State of Syn is a

motion comic A motion comic (or animated comic) is a form of animation combining elements of print comic books and animation. Individual panels are expanded into a full shot while sound effects, voice acting, and animation are added to the original artwork. Tex ...

webseries A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

created by Smokebomb Entertainment, starring

Jewel Staite Jewel Belair Staite (born June 2, 1982) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles as Kaylee Frye in the Fox television series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its spin-off theatrical film '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jennifer Keller on Sc ...

and

David Hewlett David Ian Hewlett (born 18 April 1968) is a British-born Canadian actor, writer, and director known for his role as Dr. Rodney McKay in the '' Stargate'' science-fiction franchise. He first gained fame for his roles as Grant Jansky in the Cana ...

. The series aired on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

in 2013, with multiple episodes previewed on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. The series is supported by two

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

s: State of Syn: The Outside World, a

puzzle game A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle ...

with a story threaded through it, and State of Syn: Singularity, an app for

Google Glass Google Glass, or simply Glass, is a brand of smart glasses developed and sold by Google. It was developed by X (previously Google X), with the mission of producing an ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information to the wearer using ...

. ''State of Syn'' won an

IAWTV The International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV) was founded in 2008 and is devoted to the advancement of the arts and sciences of streaming television and web series production. Since 2011, the academy has hosted an annual awards ceremony cal ...

award in January 2014 for Best Interactive Experience. It was also nominated for a 2014 Rocky Award for Best Cross-Platform, Fiction.

Synopsis

The show follows Annika Drake (Staite) and her friends who, following the unexplained death of her father, are pulled into a twisted mystery surrounding his former company, emerging tech giant Psylo5ense. Now run by her father's former business partner Aslin Kane (Hewlett), Psylo5ense is manufacturing a highly addictive new sensory experience called Vibe—a digital technology simulating a neurological condition called synesthesia—which is poised to become the new opiate of the masses. Annika digs deeper to uncover the truth but finds herself learning some very disturbing secrets.

References

{{Reflist 2014 web series debuts Canadian animated web series Canadian science fiction web series