Stories you can talk to.

Instigate is a new way to make interactive experiences — video, agents, choices, all in one link. Have a look at eight of them.

Look at eight of them
A story playing one link — no app video, photos, text ask it anything
EXPLORE INSTIGATE

Eight things it can be.

Tap one to play it, right here on the page. Tap About to see how it was made.

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straight to camera

Selfie / Personal Data

A selfie that pitches — and answers back.

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type to it

Chatbot

Type a question. The story answers.

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tap to choose

Interactivity

Two or three choices, and the story branches.

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buy from the story

Call to Action

A promo that takes the order.

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play it, don’t watch it

Gameplay / Actions

A story you play, not just watch.

▶
open and book

Packages

A bundle someone can open and book.

▶
books an appointment

Wizards

A few taps and an appointment exists.

▶
explains an idea

Thematic

Explain a thing, in your own voice.

You can talk to the story.

Stack clips on a phone. Give it an agent. Share one link. Anyone can watch it, ask it things, or remix it into their own.

Make it on a phone

Video, photos, text, narration, music.

Give it an agent

Choices, wizards, or free conversation.

One link, anywhere

No app, no account, nothing to install.

FRESH FROM INSTIGATE

What people are making.

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Snowstorm in Cleveland

Marc Canter
▶

Open Happiness, remixed

@maya
▶

A 1-step guide

Idlewild
▶

Knock, knock

@devon
Order is set by hand for now — an admin picks what sits in slots 1–10, 11–20 and so on, and older examples move down as new ones matter more. An algorithm takes over later.
FOR INVESTORS

A new ad unit for the agent era.

Sponsors fund the AI, creators share the revenue, and the format is published in the open. The full deck is right here — no form to fill in.

View the deck  →
TEAM

The people building it.

Marc Canter

Marc Canter

Founder

Co-founded MacroMind in 1984, which became Macromedia Director.

Jack Shapiro

Jack Shapiro

Engineering

Nineteen years at AspenTech leading UX, with four patents.

John Henry Thompson

John Henry Thompson

Chief Scientist

Invented Lingo, the language behind Macromedia Director.

Idlewild Digital

Idlewild Digital

Engineering · Dhaka

A web and mobile studio in Bangladesh.

SINCE 2016

Ten years in the making.

  1. Spring 2016“Synthetic Personality” concept
  2. Fall 2016Topic-based authoring
  3. Spring 2017Facebook chatbot prototype
  4. Fall 2017“Ah-Hah Moment” promo
  5. Winter 2017–18DearDoodles plush toy spec
  6. Spring 2018The current design takes shape
  7. Fall 2018Work begins on the prototype
  8. 2019 – 2025Still to be filled in — the record we have jumps from the 2018 prototype straight to this year.
  9. June 2026Phase 1 prototype begins; dev and prod environments split
  10. July 2026Story video playback, and a second team environment in Dhaka
  11. August 2026Shared story links, with an embeddable chromeless player
  12. September 2026Agents arrive — data, diary and business — with creator dashboards
  13. October 2026The app goes public at www.instigate.ai/app
PLACEHOLDER

Crowd funding here.

Platform, target and terms still to be decided — nothing here is final.