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Press Release

Three immersive studios selected by Digital Catapult to build experiences for the real-world metaverse

Posted 15 Dec 2022

Three immersive studios have been selected as finalists to receive up to £100,000 each of funding to create ground-breaking AR experiences for global children’s brand Cartoon Network, multi-award winning choreographer and director Wayne McGregor, and augmented reality (AR) trailblazer, Niantic Labs.

The three immersive studios – No Ghost, Mobile Pie, and Arcade – will join Digital Catapult’s FutureScope acceleration programme to continue the development of their experiences which began in August. Niantic has joined forces with Digital Catapult’s deeptech accelerator in order to access the UK’s leading immersive talent and allow immersive studios to use its recently launched Lightship Augmented Reality Developer Kit (ARDK).

The ARDK will provide No Ghost, Mobile Pie and Arcade with the tools they need to create immersive, multiplayer experiences – lowering the barriers to entry for developers to create AR experiences that inspire movement, exploration, and shared experiences in the real world.

“Digital Catapult is committed to making the UK a leader in augmented reality – it’s been incredible to see the innovative concepts for AR experiences brought forward by some of the UK’s leading immersive studios. We look forward to working with creative powerhouses Cartoon Network and Studio Wayne McGregor and the selected studios on using Niantic’s Lightship to develop experiences that combine the potential of the metaverse with real-world people-centric activities, blending digital and physical worlds to enrich the way we interact with one another.
Jeremy Silver CEO, Digital Catapult

We’re very excited to see what some of the UK’s best and most creative minds can do with the Niantic Lightship platform. Our goal is to provide the technology to empower creators around the world to develop innovative new AR and location-based experiences, building a real-world metaverse for a growing global audience.
Dan Hill Senior Director of Marketing EMEA for Niantic

Technology experts from Digital Catapult and Niantic, as well as creative leaders from Cartoon Network and Studio Wayne McGregor, will work with the developer teams to build their AR offering over the next few months; the final results will be demonstrated at a showcase in February 2023.

The selected immersive studios are:

No Ghost

No Ghost is a realtime story studio that specialises in immersive media. They work with the latest game engine technology to create custom apps that deliver narratives and interactive experiences to a digital audience. Their VR adventure Madrid Noir, which features a meticulously detailed re-imagining of Spain’s capital, was part of the Official Selection for the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021 and won “Best VR Experience” at the VR Awards. Madrid Noir was also part of Digital Catapult and Arts Council England’s CreativeXR 2019 cohort.

No Ghost will be working with Wayne McGregor to build an AR demonstrator that empowers self-expression through movement. The No Ghost concept, ékhóes, uses AR to take users on a physical exploration of urban space through light, dance and sound. Designed to inspire people to move in new ways and intentionally experience space through all of their senses, this game champions inclusivity and the freedom of self-expression.

Ekhóes is a digital artwork to which anyone can contribute to – it is the audio-visual manifestation of all types of movement, performed by the users and contributors, blending styles of dance and self-expression together. Using a live map, users will be able to locate and interact with ever-evolving and growing kinetic sculptures, forming a lasting representation of the physical expression of everyone who has visited that area.

Mobile Pie

Mobile Pie is an award-winning games studio, focusing younger audiences. It works with clients and broadcasters such as Aardman Animations, P2 Games, CBeebies, CBBC and Cartoon Network, creating titles that have entertained and educated millions of children around the world. Recent projects have included the TIGA award-winning History Detectives for BBC Bitesize, Ben 10: Super Hero Time on Roblox for Cartoon Network, and Horrid Henry’s Krazy Karts on the Nintendo Switch with P2 Games and Novel Entertainment.

Mobile Pie will be working with Cartoon Network to build an AR demonstrator to extend the universe of the highly successful mobile game Toon Cup into the real world. Mobile Pie’s concept will transform the 2D single-player experience of Toon Cup into a thrilling multiplayer 3D experience.

In the new multiplayer Toon Cup, players will be able to start football matches against their friends via local multiplayer and a shared AR experience. Players will pick their footballers from Cartoon Network’s ever-expanding array of beloved characters, improving their characters’ skills in AR mini-games. As players take part in matches and mini-games they can unlock ‘power-ups’ to upgrade their characters even further. This concept will encourage children to get out of the house and into outdoor spaces to interact not only with their favourite characters, but also with one another.

Arcade

Arcade is a leading immersive experience agency that uses augmented reality to create more meaningful connections between people and the world around us. They have produced award-winning, three-dimensional storytelling for some of the world’s leading brands, and arts and culture institutions, including The National Gallery, Sky, Disney, ECB, and UK Parliament. Arcade uses a range of technologies and platforms to deliver their world-class immersive experiences. Arcade previously worked with Digital Catapult and the MUNCH museum in Oslo to create a prototype AR crowd-sourced immersive experience inspired by Norway’s greatest artist, Edvard Munch, and his approach to art, to inspire children to get creative.

Arcade will be working with Niantic to build an AR demonstrator that encourages people to explore their local communities. Arcade’s concept Bazaar is a digital game with real world rewards, centred around the UK’s thousands of high streets – it has been designed to stimulate millennial and Gen Z re-engagement with bricks-and-mortar retail environments.

Bazaar is creating a world where virtual drops are collected and exchanged throughout high streets. Drops initially appear in AR within a set radius of high street locations, each one is a unique game object, which is synchronously visible to all players, and only available to be collected once. As the drops are collected, they can be opened to unlock rewards for users. The rewards take different forms, from general discounts to money off certain items. For example, a drop may contain a 10% discount for orders over £5 at a coffee shop nearby. Collecting the drops encourages users to get out onto their high-streets and engage with local businesses.

The game also acts as a way of engaging retailers, as they are able to track the number of players that have engaged with their drops and how many have been returned to the shop, along with any discounts redeemed, providing an ongoing sense of the value they are getting through their participation.

Luke Gibbard, Executive Producer, No Ghost

“We’re really excited to be a part of the Futurescope acceleration programme working with Digital Catapult, Studio Wayne McGregor and Niantic. This is a unique opportunity to explore new concepts for large-scale AR, and rethink how we can use movement of the human body to leave a lasting impression on the spaces around us.”

Richard Wilson, CEO, Mobile Pie

“Mobile Pie is hugely excited to work with the cutting-edge Lightship AR from Niantic and to combine it with some of our favourite cartoon characters from Cartoon Network. We’re really looking forward to creating an AR experience tailored for a young audience, with all the challenges and opportunities that brings with it”

Jon Meggitt, Co-Founder & CEO, Arcade

“Although we use the full spectrum of immersive tools in our work, augmented reality has always been at the heart of our mission to ‘connect people to place through play’. Like Niantic, our interest is in exploring new ways to connect with the real world, not escape into a virtual one, and our aligned philosophies mean that working with them has long been on the Arcade bucket list. We couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with them and simultaneously continue our longstanding relationship with Digital Catapult. The chance to break new ground with Lightship has already led to some fairly crazy ideas, and it’s going to be a lot of fun trying to make them a reality!”

The cutting-edge AR applications are being developed to encourage greater human connection – this is core to Digital Catapult’s mission of ensuring advanced digital technology is being deployed responsibly and ethically.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

About Wayne McGregor

Wayne McGregor CBE is a multi-award winning British choreographer and director, internationally renowned for trailblazing innovations in performance that have radically redefined dance in the modern era. Driven by an insatiable curiosity about movement and its creative potentials, his experiments have led him into collaborative dialogue with an array of artistic forms, scientific disciplines, and technological interventions. He is Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor, encompassing creative collaborations in dance, film, music, visual art, technology and science; a touring company of dancers Company Wayne McGregor; and learning and research programmes. Based at Here East in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Studio Wayne McGregor supports an eclectic network of creators, including – but not limited to – dancers, writers, composers, coders, scientists and software engineers. Wayne McGregor is also Resident Choreographer at The Royal Ballet, Director of Dance for the Venice Biennale, and is regularly commissioned by and has works in the repertories of the most important ballet companies around the world.

For more information on Studio Wayne McGregor visit waynemcgregor.com and for Studio Wayne McGregor press enquiries: Gillian McVey, [email protected]

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