Immersify

PSNC – Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PL), Spin Digital Video Technologies GmbH (DE), Marché du Film — Festival de Cannes (FR), Visualization Center C (SE), Ars Electronica Futurelab (AT)

In stark contrast to video, TV and movies, Virtual Reality (VR) applications promise experiences that are not only more intense but, above all, interactive and individual as well. To launch VR on its way to a huge consumer market share, a considerable amount of R&D work needs to be done. That was precisely the mission of Immersify, a European R&D consortium made up of PSNC — Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (Poland), Spin Digital Video Technologies GmbH (Germany), Marché du Film — Festival de Cannes (France), Visualization Center C (Sweden) and Ars Electronica Futurelab (Austria).

Since fall of 2017, the EU-funded project has been dedicated to current and future challenges that immersive media entail. The project researches technical possibilities with regard to video compression of immersive media and how immersive media content and tools can be designed interactively and promoted in the creative and media industry in Europe. The project team produced around 30 immersive contents to demonstrate the technical possibilities of the new formats and to test, improve and evaluate the tools developed within the project.

Live demonstrations of the content, including 16K media playback and 8K live streams, made the project tangible not only for the immersive media market, but also for a more general audience. Immersify was presented at several festivals, cultural events, technology fairs and conferences. In addition, several guidelines, which aim to make the tools and content of the project imitable for content creators, were published.

Some of the content produced within the project will be showcased during this year’s Ars Electronica Festival, including the premiere of a virtual 3D-journey through Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral:

Immersify: The Translucent St. Stephen’s Cathedral
ScanLAB Projects (UK), RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems (AT), Dombauhütte St. Stephan zu Wien (AT), Ars Electronica Futurelab (AT)

The Translucent St. Stephen’s Cathedral invites Deep Space 8K visitors to an interactive 3D-journey through high-resolution 360° images of the Viennese St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The images, consisting of more than 21 billion laser points, together make up the multiple layers of transparency of the beautiful sacred building.

Lost in Resolution – 16K Video and 3D Audio Playback for Large-Screen Immersive Spaces
Spin Digital Video Technologies GmbH (DE), Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PL), Ars Electronica Futurelab (AT)

An introduction about the Immersify project and the work performed on tools, content, and spaces for immersive media. Including a presentation highlighting the requirements and potential of a new generation of immersive and interactive media applications that combine very high resolution video with 3D audio. A content showcase including three content pieces that feature 16K 360° video with 3D audio based on ambisonics and user interaction presented at the Deep Space 8K.

Immersify: The Translucent St. Stephen’s Cathedral – Artist Presentation
ScanLAB Projects (UK), RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems (AT), Dombauhütte St. Stephan zu Wien (AT), Ars Electronica Futurelab (AT)

The Translucent St. Stephen’s Cathedral invites Deep Space 8K visitors to an interactive 3D-journey through high-resolution 360° images of the Viennese St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The images, consisting of more than 21 billion laser points, together make up the multiple layers of transparency of the beautiful sacred building.

The Meeting Point – 8K Stream from Immersive Multimedia Labs at PSNC
Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PL), Spin Digital Video Technologies GmbH (DE), Ars Electronica Futurelab (AT)

A live 8K streaming from PSNC labs in Poznań, Poland to Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria. In Ars Electronica’s Deep Space a video in 8K resolution with multichannel sound will be transmitted live from PSNC, and realized with the use of several modern techniques using prototype hardware and software. It will also be a short trip through all the experiments and implementations that have been successfully done in the last few years as part of the Immersify project.


The Immersify project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 762079.