The Creator of Tilly Norwood Will Turn Back the Clock with AI Driven History Series for The History Channel
The team behind the AI creation Tilly Norwood is diving into a completely different kind of project and it sounds pretty interesting.
Particle6 has revealed a brand new AI led history series commissioned by Hearst Networks for The History Channel in the Netherlands. If you’re into historical deep dives, time travel vibes and cutting edge tech, this project is worth looking into
Streets of the Past is a ten episode short form series that follows Dutch historical investigator and author Corjan Mol from The Curse of Oak Island as he explores iconic locations throughout the Netherlands.
Each episode starts in the present day as Mol visits a modern street, canal side or square. As he begins uncovering the story behind its most dramatic moment in history, AI takes over to pull him back in time and drop him directly into that past era for an immersive cameo.
The show highlights places like Rokin in Amsterdam which is now a busy shopping street but once served as home to the world’s first stock exchange in the seventeenth century. Another episode focuses on Janskerkhof in Utrecht which today is known for flowers and students but during World War II was a key center of Dutch Resistance.
Particle6 is using AI to create every historical scene drawing from archival materials including paintings, engravings and photographs. The idea is to build cinematic recreations anchored in real history. Both actual historical figures and fictional characters will appear to help convey the timelines and events that shaped these locations.
Founder and CEO Eline van der Velden explained the company’s approach to this hybrid style of storytelling. “While we have been using AI behind the scenes in our productions for some time now, in areas like research and post, this is our first series where AI is majorly deployed on screen, all carefully guided by humans of course.
“And, as we always knew it would when the technology allowed, it has proved the perfect creative partner, enabling us to seamlessly blend live-action footage of the Netherlands today with AI scenes from the same locations in the past, to deliver incredible, cinematic images that could provide a blueprint for the history formats of the future.”
Van der Velden has been at the center of plenty of discussion thanks to Tilly Norwood following her comments about the AI character potentially signing with an agency.
Earlier this month, she addressed the reaction. She said she “didn’t think it was controversial,” adding that Norwood “wasn’t a stunt or an exercise, it’s part of a business strategy that is delivering in spades.”
With Streets of the Past, Particle6 seems ready to show what happens when AI is used to expand what’s possible on screen. The mix of documentary exploration and AI powered historical immersion seems like an interesting way to explore and experiement with the technology.
The big question is, will it land with viewers. I’m curious to see how viewers respond once the series rolls out.