CONICAL

Immersive storytelling using groundbreaking technologies.

THE CHALLENGE

While completing his Master of Creative Technologies at AUT, Alejandro Davila discovered immersive technologies and began experimenting with how they could be used in storytelling. For his Master’s research project, he set out to create a virtual reality film that incorporated environmental noise modelling, prediction, and monitoring – an ambitious and unconventional project.

THE SOLUTION

In 2016, Alejandro created The Green Fairy, a virtual reality film about fairies that light up the inside of traffic lights. This immersive storytelling experience used virtual reality and augmented reality – both of which were gaining traction in the way media was created and consumed. These innovative technologies spurred Alejandro to explore how to develop fantasy-based educational stories for NZ tamariki – the first of its kind and an incredible milestone on the world stage.

The Green Fairy was released and his work on the project saw Alejandro named as a Finalist for the Young NZ Innovator of the Year.

Since then, Alejandro and the CONICAL team have been continuing to build on their innovative approach to immersive storytelling and in 2024 reached out to AUT Ventures to consider supporting their exploration into the gaming world via Faeborn, an action-adventure game weaving a heartfelt tale within a beautifully crafted world.

OUR CONTRIBUTION

The development of The Green Fairy prompted Alejandro to connect with a team of AUT graduates and launch CONICAL in 2016. While initially this was a self-funded and enterprise funded endeavour, AUT Ventures played a key role in supporting the CONICAL team with resources and innovation ecosystem connections.

In 2025, the AUT Innovation Foundation was launched with an investment of $110,000 to support the forthcoming launch of Faeborn. The game centres around two fairy sisters in the fantasy realm of Lamparis, marking a return to CONICAL’s fairy fantasy origins.