Overview:

Behind the critical success of BioShock Infinite is the game's heart and soul, Elizabeth. Not only did Elizabeth carry the narrative weight of BioShock Infinite on her shoulders, she was also a robust AI that allowed for many systemic interactions. The creation of Elizabeth was an organic process that evolved over time and included members from every department at Irrational. This presentation will go over some of the decisions we made and the lessons we learned as we gave shape to Elizabeth and attempted to bring her to life. With a focus on animation, Shawn will talk about the various systemic and narrative techniques that we used on Elizabeth, and give practical examples of how they worked within the game. He will touch upon how a character like Elizabeth needs art, narrative and systems working together to create the illusion of humanity.