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Steven Soderbergh and HBO’s mini-series Mosaic will be interactive via an app

Steven Soderbergh and HBO’s mini-series Mosaic will be interactive via an app

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Almost like a Choose Your Own Adventure

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Have you ever become so frustrated watching a TV show or movie you wish you could get inside a character’s head to know what they were thinking? A new TV show from HBO and Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh promises viewers will be able to do just that — by following different characters’ points of view through an iOS app. Called Mosaic, the six-part TV series will air in January 2018. But, before then, viewers can download an app from November that will enable them to choose a character and follow their specific experiences.

The different choices you can make in the app will build on one another, which can sometimes produce different endings. Soderbergh says the show was produced with the app in mind, so it seems like it will play a core part in the show’s storytelling, rather than being just an afterthought. The YouTube video promoting the app shows various character profiles, newspaper clippings, and voice memos as part of the interactives used in the story.

Plot details are scant, but the show will star Sharon Stone, Garrett Hedlund, Frederick Weller, Beau Bridges, and Paul Reubens. The app has been three years in the making, and those who use the app will be able to compare the story they "built" with the linear one airing in January.

Image: HBO

"While branching narratives have been around forever, technology now allows, I hope, for a more elegant, intuitive form of engagement than used to be possible," Soderbergh said in a statement. It’s not the first time a streaming service has introduced interactive elements to its shows. Earlier this year Netflix introduced choose-your-own-adventure style TV content to its offerings, though that was limited to children’s shows.