story would be more personal and more complex, as if in conversation with the audience. How to realize that "conversation" became the focus of our research.

Today, we are on the cusp of realizing a new channel for rich media communication; the channel is ad hoc, contextually aware, and supportive of the mobile and sociable nature of humans. The channel supports multi-viewpoint narrative, invites improvisational co-creation by the audience, and actively mediates a rich tapestry of learning potential.