New app from Adobe Flash creators lets you explore facets of storytelling

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could pull out pics and videos on your iPhone, and weave them into a compelling “Hawaiian vacation” story?

Designed by the creators of Flash, Explory is a storytelling app that lets you create and share rich multimedia stories.

“With the phone, you have the hardware for complete digital studio in your pocket,” says Jonathan Gay, co-founder of Explory.

Gay previously built FutureSplash Animator along with Robert Tatsumi. The team was acquired by Macromedia and its app renamed “Flash” in the late 1990s. There, the duo met Peter Goldie, Gary Grossman, and Peter Santangeli – their other Explory founding team members.

Explory is designed specifically for ease of use; its makers say it lets you create stories using photos, video, voice, and text in quick time.

“You can add text and narration to turn your photos and videos into engaging stories with enduring value,” says Peter Goldie.

When you’re ready to share your story, Explory stores it in the cloud and renders an optimized version of the story for a range of devices. The stories can be shared via social networks, email, or text messaging.

Interestingly, the app offers an interactive experience as opposed to a linear video, which means the viewer has more control.

“Explory has a natural, touch interface. So when you’re watching a story, if there’s something you want to skip past, just swipe it off and move on to the next part. Or if something catches your eye and you want to dig deeper into one area of the story, you can choose to explore additional content,” says the founding team.

The app is in testing right now, and the team is using Kickstarter to raise $50,000 to cover software development and video hosting costs.

The founders hope to ship the first Explory product this summer. It will be available on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch to start. An Android version is planned for later this year.

Image Credit/Video Credit: Explory