Hong Kong Baptist University Visualization Research Center promises a new experience | Press Release

HONG KONG ADMINISTRATIVE AREA – Media OutReach – Hong Kong Baptist University (Hong Kong Baptist University – HKBU) has taken an important step forward in heralding the new cinema experience for the future by establishing a Research Center visualization (Visualisation Research Centre) recently.

The center is where The World’s First 360 Degree Immersive LED Visual Cinema and 180 Degree iDome Cinema. The newly established facility will provide creative platforms for theatre, dance, music and sports, and transform multimedia archives into post-cinema encounters that everyone can enjoy. explore and experience.

Creating new platforms and possibilities

The Visualization Research Center is one of the key deliverables in a two-year art-technology project called Future Cinema Systems: Next-Generation Art Technologies. future: Next-Generation Art Technology”), jointly conducted by HKBU in collaboration with the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and the Federal Polytechnic University of Lausanne (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – EPFL) of Switzerland. The pioneering project was awarded HK$35.4 million (HKD) in funding from the Technology and Innovation Support Program under the Technology and Innovation Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

Professor Jeffrey Shaw, President of the Academy of Visual Arts at HKBU, who led the project, said: “With a renewed appreciation of the relationship between art and technology, there is a global demand for forms of cultural experiences. new digital commerce and entertainment. At a time when technical capabilities are rapidly evolving, our challenge is to create new artistic platforms and new opportunities for creativity.”

360 degree cinema offers a fully immersive experience

Stepping into the Center’s 8-meter-wide, 4-meter-high 360-degree cinema consisting of more than 400 LED panels (26 million LED pixels), the audience can fully immerse themselves in the three-dimensional environment. Viewers don’t just watch movies or panoramas; but also the feeling of stepping into a breathtaking virtual landscape, whether it’s a gallery at a museum, a historic site across the ocean, an outstanding legacy, or even a video game setting.

This expansive visual experience is amplified by a 32.4-channel surround sound system that further reinforces this sense of complete immersion.

Using high-resolution stereoscopic 3D technologies, cinemas allow viewers to interact with visualized content by extending focus into areas of interest to them. This in turn adds new layers of understanding and meaning to the materials they see.

Evolving interactions powered by artificial intelligence (AI) with audiences

The new cinema continues to challenge the conventional passive relationship between audience and screen. When watching movies or performing on stage, people often just sit still in their seats in the dark. With the Cinema System of the future, interactivity will play an important role.

Professor Jeffrey Shaw said: “We are developing technologies that enhance interaction between individuals and groups of people. In our cinematic environment, up to 30 visitors can interact with the image and with each other.”

For example, with the use of wearable sensors and biometric devices, this new cinematic platform can track a person’s physical location, behaviour, gestures, facial expressions, body temperature and heart rate viewers to understand what they are viewing, how they behave with other viewers, and how they respond to the presented content.

Co-evolutionary narrative tools, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, will enable audiovisual diversity to respond to and respond to sensory cues provided by participants.

Endless applications

Another innovative facility at the Visualization Research Center is the iDome Cinema, which includes a DLP laser projector, a four-meter-diameter vertical hemispherical screen, and surround sound equipment.

Ideally suited for museum exhibits, iDome Cinema uses a fisheye lens to project interactively rotatable spherical photos and videos. Visitors can almost walk inside its 360-degree avatars to enjoy this immersive, interactive experience. This facility can also be used as an educational tool to visualize scientific data.

With the new facilities in place, the project team is working to create scalable results that the public can experience. Products of the Future Cinema System project will first be deployed at selected facilities in Hong Kong, such as Hong Kong International Airport, M+ Museum and Tai Kwun.

Professor Jeffrey Shaw commented: “We are developing a project specifically related to the cultural context of Hong Kong. It will give local artists and organizations the opportunity to explore the creative potentials of next-generation art and technology, We’re regarding to experience something truly transformative, as the Future Cinema System project opens the door to endless new horizons in the arts and creativity.”

Hashtag: #ArtTech#HongKong#FutherCinema#HongKongBaptistUniversity#Immersive

The publisher is solely responsible for the content of this notice.