CHARACTERS

QAINAAT LATIF

The Inventor - Founder of BLVR Labs, a spiritual computing startup and the inventor of Shroud Computing technology and the notion of veiled realities. Her name translates as “gentle or kind universe”; as her initials are QL, she is sometimes jokingly referred to as  “Quantum Leap”.

Like many activist entrepreneurs, she exhibits messianic tendencies and is hyperbolic and arrogant about her work, but deeply protective of her Muslim heritage and is an outspoken feminist. Curiously, she doesn’t wear a veil herself…

Inspirations include…

• Nathan Bateman (Ex Machina)

• Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos)

• Forest (Devs)

We envisaged Qainaat as a young Pakistani woman with a punk aesthetic - somewhere between singer Urvah Khan and Saira from Channel 4's We Are Lady Parts.

Using generative AI tools such as Midjourney and Adobe Firefly, we explored potential looks for Qainaat - ranging from astonishingly photorealistic to illustrated styles. Some example prompts included…

• A photorealistic young Pakistani woman with a punk aesthetic.

• A young woman with long, black hair that is styled in a messy bun. She is wearing a traditional Pakistani kurta with ripped jeans and a leather jacket. She has a nose ring and a few tattoos.

As the underlying models for these generative tools grew more sophisticated over the course of our work, the results became more photorealistic too.

The final images below are of…

• KC Modaressi, Pishdaad's sister, whom he felt might be a good character model, being of a similar age and background to our character.

• Saffiya Ingar - a professional actor whom joined the team for an improvisation workshop in September. 

THE VEIL

A semi-sentient fabric created from a synthesis of smart materials, synthetic biology and quantum computing technologies, designed to allow the wearer to access various modes of “veiled realities”

Designed only for women, embedded with experiences of millions of women through history, codifying centuries of feminine intuitions and religious practice in a new form of “veiled reality” for the wearer. Voiced by poet Asma El Badawi.

Inspirations include…

• The Trust, Mother (Raised by Wolves)

• Other Memory (Dune)

• Venus (Martha Washington Goes to War)

• Cylon Hybrid (Battlestar Galactica)

• GLaDOS (Portal)

Our design studies for the Veil began with the notion that the Veil is a fabric, imbued with some futuristic technologies and shapeshifting characteristics. However, our design explorations with generative AI tools allowed us to explore new paths - such as imagining Vei.s made from pure energy, graphene, smart materials, armour, jewels,

As the possibility space of aesthetic choices opened out with generative AI, we started to consider how that might affect our story. Could we start to think about multiple Veil models, or glimpses of advanced experimental prototype veils that would form part of the plot?

We briefly experimeted with RunwayML's generative video to further develop concepts into moving images, but found the tools didn't express our vision in the same way as still concept images.

THE PLAYER / IN-VEIL

We also started to consider what the player might see when wearing The Veil and the kind of visual design language that would convey its features to its wearers. We wanted to avoid the cliched heads-up displays popularised by the likes of RoboCop and Iron Man.

The geometries and symmetries of Islamic art felt like a promising and authentic direction - could we bring together heads-up displays, fractals, geometry, symmetry and even astrological influences together into a coherent VX, or "Veiled Experience".

Our research took us in two directions…

• Looking at the work of Bradford-based artists such as Qashif Masud and Mahmud Manning.

• Exploring Islamic fractals, mandalas & patterns.