Cinéma Fabriqué is a hardware and software environment that enables a single person to improvise video and audio programming in real time through gestural control. The goal of the system is to provide a means to compose and edit video stories and musical scores for a live audience with an interface that is both exposed and engaging to watch. Many of the software packages used today for realtime audiovisual performance are typically controlled by standard keyboard, mouse, or MIDI inputs, which were not designed for precise video control or live spectacle.

As an alternative, the Cinéma Fabriqué system integrates custom coded video editing and effects software and hand gesture tracking methods into a single system for audio-visual performance.

The user dons two lighted gloves, each a different color, while standing in front of a camera and display screen. The camera tracks the position of the user's hands and maps these to two on-screen cursors. A collection of media clips and live video feeds are available at the top of the display and can be accessed by raising a hand to 'grab' them and 'drag' them to the central canvas. Once a media object has been placed onto the canvas it can be edited or manipulated through hand movements and gestures.

The manner in which the media clip or live feed is altered is selected at the bottom of the display. Icons lined up in the lower portion of the screen can be selected by bringing a hand down and 'tapping' them. Clips can be shortened and looped to created beats or scratched by moving a hand in circles. Colors can be separated and extracted from the video in one of the modes. Several three dimensional distortions and and manipulations of the video are also available. The hands are used to pan, rotate, and zoom the resultant sculptural forms.

With the command over spatial and temporal presentation of live video available in the Cinéma Fabriqué system, the control possibilities of computer modelling software is combined with the expressive possibilities of direct scene manipulations through hand movements. Users can loop interesting footage or zoom into a tiny portion of the scene from any angle or velocity. With the ability to introduce time changes and three dimensional distortions to live video subtly or abruptly, viewers can be drawn into a world that is simultaneously real and unreal. The shared surroundings of performer and audience are easily reinterpreted at will to exaggerate prominent features or introduce new meaning.