The user in the CAVE entered the virtual world and experienced the interaction with the virtual character, the Thing, directly. The Thing is trapped in a box. The user frees it. The Thing insists on teaching the user a dance. If the user gets bored and tries to get away, the Thing follows whining or cajoling the user to dance. It insists that the dance is meaningful and important and will create a deep bond between them.

After a while the Thing gets pickier and pickier at the way the user dances, or more and more irate that the user is trying to avoid dancing, and storms off. Then rocks dotted about the plain come to life, chase and capture the user. The Thing gloats.

Outside the room, we watched the virtual world and an avatar of the user on a monitor. This networked version of the application has a menu.The operator has some control over the story - he tells the Thing is the user is dancing well or badly so the Thing can respond appropriately. He also alters the Thing's moods in accordance with the development of the story and the user's actions.

The networked version is an intermediate step before the Thing becomes autonomous. It is a very useful tool, as it enables us to watch the Thing interacting with a wide variety of people - and to learn how we will have to program its intelligence unit in order to cope with the different ways people use the application.

The version shown at AEC was about half of the story that we intend to tell, (see storyboard.)

• Proposal
• Pre-Ars Electronica Diary
• Story Board