Leading with questions… but what is the question?

2Q=0: The results of testing your reality

An experiment presented by www.2KYU.com and IDM League at YEC15

I am  T.; Co-creator of the Alternate Reality Game called 2KYU.

2KYU, like the DEM Society and IDM League at UTM, creates opportunities for us to connect in multiple ways, and on multiple levels.  In addition to creating connections, 2KYU seeks to leverage those connections to alter perception.

2KYU has proven itself in this capacity in testing, and I’m proud to say that 2KYU has significantly altered the perception of UTM IDM and PWC students participating in an internship program launched in January called 2Q=0.   

I’m even prouder to say, these students have had a like impact on me.

2Q=0

2Q=0 is a program developed to provide interns with an immersive work experience, fully applying the rich and varied skills they have acquired over the course of their studies.  A fter a reading period over the Christmas holidays, in the first week of January this multi-disciplined team accepted the challenge to collaborate in the development and launch of Generation 0 of 2KYU; with the ambitious goal of acquiring and retaining 144,000 test users by the end of the 13 week program.

Our first media collateral production exercise, Kairos@UTM, took place on Tuesday January 20, where the team collaborated in a script reading and recording session, in study room no. 2 at the Hazel MacCallion Library, right here at the University of Toronto Mississauga…

KAIROS@UTM… test reality.

After receiving notice of the event only four days before, and their mission brief the day of; the 2Q=0 team jumped at the opportunity to produce a reading session with a working actor, professional producers, and share their impressions with their peers by creating a plan for the distribution and promotion of the resulting product.   Excited to tackle their first real challenge, the team intrepidly gathered to execute their mission.

Then I locked them in a room for an hour and a half and made them to listen to me speak…

So…  When watching this, it appears to be a bit of a vacuum.  

To the uninformed observer what is taking place appears to be 4 people sitting in a room listening to one person(that’s me) give direction to someone else named Ryan reading over a laptop.

If you were an informed observer, you would know that there were actually 8 people in the room.   Four were physically present, and through the magic of Digital Media, four participated remotely via Skype.  

Of those four, two were located outside Canada, one in Washington, another Los Angeles.  The session was also livestreamed on www.2kyu.com.

If you were an informed observer, you would know that all 8 people were actively performing multiple functions simultaneously in harmony, on behalf of multiple interests, in pursuit of common goals.

Observing, Recording, Analysing, and Sharing.

If you were an informed observer, you would know that the soliloquy being delivered by Ryan (that’s Ryan Carnes from General Hospital) are words I wrote in September 2013, in the tone of a character born over 2000 years ago, who I’ve only ever heard speak to me in my head.

I’ve only met Ryan twice… the first time he was mowing Eva Longoria’s grass on my TV screen.

If you were an informed observer, you would know that KAIROS is more than just words spoken in the vacuum of space to an audience of 4 people… KAIROS is a greek word which is defined as the opportune moment…  More than that, in the case of Kairos@UTM, it’s about seizing it.

The result …  potential expressed.

‘Soliloquy’

A statement to our future… and our past.

As leader of the 2Q=0 team who executed this production; I want to take this opportunity to thank them for rising to the occasion in such a meaningful and passionate way.

I would also like to acknowledge and credit the working artists who contributed to Soliloquy:

Ryan Carnes, Reading; Tina Guo and Ray Morabito, for use of the sample of their composition Rising Force; And K. my co-creator, co-producer, and editor, who transforms my crazy visions into pretty pictures, and enhances them with sound.

Soliloquy was published on Friday January 23 in anticipation of presentation at YEC15.   Soliloquy  was scheduled for launch and delivery in mid-February according to our business plan.   Presentation at  YEC15 wasn’t even planned.

Within three weeks of beginning their internship, the UofT IDM 2Q=0 Team has put 2KYU ahead of schedule by a month, and provided us with this moment; an  opportunity to make a statement to you here, a crowd full of potential.

I can’t wait to see what other potential 2Q=0 presents.  

A Step Towards Rewriting History

Rewrite What You Know 

by Arielle Filipe

What if everything you knew was unwritten?

Imagine the flow of time has reversed, and you looked back and there was nothing there. All the stories embedded in your mind shown in a whole new perspective... a rewriting of what you once knew as truth.

What if the last 2000 years were unwritten... Would you want to explore that alternate reality? 

In December of 2014, I had my first glimpse into the creation of this alternate reality. 

Being a student in the Interactive Digital Media program at the University of Toronto, I have the privilege of engaging with a close network and, taking part in projects that change the way we think, design, and innovate. As part of my program, I was presented the opportunity to work on an internship based in a unique production known as 2KYU, or “2000 years unwritten”. 2KYU is a production, led by Tamara and Kevin LeClair, veteran entrepreneurs from Oshawa, Ontario, which aims to create an alternate reality that “unwrites” these 2000 years. 

The concept of an alternate reality, in itself, is what drew me into this project. As a student, a citizen, and a human being, I am aware that we become familiar with concepts, stories, and ideologies that are frequently presented to us. As a result, we may fail to question what it is that we know. The premise of this production challenges this mentality and encourages players to enlist in rewriting what they are familiar with. The narrative, challenges, and interaction of the alternate reality game created by 2KYU immerses the player and, encourages a new wave of thinking that can fundamentally change our perspectives of the world, ourselves, and history. Through this internship, I have the unique and exciting opportunity of taking part in leading this new wave. 

Upon joining this project, through reading material and engaging in discussion for the first time, it was evident to me that 2KYU would create a whole new experience for not only its players but also, the developers. Although my presence within the production began post creation of the initial source material, KAIROS, I found myself trying to recreate the experience of the players and, engaging with the narrative in a way that imbued a sense of reflection and thought. Although this alternate reality was already presented to me, through the narrative and production plans, I find myself also taking part in further creating this reality by questioning my current perspectives. 

This challenge of common perceptions is something I welcome and encourage, and I look forward to watching 2KYU grow into something that instills change in those who interact with the production. I extend my gratitude to the 2KYU founders for giving me the opportunity to engage in the development of this innovative production and am also excited for this opportunity to learn new skills alongside my fellow schoolmates. 

If you would like to learn more about 2KYU, and challenge your reality, I encourage you to visit www.2kyu.com and take part in unwriting history with us.