XR STUDIOS｜Extending your realityto the world
theFOUND Virtual Art Center this TALK with XR STUDIOS team, which was founded in 2020. The rich experience of the founding team members over the years has helped guide, advise and create many virtual worlds, so as to help the voices of global artists and brands convey their expanded vision of reality, and artists and brands who change the rules of the game create their art from different realities.
As a full-service production studio, they work with customers throughout the process - from concept to completion, focusing on providing advice for technical workflow to realize everyone's dreams and visions. XR Studio provides customers with a premiere virtual production studio, providing all mixing, enhancement and expansion technologies on site.
XR stands for extended reality, which combines virtual and real environments with reality. This means that users can not only exist in the virtual world, but also interact with it like the real world. XR is part of the world of modern technologies AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality) and MR (hybrid reality).
At present, XR Studios has cooperated with singers, brands and TV stations such as Billie eilish, black eye peas, Katy Perry x Ali Baba, Camila Cabello, MTV Video Music awards: show.
Extended Reality (XR) is an umbrella term for immersive technologies that blend live & virtual
theFOUND & XR Studios
Q1:
XR STUDIOS is a very cutting-edge and creative studio. At present, XR technology, as the intersection of virtual and real in the meta universe, extended reality, referred to as XR, refers to the combination of real and virtual through computer to create a human-computer interactive virtual environment, which is also the general term of AR, VR, MR and other technologies. Through the integration of the three visual interaction technologies, it brings the "immersion" of seamless transformation between the virtual world and the real world to the experimenter. How was the studio XR STUDIOS founded at first?
XR was founded in 2020 by production designers, screen producers, and creative technologists that are experts in the live entertainment world. We all were working on this technology prior to COVID and with the push for live streaming and taking virtual production to the next level – specifically in live entertainment – we saw this big need between equipment vendors and creative companies to help bridge that gap, and provide technical insight and support to clients.
Q2:
Each member of your joint founding team has different roles and professional backgrounds. You have become a 'creative community'. Can you share with us how you come together and create and develop unlimited possibilities? Are there any interesting stories about the team's initial creation?
At XR Studios, we partner with other creatives to power their creative vision and collaborate with people to combine the technology with the creative need or goals of the project. By understanding the background and needs of entertainment with large-scale talent and brands, we make sure things are executed to their best potential.
Q3:
XR STUDIOS breaks the traditional stage construction and uses a more environmentally friendly XR stage, which can continue to reuse and create unlimited virtual reality combined with application stage space. Your projects often cooperate with cross-border services in different industries, including music, technology, e-sports, fashion, etc. Does this inspire you more inspiration?
It is very interesting to work with a variety of industries and teams; however, technology enables us to work with many different areas and platforms, so we are able to help different people in different ways.
It is also interesting from an environmental perspective. We have a long way to go before we are truly helping make a difference in the world. We do help reduce the travel for crews and teams, especially since we can transport people inside of our space. But, we need to look to the future from a power and footprint perspective to make some real change.
There are great technical tie-ins across multiple industries, between fashion, e-sports, music, and brand work, and it has been fascinating to find the crossover between them all, as we can leverage our experience to best help everyone.
Q4:
The era of entering the meta universe has opened, with more application fields, such as virtual conference room, live concert digital space, virtual classroom, virtual customer consultation room Wait, XR STUDIOS moves people's entire work applications, daily life and entertainment applications to an ideal virtual digital space. What are your expectations and goals for XR's future life applications?
XR Studios is focusing on establishing a long-term and permanent home for extended reality in Los Angeles, specializing in live entertainment, corporate, brand, commercial, music video, and product work. We are also making a push for AR touring, and developing innovative ways to bring this to live audiences across the globe.
Q5:
Most of your projects work with musicians - Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry etc. compared with offline live performances that create atmosphere through stage, lighting, band, etc., online channel performances are relatively lacking of live atmosphere. In order to maximize the sensory experience for the audience, XR technology has naturally become an online live concert, festival party The darling of the brand launch. As a provider of XR content creation and interactive infrastructure, I believe that science and technology is also polishing its technical advantages into powerful weapons to help enterprises engaged in the game, entertainment and film and television industries build a bridge between the virtual and real world. Enabling new content forms to promote the innovation and development of the whole industry. What are your innovative views on the integration of digital content creation of virtual applications and various cultural, entertainment, film and television industries?
The lack of live audiences in live-stream performances during COVID, and remote/digital events, is definitely a factor we have to consider when using our technology. Something that we strive for as a company is to push our clients and teams to try and find that ‘live’ aspect of a performance, whether it’s committing to being live-to-tape, or to be truly live-streaming, or to have a ‘fan or audience’ view in the room so that the artist or brand representative know they’re really interacting with real people. The difference between a rehearsal for an artist such as Billie Eilish and the actual live performance was so noticeable, including her performance, our camera operators, and team operators, because you can feel the energy and excitement in the room.
Down the road, XR Studios is committed to help find solutions and tricks to help keep the experience engaging and exciting for audience members, whether they are in the room or watching from home. As we look towards integrating live AR into broadcasts, or concerts with screens, or keeping screen tracking into performance venues, we are looking at ways to help connect the technology so the live experience we are all used to is still possible.
Q6:
In your cooperation projects, you have deeply felt the charm of science and technology. Generally speaking, the underlying logic of XR technology, which is widely used in online live performances, is somewhat similar. It usually uses 3D technology, image analysis, tracking technology, real-time rendering technology and other graphics and image processing technologies to capture the real scene or characters captured by the camera lens, Through technical means, it can be integrated with the produced images to create a certain visual effect and convey it to the audience in front of the screen. For more viewers in front of the screen, this will be a new "experience revolution". What do you think?
There are many ways to experience new technology, and especially the technology we’re using, at XR Studios. Much of what we are doing now is for the experience of the viewer at home or wherever they are in the world – whether it is on their computer screen, television, or mobile phone. We’re excited to see how the tech we’re using affects viewers in person at arenas, or in broadcast audiences, or in other immersive ways down the road; and are looking for technology workflows that allow us to serve both the remote viewers and people in the room. I’m excited about wearable technology and a world that is similar to the book Ready Player One, with full immersion into virtual spaces. However, the hybrid middle ground is an exciting place to be over the next few years.
Q7:
In terms of production, compared with movies or games, XR pictures in online performance scenes tend to be short-term and low-frequency small screen experience, and do not have to withstand the test of large screen. Therefore, in the process of watching, the audience has a relatively high acceptance of the level of visual effects and much looser requirements. Of course, this does not mean that the virtual performance created by XR does not have technical content. XR applications in live performances need the support of 5g network with large bandwidth and low delay, greater data transmission and real-time interaction, and stronger equipment to support real-time image processing. What are the difficulties of XR STUDIOS at present, the problems faced by the whole XR industry and the direction to be broken through?
An area of difficulty is client education, especially when it’s a client’s first experience with XR/VP/MR or when clients and teams have had different experiences with XR/VP/MR. Since the technologies are new, there are so many different ways to do things and experience them, which is why a lot of experiences vary. Something that XR Studios is very proud of and focused upon is the workflow and the experience for our teams and clients. The technology is only part of the equation.
Another area of difficulty is the visual quality. The overall look and feel of new technology is definitely a factor that needs to be considered with XR. We often spend a lot of time with clients and teams to make sure they are aware of the limitations of the game engines, but also to make sure that they are aware of the amazing possibilities with the technology. New technology comes with compromises, but it is always a tradeoff between something new and exciting, and something that needs to be considered differently.
In general, something that needs to be improved on XR has to do with pre-visualization, especially since it is real-time and very technically-focused work for us. It's something we, and a lot of other great people in the business, are working on. Even though the tech is happening in real-time, that doesn't mean that it is designed in real-time. Things that certainly can be planned still need to be deeply discussed, and we have to have the time to look at that and visually see it ahead of time. This is very important. That is something we are all wanting to make better and better.
Q8:
The concept of the Metaverse is rising day by day. As a special link between the virtual and real of the Metaverse, XR technology is very much looking forward to and optimistic about the future development of XR STUDIOS, and we also look forward to the possibility of cooperation opportunities in the future. Finally, what are your bolder prospects and plans for the future development?
XR Studios is looking to create an exciting place and location for projects with our new Hollywood XR Campus, as well as to continue to push the boundaries of XR/AR/MR with remote projects and productions as well. With the growth and acceptance of this technology, combined with the rise of the metaverse and willingness to jump into new technological developments across brands, events, and artists, it is an exciting time to continue to push the boundaries of what is possible.
