What kind of hero would you like to become?

I'm Markku Lorentz, and I love stories. Most of all I love dreaming about being the hero of the story.  Luke, Frodo, Heisenberg and Tyrion have all given me hope when dealing with bullies at school, power tripping bosses at work, and heart wrenching crushes that were just out of reach.

Kenneth Burke once said: "Story equips us to life." Story has gotten me through life. 
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Yet, what if… 
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I know I can read books and imagine. Or I can watch Mark, Elijah, Bryan and Peter act as my proxy, and overcome unbeatable odds on the other side of the screen. And so I find the strength to believe that just maybe I’ve got a chance on this side of the screen as well. 

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But what if story could become even more personal? What if I could skip the proxy? What if I could actually BE the hero? 

This is the goal of my company Pengu Studios. Through some really cool recent technological leaps, we can now build truly amazing digital humans. A face can be scanned in incredible detail with a mobile phone.

If I can’t go to Middle Earth, or Tatooine, my digital avatar can. I can watch my exact likeness being the hero… Or? 
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Wait. No.

If my avatar goes to Middle Earth, or Tatooine, he might face some unbeatable IP odds. Even Tyrion would quake and shrink from those. 
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We need new worlds. New heroes.

Natural Pengu brings talented storytellers together around a table. Using cooperative storytelling game rules, like Dungeons & Dragons, we improvise into existence exciting world's, as well as  heroes that face the limits of human experience. We stream these sessions live on Twitch.
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Real time rendering software, such as Unity, make animated filmmaking lightning fast. Rendering  everyone a unique and personalized version of a movie is now a reality.

I might not be able to be Luke or Frodo, neither Heisenberg nor Tyrion. But in the worlds created by the cast of Natural Pengu I can be Peng Ooh, the very brave but very short kung fu monk, or the feared Bjarn, that hides from his past in the frozen forests of Frisvieg. Or Razah Divrin, Dani Felt, Ow Godnah the Half Elf, or...

So, what kind of hero WILL you become?

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Text for xPlot by Markku Lorentz.

Markku Lorentz will be joining us at Crossing Borders: The Future of the Cultural and Creative Industries TOMORROW at 5 pm CET. You can read more about Lorentz and Natural Pengu on his website.

Don't forget to secure your spot to our event by signing up on Hopin!