November 17, 2022 – Arcturus, a provider of volumetric video editing and streaming tools, this week announced a new US$11 million Series A funding round led by Cloudtree Ventures, including investments from Autodesk and Epic Games. The company said the funding is a sign of confidence in the potential of the volumetric video market.
Along with Cloudtree, Epic Games and Autodesk, the recent Series A funding includes investments from Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, LLLP and QBN Capital. It follows an initial US$5 million seed round led by BITKRAFT Ventures in 2021. BITKRAFT announced a second separate investment in Arcturus, along with NaHCoH3, Craig Kallman and HBSE Ventures.
“We consider the translation of true human performance to be fundamental to space experiences, including XR and the Metaverse. Our goal is to give everyone, from multinational brands to independent creators, the tools they need to create authentic digital human representations in the metaverse of their choice,” said Kamal Mistry, CEO of Arcturus. “This year, from Q2 to Q3 alone, we’ve seen a 270% increase in HoloSuite adoption as more people transition from creator to 3D creator.”
Arcturus said the Series A funding will help the company grow its infrastructure, starting with increased staffing in research and development, engineering and sales. Additionally, it will use the funding to continue developing its flagship HoloSuite platform.
The company will also expand research into new AI tools to help improve 3D data capture with fewer cameras, and introduce new dynamic lighting and surfacing options that will improve volumetric video quality. Arcturus also added that it remains committed to developing new ways to improve live concerts on digital platforms and provide viewers with the ability to watch their favorite sports from any angle.
Beyond the enhancements planned for HoloSuite, Arcturus will continue to develop new tools and techniques for the world’s best 3D authoring tools. The company pointed out that when paired with its real-time 3D codec and editing tools, volumetric video can be used to place humans in any virtual world within Unreal Engine, Autodesk ecosystems. and Unity.
This makes it possible to populate virtual and augmented environments with live performance, whether for architects working on new designs, game developers building new worlds, virtual production teams filming against LED walls, or VFX teams. creating digidoubles, to name a few use cases. .
Arcturus also plans to extend existing volumetric video support, accessibility, and capabilities in Autodesk and Unreal Engine. Arcturus’ Unreal Engine tools allow creators to populate virtual production scenes with live-action talent – captured in 3D and in full motion – to create digital humans for visual effects, characters for games and more Again. Additional tools for Unreal Engine 5 are also in development, joining a custom volumetric video player released earlier this year.
“Arcturus tools make it easier for creators to compress, edit and deliver volumetric video,” said Alasdair Coull, Chief Technology Officer of Special Projects for Epic Games. “We’ve seen firsthand how Arcturus’ tools open the door to wider use of volumetric video and we’re proud to partner with Arcturus to continue accelerating the evolution of the technology.”
For more information on Arcturus and its volumetric video tools, please visit the website.
Image/video credit: Arcturus / YouTube
Sam Sprigg
Sam is the founder and editor-in-chief of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for five years.
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