About

We are a young research / interaction design lab based in Geneva, Switzerland. We love storytelling, new technologies, and interactivity. We are really happy to launch this crowdfunding campaign for IDNA, our first spatial storytelling series for mobile devices and VR helmets. It’s going to be fun, interesting, a lot of work and creativity, and a great social experience.

Imagine an animation film where the boundaries of the screen have magically disappeared. Where you are free to observe anywhere you want, be immersed literally in the middle of the action and influence it. A different way to think about storytelling and interactivity.

"An innovative and community engaging experience"

So why Kickstarter? Because we want to make this project for the community, with the community. IDNA’s storyworld is meant to evolve with your feedback. As a backer, you will have access to the project’s blog, where you’ll be able to contribute to the story. You could even become a part of the narrative itself by appearing as a character or having your name on one of our city scenes. An exclusive secret branch of the story will be made only for our backers to discover and enjoy.

IDNA is a new kind of storytelling experience at the crossing between an animation film, a choose-your-own-adventure book, and a video game. Each scene of the story is designed in 360 degrees; it's up to you to decide where to look, simply by moving your device around you. The narrative is never twice the same, as your focus will seamlessly influence the course of the story.

We are working on a massive non-linear script that will be populated by hundreds of different branches and subplots you’ll be exploring as the episodes go on. You and your neighbour will never end up at the same point in the story.

This idea opens up the vision of how a story unfolds, how you think about the rythm, the framing and the plot, and how you can make the experience more immersive by working the 3D audio and the interactive elements inside each scene. As you focus on these, a dynamic narrator guides you through the story. Depending on the time of day, the plot might be different and let you discover new things...

We are as passionate about our project that we are of designing awesome rewards we take care in creating for you. No detail is left out. Here is the list of some awesome gifts we have prepared to make you part of the IDNA experience! Some more surprises might add up along the way...

A groovy IDNA backer or apelab T-Shirt

A swiss chocolate bar wrapped in a special IDNA packaging

(there is one golden ticket hidden in 3 of them, which contains a surprise!)

The IDNA: Episode 1 Art Book

An Art Book of the first episode filled with original sketches, concept art, storyboards, original photos, awesome secrets and anecdotes. The Art Book will be available in various formats:

Digital Edition

Paperback Edition

Limited Hardcover Edition signed by the Ape Team

An Exclusive Interactive Edition that will mix the digital and the physical world for a brand new narrative experimentation

A 360° panoramic poster (unframed)

A framed original drawing

A set of notebooks

An Oculus Rift version of the IDNA prototype

A typical swiss day with us at the studio and off to the mountain carnotzet!

In 2020, a pharmaceutical research center called IDNA invented a new way to carry digital files through DNA molecules. The firm put together the first biological hard drive system directly embedded into the users DNA.

In 2040, a sudden climate change provoked an unprecedented destruction of the Earth’s surface. Populations have been scattered around the globe, many families have been separated. Some people formed small communities, while big agglomerations have been reconstructed into cities.

The first episode starts in Land 52, whose community has been in hiding for about 50 years after the Earth’s dislocation. They decided to stay away from the rescue missions and live in auto sufficiency. Eventually, when one of the rescue mission soldier is captured by the council, an adventurous little boy decides to leave behind his deceitful life...

We get inspired by what we love: science-fiction and fantasy, adventure games, animation films... Just to name a few of our favourite movies: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Blade Runner, V for Vendetta, Children of Men, Gattaca.

The series is planned in 6 episodes, each of them requiring specific technical and creative talents. A team of about 10 designers and developers has been put together to work on the project. To have a fluent navigation through each scene and produce every branch in the plot means a lot of work: the script, the hand-drawings, the animations, the development, the integration and the dynamic 3D sound. This is why most of our team members are proficient in terms of art and in terms of technic.

Funding will help the series to be realized at its best: the more we get, the more episodes we can produce and the more exciting the adventure will be! You will be able to explore more branches and environments of IDNA’s dystopian world.

Our first goal will be the release of a free interactive prologue of IDNA on iOS (iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch). This app will be released when we reach the $30,000 bar. We want everyone to be able to experience spatial storytelling, that’s why we plan to adapt IDNA to more mobile platforms in the future: Android, Windows Mobile, and basically every tablet and smartphone system available. We also plan to adapt it to VR (virtual reality) systems, with the Oculus Rift and other devices when they become available. Our ultimate goal is to be able to expand the story beyond the first episode, and create the entire first season (6 episodes).

We are also working on an amazing interactive manual that will be connected to the application. This manual will give another dimension to the story and expend the experience. As it will be an innovation in itself, we can't guarantee the production of this book until the $250,000 strech goal has been reached. We hope it will!

We already have a fully-functional prototype, both for iOS and the Oculus Rift. It had already been shown at several exhibits: the Tokyo Game Show and The X Media Lab in Switzerland in 2013, and recently at Lift in Geneva. It did receive incredible reviews. Its plot is linked to the overall storyline of IDNA. Since then, we improved the concept by adding more interactivity and dynamic elements: more animations, better sound design, an evolving visual and sound narrative in real-time. This prototype was crucial to forge apelab’s spatial storytelling, to learn the tools and optimize our workflow, and ultimately to build a strong starting point for the development of the IDNA series. The prototype was created at the HEAD-Geneva university.

We deeply believe in this project also because the prototype has been such a success. Created between 2010 and 2012 with a lot of hard work and will, it’s been rewarding to see how the press and the professionals saw the future in this creation. This also drives us to produce the best film possible so that you can try it!

Based in LA, Mannix has studied at the Los Angeles Film School. He produced his own mobile game company and participated in "Tomb Raider - A Survivor is Born" or "Tom Clancy’s - Ghost Recon" trailers. He manages the IDNA project from the U.S and collaborates with apelab in the creation and organization of the project.

www.etappolet.com / @apelab_ch

Swiss Designer and co-founder of apelab, Emilie Tappolet has graduated from the Master Media Design – HEAD Geneva in 2012. Her research focuses on playful scenarios pushing the boundaries between the virtual and the physical worlds. Interested in research by design, she creates numerous prototypes exploring the future of storytelling. Her installations have been featured in several exhibitions such as the House of Switzerland for the 2012 Olympic Games, the MUDAC in Lausanne, the Playtime exhibition at Maison d'Ailleurs, and the swissnex exhibition at GDC.

www.syljoly.com / @syljoly

Interaction designer and co-founder of apelab, Sylvain Joly studied illustration, comics and animation. Passionate about movies, video games and new technologies, he specializes in the search for new forms of storytelling in interactive areas, and the relationship between users and their avatars. He is the creative behind the IDNA spatial storytelling project and recently presented Radioactive Rail at Eniarof Festival in France.

www.mariamari-a.com / @mariamaria_b

Interaction designer and co-founder of apelab, Maria Beltran studied Product Design at ECAL and Media Design at HEAD Geneva. She is interested in the close relationship between the physical and the digital, and new behaviors and objects that can merge from it. She worked on the Geek Run project presented at Gamescom this year and is in charge of physical computing and project communication.

We work in close relationship with Aprobado Studio regarding development and spatialized sound design. Check them out on:

www.aprobado.ch