Intergalactic Summit

From Caille Catwalk, August 114YC Issue

Holo-Entertainment Trends: Identity Insertion
by Piri Pappotte

As teenager Reini Sofraun settles into her family HoloVision with her school mates, the lights dim in anticipation of Escape from Rouvenour, one of this summer’s blockbuster reels. But as the film opens with a panoramic of the underwater city, the first figure to make an appearance is not the chiseled face of Tarr Pleiades in his lead role in the film. Rather, it is the gangly and befreckled Reini herself, delivering Pleiades’ hard-bitten lines complete with trademark squint.

Did middle schooler Reini Sofraun become a holoreel starlet overnight?

“We call it identity insertion,” explains Impetus technical director Cyenne Mbadi. “It’s as simple as making a full-body holo-recording of yourself and uploading it to our databases. A helpful team of quasi-AIs then use our streamlined holo-editing software suite to map your appearance onto any character of your choice.”

“It’s a little thrilling,” beamed Reini as she watches herself pilot a hovercar while dodging small arms fire from a team of villainous saboteurs. “The film feels more personal.” Reini Sofraun joins millions of viewers tuning in to modified holoreels this weekend, and Impetus is said to have contracted external databases and supercomputers to handle the demand.

University of Caille professor Terrance Duvalle, author of the book "Anthropomorphic Biases in the Infomorph Age," finds the popularity of Identity Insertion unsurprising. “The process of identifying with the protagonist is inherent in the reader’s engagement with the story,” the professor observes. “You can see this in the way children react to and internalize the stories they enjoy. Long after the story is over, they appropriate the narrative by pretending to be the hero. Identity Insertion takes advantage of this appeal.”

Of course, becoming the hero isn’t the only use of Identity Insertion. Impetus has seen modification and download requests from genres ranging from Romantic Comedy to Political Thriller. “Who wouldn’t want to see their adolescent self co-starring with Anette Inhonores?” asks Professor Duvalle.

While some actors have expressed concern at the effect this trend will have on the industry, others are more optimistic. Tarr Pleiades himself says, “The top tier holo-actors these days are already expected to go through flesh-sculpting and multiple focus-group reaction panels when fashioning a look for any given reel. If viewers start personalizing their films more, perhaps we wouldn’t be under so much pressure to appeal to the widest audience possible.”

Mme Mbadi adds, “The actor is still very much needed. While we can map features onto a given character and modulate that character’s voice, we still rely on the actor’s original gestures, inflection, facial expressions and so on. That basic realization of a character is difficult to synthesize.”

Identity Insertion has already been used in ways not contemplated by the original developers. Privacy concerns have been raised with the Caille Civil Liberties Union after a spate of individuals found themselves starring in other peoples’ modified holoreels.

CCLU representative Yvor Tormaund explains, “The most frequent complaints we’re getting so far are from individuals who have been publicly recorded in various holo-broadcasts, and who are seeing that data used in Identity Insertion. One example that stands out is a rather unpopular middle manager who ended up inserted as the villain in holoreel viewings of at least two dozen of his employees.”

The trend has gone political as well. Heuromont City Councilor Abdel Graham found himself in an unexpected film debut, when a local HoloVision theater inserted his image into Palace of Kings, a historical drama featuring the corruption and debauchery of AD 21835. For his part, Councilor Graham treated the news with good humor, “I think I looked absolutely dashing in Garoun robes.”

Impetus is already moving to capitalize on this trend. Their public quarterly business plan includes mention of Identity Insertion support, not just in major holoreel productions, but in regular broadcast series. Viewers of Intaki Shores can look forward to inserting themselves and their friends into the comedic antics of the borderline reality-show serial.


About: Caille Catwalk is a monthly periodical featuring lifestyle articles on the fashions, trends, and fads coming out of Caille, the city of wonders. Published throughout the greater Federation, select articles will now be made available over GalNet feeds.

So, by this logic, the Caldari are so busy sipping kresh tea and meditating over some archaic religion of an extinct empire from thousands of years ago, that their military can't possibly pump out the most ruthless soldiers in all New Eden.

Anyway, the above is just the usual trend for this month or year. Might be a fickle Federation, but at least it's not static.

Insertion is cool.

And no! Not like that! You pervert you!