Jaunt this week announced a new research and development initiative in support of its XR platform built to produce and distribute augmented, virtual and mixed reality content.
The Jaunt XR platform allows the company’s customers—which include Sky, Diageo, and NTT Data—to produce AR, VR and MR content and then integrate that content into their respective distribution platforms.
The company kicked off the initiative by introducing volumetric video technology, which it said allows subjects to be filmed from a 360-degree perspective and then be created as an augmented reality asset. Jaunt uses a capture stage and the same streaming technology is uses for VR and AR experiences.
David Moretti, Jaunt's vice president of corporate development and operations, said it’s important to note the company’s video platform allows real-time processing and delivery on mobile devices.
“These are important factors for bringing XR content to a wider audience. The addition of volumetric capture—in a portable, easy and cost-effective solution—significantly enhances the storytelling capabilities of our XR Platform customers. This also brings a new global scale to volumetric content across partner channels, as XR content creation and distribution is now easier than ever before,” Moretti said.
Jaunt said it’s also working on additional volumetric streaming capabilities, immersive content driven by machine learning, and technologies foundational to enabling premium XR experiences.
Moretti could go into much detail about Jaunt’s machine learning efforts at this point but he did the company’s development team is teaching computers how to interpret 2D images in a 3D space.
Jaunt’s R&D efforts have been ongoing since the company launched in 2013 but the new initiative is coming along as the company shifts strategies.
“Now, we are shifting away from consumer-driven initiatives to become a B2B-focused company that helps partners deliver new forms of XR content spanning augmented, virtual, and mixed realities. That means we’re focusing our resources and research & development on next-gen storytelling solutions that will help publishers and other brands create and distribute immersive content in a turnkey, affordable way,” Moretti said.
Arthur van Hoff, founder and CTO of Jaunt, said his company continues to work on evolving AR, VR and MR content while also thinking up new formats.
“…Our primary focus is empowering our partners to harness these evolving technologies, using the Jaunt XR Platform as the foundation for delivering their cutting-edge immersive content. Our ongoing research and development will serve as a cornerstone of the XR Platform’s evolution, and our volumetric capabilities are only the first step in this initiative,” van Hoff said.