AMPD Ventures Inc (CSE:AMPD, OTCQB:AMPDF) announced that its subsidiary Departure Lounge’s Metastage Volumetric Capture Stage has received its certification to operate from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Mixed Reality Capture Studios.
One of the highest resolution volumetric video capture stages in the world, the 6,000-square foot stage is now open for business, the company said.
The stage features 106 12-megapixel machine-vision cameras to capture dynamic, ultra-high fidelity human performances using Microsoft’s capture technology and its Azure rendering pipeline. The three-dimensional holograms that are created can be placed into fully digital and blended reality locations, narratives, games, and experiences.
“The Departure Lounge and Metastage teams have been working exceptionally hard over the last year to build and test the stage here in Vancouver,” Adam Rogers, VP Creative and Head of Studio at Departure Lounge said in a statement.
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“Receiving the certification is the final step in our buildout phase, and means we are now open for business as the official and exclusive provider of Microsoft’s world-leading volumetric capture technology in Western Canada,” he added.
The Metastage Vancouver holographic capture stage is the nucleus of a synergistic set of technologies housed under one roof at the Departure Lounge studio. Departure Lounge is developing groundbreaking pipelines and workflows in virtual and immersive production to help facilitate the next generation of immersive content.
The studio has already garnered significant interest from digital content creators in the area, with a steady stream of companies visiting the studio for preview tours and demonstrations.
“I am exceptionally pleased that we are now Microsoft certified,” said James Hursthouse, CEO of Departure Lounge. “The SIGGRAPH 2022 Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques will attract thousands of digital content creation professionals to Vancouver during the second week of August, and we’re excited to be able to welcome local and international visitors to our studio to witness the magic of holographic capture first-hand. We will be running open house tours throughout the week.”
Steve Sullivan, general manager, Microsoft Mixed Reality Capture Studios, added: “We’re thrilled that Metastage Canada is now open for business, and we look forward to supporting Departure Lounge and Metastage in their mission to deliver the world’s premier volumetric capture solutions to customers in Canada and beyond.”
Metastage Canada is housed at the Departure Lounge facility on campus at the Centre for Digital Media in downtown Vancouver. Departure Lounge also offers cutting-edge markerless motion capture technology in partnership with Move.ai, a film-production grade interactive LED wall in partnership with ARwall, as well as a team of creative professionals that develop applications showcasing the assets generated by the various technologies.
Departure Lounge, which was acquired by AMPD Ventures in December 2021, is bringing together the experience and expertise of its founding team to develop a cohesive range of metaverse-focused technology and content opportunities, including a joint venture with 4D holographic capture pioneers, Metastage Inc, to bring their world-leading holographic capture platform to Canada.
Metastage specializes in bringing the best of the real world into the metaverse. The company has holographically captured people (and animals) from all walks of life, including athletes and actors to executives and training instructors.
AMPD is a next-generation infrastructure company specializing in providing high-performance computing solutions for low-latency applications. With state-of-the-art, high-performance computing solutions hosted in sustainable urban data centres, AMPD is leading the transition to the next generation of computing infrastructure as “the hosting company of the metaverse”.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com