'Choose Your Own Adventure' coming to CGV theaters with 'Interactive Cinema'

Audiences can now shape how a film unfolds through voice and emotional cues in a new screening format called “Interactive Cinema,” launched by CJ CGV and AI content company Aria Studios.

The picture shows an ″Interactive Cinema″ screening. [ARIA STUDIOS]

Audiences can now shape how a film unfolds through voice and emotional cues in a new screening format called “Interactive Cinema,” launched by CJ CGV and AI content company Aria Studios.

CJ CGV and Aria Studios said Tuesday that the format differs from traditional one-way viewing by integrating AI agent technology to let audience reactions shape the storyline in real time, offering a personalized and theater experience. Each viewer can experience a different narrative outcome based on their input.

The first release under the new format is a film with a title that translates roughly to "Interactive Sinbi Apartment: The Whisper of the Theater Ghost," based on the popular animated series "The Haunted House."

The story follows audience members and the character Shinbi as they work together to defeat a ghost in a movie theater.

Throughout the screening, viewers will be given multiple choices that affect how the story unfolds, and the scenario with the most votes will dictate what happens next. Every theatergoer will have a microphone that they can use to cast their vote, Aria Studios said.

Two additional titles are scheduled for release.

"Virtual Symphony: The First Note" features the virtual idol Moonbona in a concert-style film that blends animation and live performance, while "Apartment: In the Realm of Ripley" is a sci-fi thriller set in 2080 that puts the viewer in the role of a detective exploring a comatose boy’s memories to solve a cold case.

"We live in an age where content is automatically recommended based on personal preferences, but theaters remain places where shared reactions create special moments," Aria Studios CEO Chae Soo-eung said. "Interactive Cinema offers a new kind of viewing experience, where audience choices directly influence the storyline and people in the same space build the narrative together."

Interactive Cinema expands on existing technologies like ScreenX and 4DX and aims to position theaters as spaces for active storytelling.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]