CoSTAR Realtime Lab

在过去十年中，实时和虚拟图形环境一直在以越来越快的速度发展。作为消费者，我们越来越熟悉电影/电视和动画、视频游戏和虚拟现实中的高保真虚拟技术。我们已经看到这些技术和技术从高度专业化和实验性的用途转移到主流采用和应用。这些技术在主流电影和高端戏剧制作中的应用加速了技术创新和应用，涉及广泛的动作和表演捕捉、实时图形处理、网络和电信、娱乐媒体和现场活动的内容和体验创造中的边缘计算。这些创新的核心是实时集成技术的发展，主要用于制作视频游戏。游戏引擎技术，如虚幻引擎和Unity，旨在将动态图形环境与事件和环境效果实时集成。在过去的五年里，研发主导的增长和创新在这些领域得到了邓迪的InGAME和爱丁堡的Creative Informatics的AHRC创意产业集群的推动。这两个项目都建立了强大的、值得信赖的网络和有效的流程，以推动需求将研发转化为商业化产品。CoSTAR实时实验室将设在邓迪的Water's Edge工作室综合体和爱丁堡的ECA，将把邓迪全球重要游戏集群的视频游戏开发专业知识与阿伯泰大学世界领先的应用研发和爱丁堡的电影、电视和动画制作结合起来，爱丁堡大学在机器学习和人工智能方面的世界领先专业知识。CoSTAR实时实验室将为数字生产力工具、创意生产管道和内容创建流程提供贴近市场的创新。该项目还将汇集来自InGAME和Creative Informatics集群的现有网络、产品开发洞察力和研发力量，形成一个由创新产品和服务平台支持的双城创意技术集群，为高端、高效、可持续和无障碍的内容创作创造新的公司、产品和市场。CoSTAR实时实验室将专注于在娱乐环境中应用创新技术和流程，最初的重点是通过以下领域的创新来推动价值。-性能和动作捕捉。-虚拟人和动态程序性能。-用于生产的机器学习和用于过程再现的人工智能。-用于动态效果的人工智能和用于视觉效果的程序图形。-使用先进的扫描技术进行3D体积采集，使用ML/AI进行程序环境生成。-制定照明和光线追踪标准，以提供环境保真度。-基于位置的软硬件集成。-虚拟与现实相结合的影视制作。CoSTAR实时实验室的愿景是建立一个混合现实研发中心，支持行业参与以协作研发为主导的创新。该实验室将促进跨国技术供应商和英国内容创作者与创意技术专家和数字内容中小企业之间的合作，以确定创新驱动的苏格兰和英国部门规模和价值增长的机会。协同研发将通过支持新产品、新工艺和新服务的开发、推动价值和刺激产品和市场的多样化，促进中小企业的产品创新。通过将世界领先的研究与跨国技术公司和极具创造力和活力的中小企业相结合，CoSTAR实时实验室将改变苏格兰和英国的创意媒体产业，并在下一代娱乐创作和技术创新方面发挥全球领导作用。

Realtime and virtual graphical environments have been evolving with increasing speed over the last decade. As consumers we are becoming increasingly familiar with high fidelity virtualisation in film/TV and animation, video games and virtual reality. We have seen these techniques and technologies migrate from highly specialised and experimental uses to mainstream adoption and application. The use of these techniques in mainstream film and high-end theatre production has accelerated technological innovation and application across a broad range of motion and performance capture, real-time graphics processing, network and telecoms, edge computing in content and experience creation for entertainment media and live events.At the heart of these innovation is the development of real-time integration technologies primarily used for the creation of video games. Game engine technologies such as Unreal Engine and Unity are designed to integrate dynamic graphical environments with events and environmental effects in real time. For the last 5 years R&D-led growth and innovation in these areas has been driven through the AHRC Creative Industries Clusters InGAME in Dundee and Creative Informatics in Edinburgh. Both programmes have established strong, trusted networks and effective processes for driving demand led R&D into commercialised products. The CoSTAR Realtime Lab to be based in Water's Edge studio complex in Dundee and ECA in Edinburgh will bring together video games development expertise in Dundee's globally significant games cluster with world leading applied R&D at Abertay University and film, television and animation production in Edinburgh with University of Edinburgh's world leading expertise in machine learning and artificial intelligence. The CoSTAR Realtime Lab will deliver close-to-market innovation for digital productivity tools, creative production pipelines and content creation processes. The project will also bring together the existing networks, product development insight and R&D power from InGAME and Creative Informatics clusters to form a dual city creative technologies cluster supported by innovative product and service platforms that will generate new companies, products and markets for high-end, efficient, sustainable and accessible content creation. CoSTAR Realtime Lab will focus on applying innovative technology and process in entertainment contexts initially focussing on driving value through innovation in the following areas.- Performance and motion capture.- Virtual humans and dynamic procedural performance.- Machine Learning for production and Artificial Intelligence for process reproduction.- Artificial intelligence for dynamic effects and procedural graphics for visual effects.- Using advanced scanning technologies for 3D volume acquisition and ML/AI for procedural environment generation.- Developing lighting and ray tracing standards to deliver environmental fidelity.- Location based Software and hardware integration.- Integrated virtual and real-world film and TV production.The vision for the CoSTAR Realtime Lab will be to establish a mixed reality R&D centre that supports sector engagement in collaborative R&D led innovation. The Lab will facilitate engagement between multinational technology vendors and UK content creators with creative technologists and digital content SMEs to identify opportunities for innovation driven growth in scale and value for the Scottish and UK sector. Collaborative R&D will promote product innovative in SMEs by supporting new product, process and service development, driving value and stimulating diversification of product and markets. By combining world leading research with multinational technology companies and highly creative and dynamic SMEs, the CoSTAR Realtime Lab will transform the creative media industries in Scotland and the UK and deliver global leadership in next generation entertainment creation and technology innovators.