www.immersify.eu
info@immersify.eu

EU project Immersify is coming to an end,
research and development continues
LINZ / POZNAŃ / BERLIN / CANNES / NORRKÖPING, JULY 2020

After three years of cooperation, the Immersify project is coming to an end. Some of theproject’s results were demonstrated one last time in a live stream from Poland toAustria on June 17th, concluding the developing phase of the project. While Immersify
officially ended with a panel at Festival de Cannes’ Marché du Film – Cannes XR, which
was being held virtually due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the project partners arecontinuing their research on future developments in the field of immersive media.

The Immersify project team looks back on three years of successful
cooperation
Since autumn of 2017, the EU-funded project Immersify, a collaboration between 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) has been dedicated to current and futurechallenges that immersive media entail.
The project researches, among other topics, 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 25 immersive contents that were used todemonstrate the technical possibilities of the new formats and to test, improve andevaluate the tools developed within the project. The approximately 10 demonstrations,
including 16K media playback and 8K live streams, made the project tangible not only forthe establishing immersive media market, but also for a more general audience.
Immersify was presented at several festivals, cultural events, technology fairs andconferences. In addition, several guidelines, which aim to make the tools and content of
the project imitable for content creators, were published.

Project results live streamed one last time to a general audience
In mid-June, the project team presented some of the developed content and technologies
one last time at a final live demonstration. The event included a demonstration of highly
immersive and interactive media consisting of playback of newly created content with
16K 360° video combined with spatial audio based on high-order ambisonics.
The event also included an 8K live stream from PSNC’s laboratories in Poznan, Poland,
to Ars Electronica’s Deep Space 8K in Linz, Austria as well as a 360° live video stream
from PSNC showing the technology behind the stream and ambisonic sound production.

Two live demonstrations of some of the produced content were then streamed live onYouTube via Ars Electronica’s Home Delivery programme: The Great Pyramid in 3D andThe Translucent St. Stephen’s Cathedral. All streams can be re-watched on YouTube.

Impressions and experiences shared at Cannes XR VirtualImmersify was recently featured as part of this year's Cannes XR Virtual—a program
focusing on immersive technology products and works as part of Festival de Cannes’
Marché du Film. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Cannes XR was held virtually for the
first time this year. In addition to a specially created VR area, through which VR works
were made accessible, there was a live video stream with conferences, pitching sessions
and project presentations as well as a 360° cinema.
In a panel, the partners gave some insights into the project process and discussed
content created in this framework, obstacles the team was confronted with and what thefuture holds for immersive media technologies. The recording of the panel is available
online on the Immersify project website.

Research and development continues despite the end of the projectWith the conference at Cannes XR Virtual, Immersify may be coming to end for the project
partners, but their research and development of immersive media technologies
continues.
PSNC plans further improvements to its 360° multi-camera rig composed of several 4K
cameras in order to enable higher resolution and better quality. This also involves a livestitching process, which is required to combine images from multiple cameras in realtime. This will also enable future streaming of 360° video in 16K resolution. Another areaof interest is the quality of experience assessment for High Order Ambisonics installation
at PSNC.
http://www.man.poznan.pl/online/en/

Spin Digital is preparing the launch of a new 8K live encoder and a media player for highresolution 360° video and ambisonics audio based on the project results, and willcontinue working on audio and video technologies for the next generation of immersivemedia.
http://spin-digital.com/The Ars Electronica Futurelab is continuously working on the further development of its
Deep Space 8K, a presentation of the latest installation—an interactive tour of Vienna's
St. Stephen's Cathedral—is planned for the Ars Electronica Festival in early September
2020.
https://ars.electronica.art/futurelab/

Marché du Film will continue to explore immersive entertainment with Cannes XR, aprogram fully dedicated to immersive technologies and works in connection with the artof storytelling and the film industry. Activating professional communities is at the heartof the Marché du Film engagement and Cannes XR aims to create a crossing-point
between film industry and immersive industry professionals.
http://www.marchedufilm.com/en/

Visualization Center C will continue developing the interactive shows that were started
and utilized during the Immersify project, which are normally used on a weekly basis for
public audiences and which could be run interactively in some cases or in really highresolution video playback. This all is in line with the goal of making immersive content
that visibly differs from regular cinema experiences.
http://visualiseringscenter.se/enThis project has received funding from the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme undergrant agreement No 762079
https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en

Live Demonstration of The Translucent St. Stephen’s Cathedral at DeepSpace 8K, Ars Electronica Center | ©Robert Bauernhansl, Ars Electronica

360° streaming by PSNC | ©Maciej Glowiak/Maciej Strozyk, PSNC

Immersify Final Demonstration viewing at Spin Digital | ©Mauricio Alvarez,Spin Digital

Live Recording of the Immersify Panel at Cannes XR Virtual 2020 |©Cécile Dumas, Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes