3D News: The Future Group Demos First Mixed Reality (MR) Based on Unreal Engine

A stealth-mode technology company has emerged out of Olso, Norway, to announced the first Mixed Reality (MR) technology demonstration coming up at IBC 2016 in Amsterdam.

The ground-breaking technology combines feature film-quality 3D rendered scenes with life people and objects in real-time.

From The Matrix Trilogy to the Future Group

Bard Anders Kasin, a technical director at Warner Brothers on the team responsible for the ground-breaking visual effects behind The Matrix Trilogy, has formed “The Future Group”, and its primary product is called Frontier™.

01 – A screen grab of The Future Group’s website showing visual qualities of its technology platform.

Using Frontier, any production company can instantly create both live photorealistic effects and virtual sets that are seamlessly integrated with anything or anyone from the real world to create MR—mixed Reality.

Unreal Engine at the Core

“The Future Group is using Unreal Engine technology in a way that blurs the lines between broadcast TV and what has only been possible in video games,” said Kim Libreri, CTO of Epic Games. “We look forward to seeing how this impacts how live entertainment is created and consumed.”

Frontier will be the core of an upcoming software platform for Interactive Mixed Reality™ that is powering several of the world’s biggest new live game shows, as well as worldwide sporting events and scientific visualization projects to be announced in 2017.

With capabilities far beyond first-generation virtual sets, Frontier enables incredible levels of creative freedom through its hyper-realistic rendering quality. Even the most complex graphical elements – from raindrops and fire, to live shadows, lens flares, and dynamic highlights – can now be created quickly, easily and with unprecedented realism.

Workflow Details

Used as a backdrop renderer, Frontier works side-by-side with the Ross Video XPression™ motion graphics system, which renders all the foreground elements. Frontier guarantees the best of both worlds – photorealistic backgrounds and unparalleled creative freedom partnered with unmatched data connectivity, visual logic programming and full support for most major workflows.

02 – This side-by-side image from their website shows the real-time nature of the Frontier software platform.

Workflows can be kept intuitive and easy-to-manage thanks to Ross Video’s UX Virtual Tracking System, yielding a single interface for configuration, setup and day-to-day operation. This continuity in operations means that Frontier can be added to existing workflows with only minimal disruption to production facilities.

• Real-time graphics pipeline built on Unreal Engine
  • HDR workflows
  • FBX 3D file format support
  • Support for animated 3D models
  • Dynamic textures
  • real time shadows and reflection
  • support for particle systems and collision detection

• Seamless integration with remote studio cameras and virtual scenes
• Photorealistic and immersive virtual environments with 4:4:4 internal processing
• Based on new XPression M6 hardware platform and full integration with UX v3.0
• Support for most tracking systems and protocols through UX

To learn more visit them here: www.futureuniverse.com