Digital Art & Narrative Multiplayer Game Design

Pas De Deux is an exploration of empathy, literature, and shared digital experiences. What began as an innovative experiment in reading together has grown into a series of interactive, narrative-driven works.

By blending written words with hand-tracking technology, spatial audio, and evolving visuals, these projects transform traditional storytelling into a collaborative dance between two people. Whether exploring scenes from a novel at Sónar or diving into curated interactive poetry, each episode invites participants to connect, communicate, and uncover stories together.

Das Ende

Interactive narrative driven installation developed for Sonar 2024 where players explore together using their hands

This Pas De Deux episode was developed in collaboration with Spanish writer Paula Tudela. Starting from her book Das Ende, we created a set of scenes for two players to explore as they follow the story’s plot.

Interaction is driven by the players’ hands, which are tracked through the tablet’s camera. Using their hands, players can explore the scenes, trigger and control events, paint, and modulate audio, all while uncovering the main narrative.

We crafted six distinct scenes, each based on a key narrative moment from the book. For each scene, we designed a unique environment, interaction system, and visual language that reflects and interprets that specific moment in the story.

A story for two

An exploration on empathy, literature and digital devices

While being one of our early projects, with its rough corners, Pas de Deux captures our commitment to embrace digital art as a mean of sensually and emotionally enhancing communication.

What initially seems as a regular ebook slowly reveals a shared universe of images, sounds and interactions, emerging and dancing with the written words. This is a meta-narration about the relationship between two human beings and the empathy and connection that is born through reading together.

• Screenplay: Livia Chiriatti
• Sound design: Filippo Rabottini

The Collection

A collection of curated interactive poetry experiments

This Pas De Deux experience is a collection of narrative-driven scenes composed of text, sound, and images. Each scene offers a distinct mode of exploration.

The tone is established through short written passages by different writers, which are brought to life through interactivity, both with the scenes and between the players, as well as through audiovisual elements designed to reinforce the central role of written narrative in the work.