As detective Dev enters the scene of a murder, his eyes scrunch up in consternation. It is right at this moment that you enter the story. The screen instructs you to look for evidence, by scanning every nook and corner of the room. You find spilt coffee, a bloodied knife, and a suicide note. You are now knee-deep in a murder mystery, and are perhaps the most pivotal cog in helping solve this . Positioned at the sweet spot between gaming and interactive content, this is how Who Killed Kavitha?, an AR-built interactive gamified experience, lets the audience propel a fictional storyline.
This murder mystery is one of many such interactive fictional narratives that a user can make their way through, in Chennai-based Asiaville Interactive’s app, AyeVee. Called AIGE (AyeVee Interactive and Gamified Experience), the project was launched at IIT-M Research Park last weekend, at a gaming event held in collaboration with the Esports Authority of Tamil Nadu, (ESAT) which saw participation from colleges in the city.
A still from one of the shows | Photo Credit: special arrangement
The app is one of the three components, apart from a digital content wing and an OTT arm that make media-tech startup Asiaville, that launched five years back. “AyeVee was launched two years ago , and the idea was to have an owned audience, as opposed to an earned audience. We wanted to create a customised, special experience for the users that we can control,” says Tuhin Menon, co-founder and chief executive officer of Asiaville Interactive.
What started as a short video app, evolved into a live streaming platform with growing engagement. But a significant pivot came around September last year , when they ran an experiment with a gamified live stream.
Tuhin says , “A gamified live, has basic interactivity built into the live, where they play basic social games with the audience, like trivia, polls, and emoji-based games. We have an in-house team of creators in Tamil and Malayalam, who would go live with a gamified interaction with the audience.”
Another experiment was a scripted live where they streamed a murder mystery, which had their in-house team play characters, with multiple choices cropping up through the live. The characters would choose the narrative that the audience picked. “We found that the engagement went through the roof.” On the heels of this success, the team started creating “always-on” experiences on the app, that users can play as a show.
A still from Let Me Out | Photo Credit: special arrangement
This is how AIGE came to be. “This is content married with interactivity and gaming. When a user is watching the content, the user has the option of interacting with it, and they are playing a series of games to get through the narrative. It is all part of a seamless show.” What makes this experience different from a classic interactive show like Netflix’s Bandersnatch, or , is that the addition of a gamified element in the narrative rather than a mere choice between option a and option b.
The app, at the moment, houses two shows that are AR-enabled, 360-degree experiences, launched in mid-May: a murder mystery in Tamil titled Who Killed Kavitha? and a survival drama in Malayalam titled Let Me Out; both with English subtitles. A horror and diamond heist show in Malayalam is also in the works.
What goes into the choice of content deemed fit for gamification? Tuhin explains, “The story has to be gripping with a fast-paced narrative. There are only so many genres where the user can actually have the gratification of being involved, and a murder mystery is the ideal scenario for that. The interactive options are all pre-programmed, each branch of narrative is shot separately.” In Let Me Out, the idea was to leverage challenge-based gaming. “In a nutshell, Squid Game marries Jumanji,” adds Tuhin.
Data shows that an average user spends 50 minutes per day on the app and over 40 percent of users complete both shows in one sitting. “This actually proves that language becomes secondary to the format.” For now, the experience is suited best for smartphones and tablets, in both iOS and Android.
“With the base layer of interactivity and gamification, there are no genre limitations,” concludes Tuhin.
AyeVee app can be found on Google PlayStore and Apple Store.
Students participate at AIGE (AyeVee Interactive and Gamified Experience) inter- collegiate gaming competition at IIT Madras Research Park in Taramani | Photo Credit: VELANKANNI RAJ B
Published - September 05, 2024 12:09 pm IST
