Around 30 years ago, Choose Your Own Adventure books were all the rage. Today, Google has reinvigorated the concept by releasing "Spotlight Stories," an interactive feature that allows YouTube app users to immerse themselves in a story's plot, making choices that would determine the progression of the story's narrative, according to The Daily Mail.
The new 360-degree video storytelling feature was conceived through the help of Academy Award-winning studio, Aardman Animations, the makers of "Wallace and Gromit."
Titled "Special Delivery," the interactive video revolves around the escapades of a building custodian who is on the look out for a mysterious stranger in his building. Though the stranger remains out of sight all the time, he does leave behind a trail of gifts, reports Yahoo! Finance.
In order to completely immerse users into the story, "Spotlight Stories" makes use of a mobile device's sensors, essentially turning a smartphone or tablet into a direct window to a story that is unfolding all around the user.
Rachid El Guerrab, the technical project lead of the stories' development, described how "Spotlight Stories" work. "The sensors on your phone allow the story to be interactive, so when you move your phone to various scenes, you unlock mini-stories within the story," he said, according to Today Online.
Currently, "Special Delivery" features about 10 subplots and three different ways to watch the endings. There are also about 60 instances where viewers can follow the plot in a flexible manner.
Though the feature is currently limited to a select number of Android devices, a release for iOS devices is set for the following year.
For more business news, click here.
