User:Dawnhlou/Modern polaxis

Modern Polaxis is an Augmented Reality comic book created by Webby award winning interactive comic artist, Stu Campbell known as Sutu. The comic is paired with an iPhone/iPad app which in conjunction with the comic brings to life 50 pages of audio visual content. The comic brings together cutting edge app design with interactive storytelling and creativity.

Story Modern Polaxis tells the story of a time traveller. Polaxis has a journal in which he writes about all his peculiar experiences. His experiences aren’t limited to the everyday, he keeps a secret layer of augmented reality in which he hides his paranoid delusions and conspiracy theories. His belief is that the world is a holographic projection from another universal plane. The projection, known as Intafrag, is patrolled by Intafrag agents. The agents of the Intafrag spend their time pursuing time travelling fugitives and monitoring glitches. At the heart of Polaxis’ delusion is the belief that he is one of these fugitives being pursued, but he cannot prove his case due to the fact his previous experience of time travel occurred when he was wasted. But Polaxis knows he must hurry, with his belief that the fabric of our reality is merely a flickering light that could disappear if someone or something turned the light off?

Format Modern Polaxis is a dual concept, the comic book works alongside the Polaxis app. Readers can use their smart phones (iPhone or iPad) and unlock the augmented reality layer of the journal to discover what really lies beneath. The reader can discover more about Polaxis’ paranoia and suspicions and decide if they believe him, or if perhaps he is just mad. Modern Polaxis has an immersive soundscape for every page of the comic, bringing an audio visual experience to life. Sound designer Lhasa Mencur collaborated with Campbell on the project, bringing original soundscapes to over 40 pages of content. Lhasa’s reputation in the area is strong, with an accomplished background in electronica and also sound experiences for video games.

BOOMCORE Technology The comic functions on Augmented Reality Technology, which is built on the back of BOOMCORE technology. Interactive designer Lucasz Karluk and Campbell collaborated to develop BOOMCORE, which is used to create animation and interactive digital content. Image recognition, keyed to specific panels in the printed book, works along with real time animation mapping, bringing the panels to life. The technology has been used to produce over 20 episodes of content over 4 different story franchises, including Campbell’s NAWLZ and NEOMAD. The ongoing investment and development of the BOOMCORE framework will no doubt bring about even more advancement and innovation for future works.

Reception Modern Polaxis began its journey as a concept which was turned into a tangible product through a crowd funded Kickstarter campaign. It has been argued that the power of Kickstarter brings products straight to their key audience and is the inherent supply and demand. Modern Polaxis was funded, effectively and with aplomb with comic book fans keen to get on board. At the end of the campaign 139 backers had pledged $11, 942 AUS to bring the project to life, nearly $3,000 over the campaign target. Technology from the game went viral, when creator Campbell’s video of the software being used on his tattoo reached millions of viewers, causing news outlets worldwide to pick up the story. The tattoo was an image from the comic book, and the medium of the illustration on skin didn’t hinder the AR technology causing the app to animate the tattoo as it would the comic book. The video brought new interest and fans to the book, bringing the project to an even wider and non-specialist audience.