Australian ABC launches internet-only reality game called Project Bluebird!

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has launched its first internet-only alternate reality drama. Bluebird AR is a new way of experiencing drama as it unfolds in real-time across the internet. You're invited to engage with this drama, either by involving yourself in the events or watching as they unfold - the level of commitment is entirely up to you.

Alternate reality narratives such as Bluebird involve a fictional scenario that occurs and is played out against a backdrop of real world activity.

The events and characters in the story are entirely fictional but they interact with reality online, including existing social media spaces and through websites created by the ABC.

For more information on alternate reality games (ARG), click here.

Why is the ABC doing this?

Just as Literature, Radio, Television and Cinema offer well established mediums for drama, Online is reaching a level of maturity as a medium to offer its own compelling stories. But with a new language that involves interaction, reactivity and scenario-game play, alongside the more traditional languages of storytelling.

Experiencing Bluebird AR

The story of Bluebird involves a great deal of reality, and whilst the events and characters remain fictional, much of the basis for and resources used to reveal the plot, are grounded in the real world. The medium of Online is ideally suited to drama that plays out in this way, and it offers its audience the opportunity to lean in and interact, or watch as the drama unfolds in response to the interaction.

As the story plays out over the coming days and weeks, you'll be able to easily stay across events without ever coming back to this site - it's as easy as starting a new web search. However, after the story concludes, you'll still be able to experience all the content here as well as special features of the production. But you can also check back here anytime whilst the story is live to discover the best ways to play and explore Bluebird.

For now, the prelude to the story has already begun in the life of Juanita Monte, an independent film maker based in Sydney, Australia. You can visit her site now at nowicanchangetheworld.com.au.