Noted film director David Cronenberg (The Fly, A History of Violence) is set to have his movies be transformed into augmented reality video games. The idea comes from the Toronto International Film Festival. Organizers of the event are planning a retrospective of the Canadian filmmakers works titles “The Worlds of David Cronenberg.” The project is being developed as a multi-platform augmented reality game. The technology is becoming popular in the world of marketing, but its uses in gaming are being recognized as mold breaking.
Attendees of the festival will be able to participate in the game with their smart phones and other mobile devices. The game will be phased into the event through phases, which will guide attendees through the breadth of Cronenberg’s work. Through the game, attendees will be able to find behind-the-scenes footage of past films as well as mutate their friends with the deformations found in the film Videodrome, with the help of augmented reality. Those attending the festival will also be able to share their findings through various social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
This is not the first time augmented reality has bled into the world of film. Showtime’s popular dramedy Weeds used the technology for an online Facebook game. Game developers have shown great interest in the technology and its capabilities to produce dynamic content. The content produced by the technology can be useful for more than just games, of course, a fact that Hollywood may be becoming aware of.
