Innovative Experiential Viewing 'Interactive Cinema' Launch by CGV and Confirmation of 3 Releases!

A new technology special theater that will lead the new value of movie viewing is being born. 'Interactive Cinema', a collaboration between Aria Studio and CJ CGV, is an audience experience-oriented content that transcends the existing theater viewing experience. Utilizing AI agent technology, the format of screening changes according to voice or emotional responses, providing an immersive viewing experience where the audience actively participates in the flow of content, surpassing the traditional one-way viewing structure. It offers a new innovation in that each participating audience member can have a different viewing experience.

Aria Studio is an AI-based entertainment company that incorporates audience participation content using AI technology across various genres, presenting a diverse range of choices to the audience. Starting with the animated film 〈Interactive Mystery Apartment: Whispers of the Theater Ghost〉, the virtual live cinema 〈Virtual Symphony: The First Note〉 (hereafter referred to as Virtual Symphony), and the thriller 〈Apartment: Ripley's World〉 will successively hit the screen. With a screening format that goes beyond existing technology special theaters like SCREENX and 4DX, expectations for 'Interactive Cinema', which has infinite expansion possibilities beyond genre boundaries, are further ignited.

The first to debut, the theatrical version of 〈Interactive Mystery Apartment: Whispers of the Theater Ghost〉, incorporates the 'Interactive Cinema' format into the popular domestic children's animation 〈Mystery Apartment〉. The story involves the theater ghost, a ghost in the cinema, being defeated by the goblin Mystery and the audience together, raising anticipation for how this new dimension of experience will resonate with child audiences beyond age limits.

Virtual Live in Cinema [Virtual Symphony] provides a fresh experience to the audience as the daily life and stage of virtual idol Moonbona intersect. Moonbona is a new virtual artist with unique visuals and a world view, possessing both vocal ability and performance. After holding a showcase in theaters in June, which was unprecedented for a virtual idol, the next meeting with fans is highly anticipated. In particular, this 〈Virtual Symphony〉 allows audiences to enjoy both performance and storytelling by animating the world view and narrative in which Moonbona lives, raising further expectations. An Aria Studio representative stated, “This performance will confirm that Moonbona is expanding beyond a simple virtual character into a world view IP,” and added, “We plan to gift fans a new experience with a hybrid concert that combines stage and video.” Meanwhile, 〈Virtual Symphony〉 is expected to be recorded as the first official fan event that strengthens the emotional connection between fans and Moonbona.

〈Apartment: Ripley's World〉 is an interactive thriller film set in 2080, where the memory preservation system 'Mind Upload' has been commercialized. It follows a detective who enters the memories of a boy in a coma, the only witness to an unsolved murder case that occurred in 2009, to uncover clues while experiencing the 'Ripley Syndrome' phenomenon, delving into the truth beyond the boy's distorted memories. 〈Apartment: Ripley's World〉 is a work that has garnered attention on the international stage after director Chae Soo-ung showcased next-generation narrative technology, returning to the Venice Film Festival after six years, and has received praise and acclaim for being designed as an interactive film that allows the audience to enter the boy's memories to find the true culprit and choose the truth.

Chae Soo-ung, the representative of Aria Studio, stated, “We live in an era where content is automatically recommended based on personal preferences, but theaters are still places where collective reactions create special moments. 'Interactive Cinema' is a new way of viewing where the audience's choices are reflected in the actual development, and multiple people complete the story together in one space. I hope you enjoy the fun created by direct participation and the vivid immersion that can only be felt in theaters.” This has captured the attention of prospective audiences. As the rapidly changing content consumption methods align with the new dimension of fun and unique experiences that 'Interactive Cinema' will bring to the theater market, all eyes are on what new winds it will bring.

'Interactive Cinema' will successively present new theater experiences to audiences, starting with 〈Interactive Mystery Apartment: Whispers of the Theater Ghost〉, followed by Virtual Live in Cinema 〈Virtual Symphony: The First Note〉, and 〈Apartment: Ripley's World〉.