Infomercial Brainstorming and Storyboard

Initial Ideas

As you can see from the above picture Amitabh, Martin, and I had a few different ideas, but we settled on a device that takes the way in which online human communications are mediated via AI algorithms and replicates it in the real world. We debated for a while what form we wanted this to take – either a consumer level device for facial recognition for emotion or an AI that determines political leanings. We tried to think of some funny scenarios in which this kind of device would be marketable but subtly ominous. I was reminded of a critical design piece an artist I met at a residency, Lark VCR, had created.

A first draft of the storyboard:

Storyboard

In the end we decided on an emotion detector device. The infomercial is framed by a spokesperson demonstrating the effectiveness of the device – [Empathy Lense working title] – by walking the viewer through several scenarios in which it is applicable. Each scenario will feature a before and after scene with voiceover by the spokesperson. No audio from the scenario will be audible, they will all be narrated by the spokesperson and the acting will be heavily exaggerated. The infomercial ends with several banal user testimonials.