Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Entertainment |
Founded | Massachusetts, United States (2013) |
Headquarters | Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
Website | ear-play.com |
Earplay is an entertainment startup from Boston, MA that produces interactive audio stories. The Earplay library, accessible from voice platforms such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant as well as a standalone iOS app, consists of interactive audio narratives released in chapters. The primary form of interaction is voicing the player character's decisions at predetermined points, and the story branches towards a number of different outcomes accordingly [1].
Xconomy described the medium as "a cross between radio dramas of the early 20th century, ' Choose Your Own Adventure' books, and new voice recognition technologies." [2] Fast Company and the Amazon Developers Blog both credit Earplay as the first platform to turn broadcast audio, a traditionally one-way medium, into an immersive and responsive entertainment format. [3] [4]
Earplays are accessible to the blind and visually impaired, as its virtual assistant platforms are voice-operated and the iOS app is compatible with VoiceOver. [5] The user experience involves both audio engineering and directed voice acting, and the stories are developed in collaboration with script writers and intellectual property owners. [6]
Earplay was first co-founded as Reactive Studios in May 2013 by Jon Myers (CEO), Bruno Batarelo (CTO), and Matthew Albrecht, a shareholder and advisor [2]. The prototype for an interactive radio drama dubbed "Codename Cygnus" was unveiled at the Game Developers Conference in March 2013, [4] followed by a Kickstarter campaign that raised $13,943 on its $11,000 target. [7] With the funds for professional sound effects, technology licenses, and necessary plug-ins, Cygnus was released as a standalone application for Android and iOS that September at PAX Prime. [3]
Dave Grossman, known for his work at Telltale Games, was hired in 2014 as Chief Creative Officer to expand upon the medium of voice-activated storytelling. [8] The company went on to participate in the 2015 MassChallenge startup accelerator with the goal of developing a cross-platform library for interactive audio stories. [9] The accompanying change in name to "Earplay" reflected their new focus, and is a derivative of the radio drama series broadcast on NPR between 1972 and the 1990s.
The first edition of the Earplay app, which supported multiple demo-length stories and a content creation pipeline, was released in August 2016. [4] August also saw the release of an Earplay "skill," a voice app for the Amazon Alexa platform. [10]
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Entertainment |
Founded | Massachusetts, United States (2013) |
Headquarters | Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
Website | ear-play.com |
Earplay is an entertainment startup from Boston, MA that produces interactive audio stories. The Earplay library, accessible from voice platforms such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant as well as a standalone iOS app, consists of interactive audio narratives released in chapters. The primary form of interaction is voicing the player character's decisions at predetermined points, and the story branches towards a number of different outcomes accordingly [1].
Xconomy described the medium as "a cross between radio dramas of the early 20th century, ' Choose Your Own Adventure' books, and new voice recognition technologies." [2] Fast Company and the Amazon Developers Blog both credit Earplay as the first platform to turn broadcast audio, a traditionally one-way medium, into an immersive and responsive entertainment format. [3] [4]
Earplays are accessible to the blind and visually impaired, as its virtual assistant platforms are voice-operated and the iOS app is compatible with VoiceOver. [5] The user experience involves both audio engineering and directed voice acting, and the stories are developed in collaboration with script writers and intellectual property owners. [6]
Earplay was first co-founded as Reactive Studios in May 2013 by Jon Myers (CEO), Bruno Batarelo (CTO), and Matthew Albrecht, a shareholder and advisor [2]. The prototype for an interactive radio drama dubbed "Codename Cygnus" was unveiled at the Game Developers Conference in March 2013, [4] followed by a Kickstarter campaign that raised $13,943 on its $11,000 target. [7] With the funds for professional sound effects, technology licenses, and necessary plug-ins, Cygnus was released as a standalone application for Android and iOS that September at PAX Prime. [3]
Dave Grossman, known for his work at Telltale Games, was hired in 2014 as Chief Creative Officer to expand upon the medium of voice-activated storytelling. [8] The company went on to participate in the 2015 MassChallenge startup accelerator with the goal of developing a cross-platform library for interactive audio stories. [9] The accompanying change in name to "Earplay" reflected their new focus, and is a derivative of the radio drama series broadcast on NPR between 1972 and the 1990s.
The first edition of the Earplay app, which supported multiple demo-length stories and a content creation pipeline, was released in August 2016. [4] August also saw the release of an Earplay "skill," a voice app for the Amazon Alexa platform. [10]