How might 3D printers be used as a component of a transmedia storytelling campaign?

For this project, my team at the Annenberg Innovation Lab worked with FOX Broadcasting and BC "Heavy" Biermann to explore how we could build a transmedia storytelling experience for Sleepy Hollow using a 3d printer like the Makerbot Replicator.

In the prototype we built, we imagined that audiences could experience a show and receive a 'token' or some tangible printable artifact upon watching the content. These physical pieces could be collector's items reserved only for fans who actually watched the show, and fans could be further incentivized to print tokens by using webcams, Kinect or other forms of machine vision to visually recognize the printed token and unlock additional content.

In this prototype, audiences begin their experience by watching an episode of a TV show (FOX's Sleepy Hollow) and are prompted to download and 3D-print one or more pieces of a puzzle. In a social viewing context, each member of a group might be provided a code for a different piece. When all of these pieces have been printed, correctly assembled and shown to a camera via a mobile app, a new piece of video content is displayed via augmented reality.

The Tangible Storytelling project had its first public showing at the Innovation Lab's 2014 Evening of Innovation on April 23, 2014.

(Note: this prototype came out of the AIL's Autumn 2013 Think & Do: Re-Envisioning the Home Entertainment Experience.)