Diana Monova, BEAR - an AR empowered story jigsaw

postgraduaat digital storytelling
Mentoren / Mentors:
Pieter Blomme
Azam Mazoumzadeh
Lucas Dewulf

Mecha, in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere. Rory’s summer is ruined. After rejecting her clingy teenage brother Danielcho, he disappears in the forest nearby their grandparents’ village, saying that he’ll be chasing a pink bear. And this while rumours of bear attacks are scaring the village!

Story intentions

I grew up in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Every kid in Sofia has grandparents who are part-time farmers and every kid spends at least one month in the summer in a village, chasing chicken and helping watering tomato plants. With “Bear” I want to explore the relationship of our generation with nature, the differences with our grandparents’ generation and the conflicts that may arise.

But most of all this is a coming of age story about two siblings looking for their relationship with their roots and with each other.

Form

“Bear” is a physical jigsaw puzzle with a hidden digital layer, which you can access through the augmented reality app Artivive. Piece together the snippets of the story – these could be testimonies, overheard conversations, a chat or some photos that the characters sent to each other. At the end these snippets will help you finish the puzzle and find the missing Danielcho.

This is the first prototype of “Bear”. The depth of the story and complexity of the puzzles will grow, but I hope this prototype gives you a taste of the experience.

Prototype photos

Voice acting: Navid Fayaz, Diana Monova

Playtesters: Xander Clerckx, Miguel Cipriano, Navid Fayaz, Larissa El Hage, Fiore Farhand, Lucas Dewulf, Joren Vandenbroucke, Stijn Grooten