Volumetric capture for narrative films

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Krzysztof Pietroszek provides an overview of volumetric capture technology and its application to narrative filmmaking.

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Krzysztof Pietroszek provides an overview of volumetric capture technology and its application to narrative filmmaking.

Image courtesy of interviewee. March 19, 2024

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This video video is a comprehensive discussion about the speaker's interest in science fiction and its integration into their work, particularly in filmmaking and technology. The speaker recounts their journey from studying traditional filmmaking to exploring volumetric filmmaking—a method that captures three-dimensional images to create immersive storytelling experiences.

They emphasize the potential of virtual reality (VR) and holographic technology to enhance communication and storytelling by allowing individuals to engage with narratives as active participants rather than passive observers. Instead of traditional techniques, like montage or framing, volumetric storytelling offers a personal and immersive experience where viewers can explore the narrative space and interact with characters.

The speaker discusses a specific project, "Vera," which utilizes volumetric filmmaking to create an interactive experience where users can embody a character and interact within the story. They highlight the differences between this medium and traditional cinema, noting that volumetric storytelling represents the birth of a new medium that may coexist with, rather than replace, traditional filmmaking.

Furthermore, the text outlines the technological advancements and the democratization of filmmaking tools, making them more accessible through AI and improved equipment, leading to a new era of immersive storytelling. The speaker expresses excitement for the future of storytelling, particularly as technology evolves to enhance artistic expression and user engagement in storytelling experiences.

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Here are five key points from the video:

1. **Integration of Science Fiction and Technology**: The speaker discusses how their fascination with science fiction, particularly concepts from works like "Star Trek" and Neil Stevenson's "Diamond Age," inspired them to explore innovative technologies in their work. This involves ideas of immersive communication and the development of virtual environments.

2. **Volumetric Capture Technology**: A major focus is on the potential of volumetric capture technology, which allows for true 3D recordings of people, objects, and environments. Unlike traditional 3D films, which are often two-dimensional films adjusted for 3D viewing, volumetric capture enables viewers to interact with these recordings in a more lifelike, immersive way.

3. **The Future of Communication**: The speaker envisions a future where traditional forms of communication, such as video calls, are replaced by immersive experiences that allow individuals to interact as holograms in virtual environments. This shift is expected to enhance communication by including body language and spatial convideo that are often lost in traditional methods.

4. **Immersive Storytelling Experience**: The video highlights a distinction between traditional filmmaking and volumetric filmmaking. The latter provides an interactive storytelling experience where viewers can participate in the narrative, essentially becoming part of the story rather than mere observers. This immersion fundamentally changes how stories are told and experienced.

5. **Democratization of Technology**: The speaker notes advancements in making volumetric filmmaking more accessible, such as developing techniques that allow for high-quality capture using less expensive equipment, like single cameras with AI assistance. This democratization is compared to the transition from film cameras to cell phone cameras, opening new possibilities for creators without significant budgets.

These points reflect the intersection of technology, storytelling, and future communication methods discussed in the video.

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X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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It's actually interesting story.

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Um, I was always fascinated with, science fiction.

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And, actually,

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even though I was reading science fiction, I was not,

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incorporating it in my work when I was doing

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my masters in undergrad.

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And then I was in a conference as a PhD student,

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and I, met, person from Harvard,

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and she asked me in a conversation, she asked me, so,

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which science fiction book you are currently implementing?

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I was like, that's interesting way to look at it.

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So I said, well, I, I need to think about it.

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And I realized that actually I am implementing,

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star Trek holodeck.

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So this is what, what I'm doing is start a holodeck trying

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to create od.

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Then I kind of revised this motivation, to,

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more modern novel byte, Neil Stevenson called Diamond H,

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because in, in this novel, there is, the concept

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of reactive, which is like, interactive, film,

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which we, you can participate in.

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So I think that's, that's what motivated me from the,

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from the idea perspective.

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But there is also a vision behind it.

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I, I believe that, there is a word in which

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people can completely eliminate the distance.

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Um, we can,

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rather than communicating like we are right now,

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over zoom, very soon, I think we,

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within the next 10 years,

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we will be immersing ourselves in virtual wards

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and seeing each other as holograms, as we call it, as volume

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captured representations.

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And there'll be a common practice.

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It'll not be something novel.

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It'll be just the way we communicate instead

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of using a traditional 2D communication.

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And it's a great way to communicate

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because it, also,

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communicates the body language,

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through the 2D communication.

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You don't get that, that much.

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I mean, you can see maybe my gestures,

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but you can see that my body post, you don't, see like,

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if I'm relaxed

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or I'm stressed, you know, this, all this, little cues,

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which are important, are not being communicated.

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So I think this will be vastly improved.

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It will be almost like being in the same room.

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Uh, so that's another motivation.

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And in terms of, filmmaking,

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'cause as you know, I'm a both filmmaker

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and computer scientist.

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In terms of filmmaking, I,

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I think this is absolutely fascinating.

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What we can do. I, I will speak more about it,

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but it's just, just the idea that you can walk

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inside the film and become one of the actors for me, is,

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is enough to motivate me

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for 14 hours a day work on this technology.

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The volumetric capture technology is one

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of the technologies in something,

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which I call artificial reality continuum.

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The idea that you can augment reality

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or replace fragments of reality

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with a new artificially created, stimuli for any

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of your senses, not only for for visual sense,

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but for touch, for, smell, and so on.

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So, volume capture specifically allows you

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to record either objects and environments

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or actors, moving actors or people or,

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or, animals, in truly

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3D manner. So

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what I mean by that is it is not the fake 3D,

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which we have in 3D, films.

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When we go to cinema to watch a 3D film,

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what we are really getting is a 2D film, which was recorded

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for each eye separately.

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And we are, tricked to believe that this film is 3D

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volume capture is actually a, a recording of a 3D.

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So it records the volume

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or the surface of objects,

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so you can actually look at them from any perspective.

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So they become like life objects.

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The only difference is that

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with this atic capture technology, you cannot

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yet touch them, but you,

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that's why we call them holograms,

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but you can actually observe 'em from any perspective.

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So, the way it is done, you right now,

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you require a ring of cameras.

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So the actors will come into a special studio

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and there is a camera surrounding them.

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We have a studio like this, at American University.

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That's a rare, privilege, I would say

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because the studios are very expensive

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and only a few universities in the world, have them.

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Uh, we were lucky to get the National Science Foundation,

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funding for this.

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Uh, but interestingly enough, this,

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this technology is, democratizing.

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So, there is few companies including, myself,

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who are working on making, it possible to have,

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holograms of people recorded

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with a single camera using AI technologies.

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So instead of having a ring of cameras,

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you actually can record it with a cell phone camera,

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and yet get a full hologram, really truly 3D hologram.

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And whatever was not captured is recreated

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with generative AI techniques.

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So this is very close. It's coming.

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There are already prototypes, but it's not good quality yet.

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It's coming. And it'll open, new era of,

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volumetric filmmaking.

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'cause everybody will be able to do that.

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Like, when it change from 35 millimeter,

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millimeter camera, to a cell phone camera

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of a amazing quality,

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the same will happen when we can create easily without high

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costs, these volumetric experiences.

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So, volume capture is part of the spectrum of technologies,

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specifically referring to capturing moving actors,

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in a way that it's truly 3D

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this is an interesting topic.

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Uh, the reason why you would even go

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through all this trouble of using these new technologies

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and have, actors recorded in three, 3D

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and reconstruct the space where they are in

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or constructed in virtual reality.

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The reason why I would want to do it is

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because volumetric filmmaking,

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it's an entirely different way of experiencing story.

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It has nothing to do.

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There is no almost no similarities

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to traditional filmmaking.

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What is the main difference is

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that you are immersing yourself in the story.

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You're not doing a suspension of disbelief

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through the way the director told you the story.

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It is more like entering the film itself, like going

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to a theater, to a live theater.

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And, so basically what what we mean

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by interaction modes in volumetric storytelling,

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is everything.

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Some people say, interaction means like touching

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objects, interacting with objects.

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Interaction means, in this case, being able

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to control the view of the world.

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So you are walking around in this view,

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and you decide, not the director, not the cinematographer,

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but you decide whether you want

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to observe something from a closeup by co coming close to

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that or, from a distance.

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So that's one thing.

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The, the, the passive observation becomes interaction.

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And then you can go from there.

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So you can have an embodiment,

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so you can see, actually see your body.

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And that is also a form of interaction,

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because now your hands are the virtual hands of, let's say,

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an actor in that story.

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And you can see yourself as in, for example, in case

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of my work as Vera, one of the,

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main characters in the story,

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which I will be talking about later.

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Um, but, that, or that's also form of interaction.

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There is also, the interaction, with objects.

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So you can, it's not, necessary,

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but you can have objects which are interactive,

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so you can touch them, you can switch on the radio,

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switch off the radio, grab an apple.

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You can not yet eat the apple,

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but soon maybe we'll have a ability to eat the virtual apple

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and, get a taste of it.

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There are already experiments with it.

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So interaction means basically anything which is interaction

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mode is anything,

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which you can do in this experimental

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immersive environments.

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This actually entirely different medium.

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It's, it's as dissimilar as, let's say,

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theater and, and film.

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Um, what I mean is, is literally, you are losing,

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and then need to discover,

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100 plus years of cinematography.

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100 plus years of montage theory.

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Nothing from the traditional film translates into the,

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volumetric film.

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So, for example, there is no concept of cut.

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There's no concept of, any forms of montage.

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There's no concept of frame.

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You don't have, shot, you know, closeup or,

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or a medium, shot.

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All of this is controlled by the viewer.

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So the experience is entirely different.

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Now, 360 video is very, in my opinion, more similar to,

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traditional film because you, the director,

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is still in control of the position of a camera, and

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therefore the viewer at all times,

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the viewer cannot walk inside the film.

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It can be moved inside the film with the camera,

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and the camera is moving, but it cannot explore the space.

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It's not truly 3D.

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Uh, it already has some, some differences.

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For example, the framing, it doesn't, doesn't exist anymore.

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It's not a rectangle, it's a sphere.

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But it's, it's vastly there is a much greater difference

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between 360 video

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and, volumetric, film than there is

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between traditional film

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and 360 video, 360 videos,

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like having a very large screen around you.

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Uh, immersive, volumetric film is,

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something completely different.

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I, I think about it more as a, a keen a, a menu mackin

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to theater or, even better participatory theater

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where you are present in a, arranged scene.

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And you can either be an observer, passive observer,

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or you can be embodied

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and participate as an active, participant in the story.

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And I want to stress here one important, issue

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because many people identify immersive filmmaking or,

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or, volumetric filmmaking

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with something similar to computer games.

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But the difference is that there is still linearity in

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the immersive filmmaking.

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The story is still told in a traditional, sense, meaning

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that there can be an arc, of the story.

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And there is the, the participation does not necessarily,

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it can, but usually it doesn't influence the story.

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So it's not a nonlinear, storytelling.

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It's, it's different than interactive, films.

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We now see where we can choose your, own adventure.

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It's still, a narrative as a theater play.

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Um, but so it's not changed.

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The, the story is not changed,

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but you are participating in it actively.

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And that's, that's the key here.

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Uh, it is not a suspension of this belief.

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It's an immersion. Vera was one of the first,

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volumetric films ever recorded,

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and it was also the first, interactive volumetric field.

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Um, what we did there, basically what I described as a,

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a result of, of this experiment, which is the,

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the finding out that the medium is entirely different

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than filmmaking.

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My background is in filmmaking and computer science.

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So I approached this initially when I,

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learned about the technology and started to build them.

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I approached it, as the old, media, media,

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creator would usually approach the new medium by, by trying

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to kind of translate what is possible in this new medium.

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Um, and then I quickly discovered that,

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that it's a wrong approach.

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We need an experiment, which will show us what,

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what is different, right?

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So what we came up with is

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to take a Katherine Mansfield short,

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story called D Pickle.

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It's a 1920 story, by a,

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a writer Katherine Mansfield from New Zealand.

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And we, recorded the same story in various, media.

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So the first one was the story

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stuff, so you could just read it.

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The second one was the radio play,

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so no visuals, that's radio play.

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The third one was traditional film.

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So it's a 15, 20 minute, depending on a version film,

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which happens in a, one location.

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And it basically uses all, even over users specifically

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for this purpose, all the traditional techniques of,

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cinematography and montage.

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And then we recorded the 360 video

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to see how different it is.

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And then finally, what we did was an interactive version of

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the same story when actors were recorded holographically.

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And you can enter that story, walk

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around the set in virtual reality,

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or actually in augmented reality too,

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and observe the actors interacting

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with each other the way they want,

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and what is the most interesting and,

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and the most novel there.

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You can become one of the actors.

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So you can become Vera

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and literally tell the lines of, say the lines,

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Vera says in the story to the, hologram

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of an actor, who plays against you,

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so plays with you, right?

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So this be this, this basically makes the story,

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very personal because you are embodied in the Veras body.

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You can, you say what Vera says,

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you can see the lines if you don't remember them,

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or you can learn them and act the whole, play

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or the whole, film, by yourself.

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And then there is a reaction from the hologram,

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which responds to that, and it's still linear.

12:08.325 --> 12:10.485
So it's not like, depending what you say,

12:10.485 --> 12:11.485
something else will happen.

12:11.785 --> 12:14.925
You are supposed to say specific lines from the story,

12:15.305 --> 12:16.645
and then you'll get a response,

12:16.905 --> 12:18.685
but it still feels very immersive.

12:18.865 --> 12:20.725
Uh, it, it also comes from the fact that I used

12:20.725 --> 12:23.165
to be a theater actor as a, a teenager.

12:23.345 --> 12:25.365
So it basically, I love this experience,

12:25.545 --> 12:27.925
but I didn't have access recently to theater,

12:27.945 --> 12:30.285
and I'm an immigrant, so my accent is very strong,

12:30.285 --> 12:33.325
very difficult to, to get to theater in us, for me.

12:33.865 --> 12:37.205
So, I basically created the system when you can,

12:37.555 --> 12:40.645
play in a movie, as if you were an actor

12:40.705 --> 12:43.405
or play in a theater, as if you were an actor in the,

12:43.615 --> 12:45.685
let's say, comfort of your own VR headset.

12:46.665 --> 12:50.525
Um, yeah. So, so that's, that's the, story of Vera.

12:50.675 --> 12:51.965
It's a transmedia in a sense

12:51.965 --> 12:54.765
that you can explore this story from different perspectives.

12:54.815 --> 12:56.565
There are many other great films.

12:56.625 --> 12:59.085
And recently what happens is that,

12:59.365 --> 13:01.565
I think the best place to explore it is Tribe Beka Film

13:01.725 --> 13:04.805
Festival, and, Venice Film Festival, Venice,

13:04.805 --> 13:08.165
even dedicated entire island to, volumetric

13:08.165 --> 13:09.365
and VR experiences.

13:09.745 --> 13:13.205
And in recent years, the quality is going up tremendously.

13:13.205 --> 13:16.205
It's amazing what people are coming out, up with.

13:16.275 --> 13:19.165
It's, it's like 1920s or thirties in film.

13:19.235 --> 13:22.245
It's, it's getting that so many things are discovered,

13:22.705 --> 13:24.445
I'm thinking about writing a book about it

13:24.445 --> 13:25.965
because it's, it's so fascinating.

13:25.965 --> 13:29.125
There's enough material to, to cover all these,

13:29.155 --> 13:32.325
innovations in, in storytelling in volumetric film.

13:32.785 --> 13:36.645
We are literally seeing a birth of a new medium,

13:36.645 --> 13:38.245
which will be entirely,

13:38.245 --> 13:39.805
different way of telling the stories.

13:40.145 --> 13:43.205
And it doesn't mean that I think the cinema will die

13:43.305 --> 13:44.845
or, will be even less popular.

13:45.275 --> 13:46.805
It's, it's just entirely different.

13:46.835 --> 13:48.965
It's like us cinema didn't kill theater.

13:49.545 --> 13:51.965
Um, volumetric filmmaking will not,

13:52.265 --> 13:55.725
reduce the interest in, in, traditional films.

13:56.055 --> 14:00.605
It'll just create one, yet another,

14:01.165 --> 14:04.325
technique, for expressing yourself and expressing and,

14:04.505 --> 14:06.165
and, and creating stories.

14:06.545 --> 14:10.765
And it's, it's a, it's the most so far immersive except

14:10.785 --> 14:13.485
for a personal, presence in a theater,

14:13.795 --> 14:16.165
something which we many people don't experience anymore,

14:16.165 --> 14:18.805
because so few people go to theater, compared to,

14:19.455 --> 14:21.245
let's say, Italian opera.

14:21.345 --> 14:24.085
And everybody in masses were going to the Italian opera in,

14:24.425 --> 14:26.405
a hundred years ago.

14:26.705 --> 14:29.725
Um, I think it will be back in a sense that we'll be able

14:29.745 --> 14:32.965
to, participate in this very,

14:32.965 --> 14:34.565
immersive, stories.

14:35.185 --> 14:38.925
But, using the, fear headset.

14:39.505 --> 14:42.005
Now, the important thing is that, that the technology has

14:42.005 --> 14:43.005
to become more accessible.

14:43.025 --> 14:45.165
It cannot cost the $1 million to have a studio.

14:45.625 --> 14:48.725
And it also cannot be that as, as everyone was said, it,

14:48.825 --> 14:50.765
you, you are, you are not supposed to put a TV

14:50.785 --> 14:52.605
On your head and then look at it.

14:52.905 --> 14:54.845
Uh, right now the VR headsets are,

14:54.845 --> 14:57.605
basically two TV screens put on your head.

14:57.745 --> 15:02.285
Uh, it's changing. I, I, I have a, apple Vision Pro,

15:02.345 --> 15:04.525
and it's comparably better than the previous,

15:04.525 --> 15:05.765
headsets, but we are still not there.

15:06.265 --> 15:09.125
So what I envision is an ambient vr.

15:09.265 --> 15:13.285
So, a vr which will not require any, equipment,

15:13.385 --> 15:15.805
to be worn, basically would be projected on retina.

15:16.385 --> 15:18.205
Either it can be either done.

15:18.345 --> 15:21.045
Um, and at least for now with glasses like this,

15:21.045 --> 15:23.045
so lightweight glasses that still needs to be worn.

15:23.145 --> 15:26.005
And then it'll be, contact lenses,

15:26.005 --> 15:28.405
which already exist, but in very resolution

15:28.705 --> 15:31.605
or less projection from a distance on your director on your

15:31.605 --> 15:33.285
retina, which doesn't require anything.

15:33.545 --> 15:35.085
So once these kind of technologies

15:35.185 --> 15:36.965
and this, these are quite far away,

15:36.965 --> 15:38.245
they're not on the market

15:38.265 --> 15:41.005
or close to market yet, when these technologies exist,

15:41.365 --> 15:43.405
I think this will be a golden age for,

15:43.405 --> 15:44.885
immersive storytelling

15:44.885 --> 15:47.285
and me immersive anything, immersive meetings, immersive,

15:47.465 --> 15:49.165
schools, immersive worker

15:49.285 --> 15:51.445
environments, training, and so on.

15:51.585 --> 15:53.125
But for storytelling, it will be a

15:53.125 --> 15:54.885
wonderful place to explore.

15:54.945 --> 15:57.485
So, I'm very excited about the future, especially

15:57.485 --> 16:02.245
with the hope, hopes and, and risks of ai,

16:02.265 --> 16:06.045
and generative AI helping, artists to achieve

16:06.045 --> 16:08.045
that without having millions of dollars of budget.

Exploring the Future of Immersive Storytelling

00:00:00 - It's actually interesting story. I was always fascinated with, science fiction. And, actually, even though I was reading science fiction, I was not, incorporating it in my work when I was doing my masters in undergrad. And then I was in a conference as a PhD student, and I, met, person from Harvard, and she asked me in a conversation, she asked me, so, which science fiction book you are currently implementing? I was like, that's interesting way to look at it. So I said, well, I, I need to think about it. And I realized that actually I am implementing,
00:00:35 - So this is what, what I'm doing is start a holodeck trying to create od. Then I kind of revised this motivation, to, more modern novel byte, Neil Stevenson called Diamond H, because in, in this novel, there is, the concept of reactive, which is like, interactive, film, which we, you can participate in. So I think that's, that's what motivated me from the, from the idea perspective. But there is also a vision behind it.
00:01:08 - people can completely eliminate the distance. we can, rather than communicating like we are right now, over zoom, very soon, I think we, within the next 10 years, we will be immersing ourselves in virtual wards and seeing each other as holograms, as we call it, as volume captured representations. And there'll be a common practice. It'll not be something novel. It'll be just the way we communicate instead of using a traditional 2D communication.
00:01:37 - because it, also, communicates the body language, through the 2D communication. You don't get that, that much. I mean, you can see maybe my gestures, but you can see that my body post, you don't, see like, if I'm relaxed or I'm stressed, you know, this, all this, little cues, which are important, are not being communicated. So I think this will be vastly improved. It will be almost like being in the same room. so that's another motivation. And in terms of, filmmaking,
00:02:08 - and computer scientist. In terms of filmmaking, I, I think this is absolutely fascinating. What we can do. I, I will speak more about it, but it's just, just the idea that you can walk inside the film and become one of the actors for me, is, is enough to motivate me for 14 hours a day work on this technology. The volumetric capture technology is one of the technologies in something, which I call artificial reality continuum. The idea that you can augment reality or replace fragments of reality
00:02:41 - of your senses, not only for for visual sense, but for touch, for, smell, and so on. So, volume capture specifically allows you to record either objects and environments or actors, moving actors or people or, or, animals, in truly 3D manner. So what I mean by that is it is not the fake 3D, which we have in 3D, films. When we go to cinema to watch a 3D film, what we are really getting is a 2D film, which was recorded

Revolutionizing Filmmaking with Volumetric Capture

00:03:11 - And we are, tricked to believe that this film is 3D volume capture is actually a, a recording of a 3D. So it records the volume or the surface of objects, so you can actually look at them from any perspective. So they become like life objects. The only difference is that with this atic capture technology, you cannot yet touch them, but you, that's why we call them holograms, but you can actually observe 'em from any perspective. So, the way it is done, you right now, you require a ring of cameras.
00:03:43 - and there is a camera surrounding them. We have a studio like this, at American University. That's a rare, privilege, I would say because the studios are very expensive and only a few universities in the world, have them. we were lucky to get the National Science Foundation, funding for this. but interestingly enough, this, this technology is, democratizing. So, there is few companies including, myself, who are working on making, it possible to have,
00:04:15 - with a single camera using AI technologies. So instead of having a ring of cameras, you actually can record it with a cell phone camera, and yet get a full hologram, really truly 3D hologram. And whatever was not captured is recreated with generative AI techniques. So this is very close. It's coming. There are already prototypes, but it's not good quality yet. It's coming. And it'll open, new era of, volumetric filmmaking. 'cause everybody will be able to do that. Like, when it change from 35 millimeter,
00:04:47 - of a amazing quality, the same will happen when we can create easily without high costs, these volumetric experiences. So, volume capture is part of the spectrum of technologies, specifically referring to capturing moving actors, in a way that it's truly 3D this is an interesting topic. the reason why you would even go through all this trouble of using these new technologies and have, actors recorded in three, 3D
00:05:16 - or constructed in virtual reality. The reason why I would want to do it is because volumetric filmmaking, it's an entirely different way of experiencing story. It has nothing to do. There is no almost no similarities to traditional filmmaking. What is the main difference is that you are immersing yourself in the story. You're not doing a suspension of disbelief through the way the director told you the story. It is more like entering the film itself, like going to a theater, to a live theater.
00:05:47 - by interaction modes in volumetric storytelling, is everything. Some people say, interaction means like touching objects, interacting with objects. Interaction means, in this case, being able to control the view of the world. So you are walking around in this view, and you decide, not the director, not the cinematographer, but you decide whether you want to observe something from a closeup by co coming close to that or, from a distance. So that's one thing. The, the, the passive observation becomes interaction.

Exploring Embodiment in Volumetric Storytelling

00:06:19 - So you can have an embodiment, so you can see, actually see your body. And that is also a form of interaction, because now your hands are the virtual hands of, let's say, an actor in that story. And you can see yourself as in, for example, in case of my work as Vera, one of the, main characters in the story, which I will be talking about later. but, that, or that's also form of interaction. There is also, the interaction, with objects. So you can, it's not, necessary, but you can have objects which are interactive,
00:06:51 - switch off the radio, grab an apple. You can not yet eat the apple, but soon maybe we'll have a ability to eat the virtual apple and, get a taste of it. There are already experiments with it. So interaction means basically anything which is interaction mode is anything, which you can do in this experimental immersive environments. This actually entirely different medium. It's, it's as dissimilar as, let's say, theater and, and film. what I mean is, is literally, you are losing,
00:07:23 - 100 plus years of cinematography. 100 plus years of montage theory. Nothing from the traditional film translates into the, volumetric film. So, for example, there is no concept of cut. There's no concept of, any forms of montage. There's no concept of frame. You don't have, shot, you know, closeup or, or a medium, shot. All of this is controlled by the viewer. So the experience is entirely different. Now, 360 video is very, in my opinion, more similar to,
00:07:57 - is still in control of the position of a camera, and therefore the viewer at all times, the viewer cannot walk inside the film. It can be moved inside the film with the camera, and the camera is moving, but it cannot explore the space. It's not truly 3D. it already has some, some differences. For example, the framing, it doesn't, doesn't exist anymore. It's not a rectangle, it's a sphere. But it's, it's vastly there is a much greater difference between 360 video and, volumetric, film than there is
00:08:26 - and 360 video, 360 videos, like having a very large screen around you. immersive, volumetric film is, something completely different. I, I think about it more as a, a keen a, a menu mackin to theater or, even better participatory theater where you are present in a, arranged scene. And you can either be an observer, passive observer, or you can be embodied and participate as an active, participant in the story. And I want to stress here one important, issue
00:09:01 - or, volumetric filmmaking with something similar to computer games. But the difference is that there is still linearity in the immersive filmmaking. The story is still told in a traditional, sense, meaning that there can be an arc, of the story. And there is the, the participation does not necessarily, it can, but usually it doesn't influence the story. So it's not a nonlinear, storytelling. It's, it's different than interactive, films. We now see where we can choose your, own adventure.

Immersive Interaction in Volumetric Storytelling

00:09:35 - but so it's not changed. The, the story is not changed, but you are participating in it actively. And that's, that's the key here. it is not a suspension of this belief. It's an immersion. Vera was one of the first, volumetric films ever recorded, and it was also the first, interactive volumetric field. what we did there, basically what I described as a, a result of, of this experiment, which is the, the finding out that the medium is entirely different
00:10:02 - My background is in filmmaking and computer science. So I approached this initially when I, learned about the technology and started to build them. I approached it, as the old, media, media, creator would usually approach the new medium by, by trying to kind of translate what is possible in this new medium. and then I quickly discovered that, that it's a wrong approach. We need an experiment, which will show us what, what is different, right? So what we came up with is to take a Katherine Mansfield short,
00:10:32 - It's a 1920 story, by a, a writer Katherine Mansfield from New Zealand. And we, recorded the same story in various, media. So the first one was the story stuff, so you could just read it. The second one was the radio play, so no visuals, that's radio play. The third one was traditional film. So it's a 15, 20 minute, depending on a version film, which happens in a, one location. And it basically uses all, even over users specifically for this purpose, all the traditional techniques of,
00:11:06 - And then we recorded the 360 video to see how different it is. And then finally, what we did was an interactive version of the same story when actors were recorded holographically. And you can enter that story, walk around the set in virtual reality, or actually in augmented reality too, and observe the actors interacting with each other the way they want, and what is the most interesting and, and the most novel there. You can become one of the actors.
00:11:35 - and literally tell the lines of, say the lines, Vera says in the story to the, hologram of an actor, who plays against you, so plays with you, right? So this be this, this basically makes the story, very personal because you are embodied in the Veras body. You can, you say what Vera says, you can see the lines if you don't remember them, or you can learn them and act the whole, play or the whole, film, by yourself.
00:12:06 - which responds to that, and it's still linear. So it's not like, depending what you say, something else will happen. You are supposed to say specific lines from the story, and then you'll get a response, but it still feels very immersive. it, it also comes from the fact that I used to be a theater actor as a, a teenager. So it basically, I love this experience, but I didn't have access recently to theater, and I'm an immigrant, so my accent is very strong, very difficult to, to get to theater in us, for me. So, I basically created the system when you can,

Emerging Innovations in Volumetric Filmmaking

00:12:40 - or play in a theater, as if you were an actor in the, let's say, comfort of your own VR headset. yeah. So, so that's, that's the, story of Vera. It's a transmedia in a sense that you can explore this story from different perspectives. There are many other great films. And recently what happens is that, I think the best place to explore it is Tribe Beka Film Festival, and, Venice Film Festival, Venice, even dedicated entire island to, volumetric
00:13:09 - And in recent years, the quality is going up tremendously. It's amazing what people are coming out, up with. It's, it's like 1920s or thirties in film. It's, it's getting that so many things are discovered, I'm thinking about writing a book about it because it's, it's so fascinating. There's enough material to, to cover all these, innovations in, in storytelling in volumetric film. We are literally seeing a birth of a new medium, which will be entirely,
00:13:40 - And it doesn't mean that I think the cinema will die or, will be even less popular. It's, it's just entirely different. It's like us cinema didn't kill theater. volumetric filmmaking will not, reduce the interest in, in, traditional films. It'll just create one, yet another, technique, for expressing yourself and expressing and, and, and creating stories. And it's, it's a, it's the most so far immersive except
00:14:13 - something which we many people don't experience anymore, because so few people go to theater, compared to, let's say, Italian opera. And everybody in masses were going to the Italian opera in, a hundred years ago. I think it will be back in a sense that we'll be able to, participate in this very, immersive, stories. But, using the, fear headset. Now, the important thing is that, that the technology has
00:14:43 - It cannot cost the $1 million to have a studio. And it also cannot be that as, as everyone was said, it, you, you are, you are not supposed to put a TV On your head and then look at it. right now the VR headsets are, basically two TV screens put on your head. it's changing. I, I, I have a, apple Vision Pro, and it's comparably better than the previous, headsets, but we are still not there. So what I envision is an ambient vr. So, a vr which will not require any, equipment,
00:15:16 - Either it can be either done. and at least for now with glasses like this, so lightweight glasses that still needs to be worn. And then it'll be, contact lenses, which already exist, but in very resolution or less projection from a distance on your director on your retina, which doesn't require anything. So once these kind of technologies and this, these are quite far away, they're not on the market or close to market yet, when these technologies exist, I think this will be a golden age for,

Exciting Future of Immersive Storytelling

00:16:06 - and me immersive anything, immersive meetings, immersive, schools, immersive worker environments, training, and so on. But for storytelling, it will be a wonderful place to explore. So, I'm very excited about the future, especially with the hope, hopes and, and risks of ai, and generative AI helping, artists to achieve that without having millions of dollars of budget.

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