Toward the realization of interactive movies - inter communication theater: concept and system

A new type of media called 'interactive movies' is proposed which is realized by the integration of conventional media such as movies, telecommunications and video games. Interactive movies have the capability of creating a virtual world with various kinds of realistic/hyper-realistic scenes and computer characters. The 'Inter Communication Theater' metaphor gives people the ability to interact within this virtual world. Therefore, people can experience the stories of the virtual world through interactions with the characters and the environments of the world. In this paper, the basic concept of such a new medium is described, along with an experimental system we have developed.