Working across the UK - Digital Catapult

Northern Ireland

Developing long term partnerships to boost immersive and AI technology adoption

No longer focused only on immersive technologies and the creative industries, Digital Catapult Northern Ireland’s work continues to branch out into other technologies, especially AI, which is now a central pillar of engagement.

We partner with leading organisations to use technology to enhance the audience experience. From shaping a £240,000 challenge fund with Arts Council NI, to working with international firms such as RivR, Virtualitics, Unity and 3Data to boost access to hardware and software for small businesses. As a partner organisation on the Future Screens NI programme, we are helping create R&D opportunities for the creative sector, helping to secure four FSNI R&D grant funded projects to enable non-XR startups to research, adopt and pivot their business with XR. With NI Screen we worked to connect creative and enterprise opportunities for spatial computing, securing a Unity certified training programme via an FSNI R&D fund to attract individuals with a gaming background as well as encouraging non-gaming applications from manufacturing, construction and architecture to pursue the use of immersive tech in their companies. We presented at SXSW with Axial3D and Belfast Health Trust, the success of which led to an idea - the Startle Effect - to help train surgeons and their team cope with split second decision making during an operation. A team of local surgeons, XR producers and psychologists will work with DCNI and an international pharmaceutical company to film a VR training simulator POC.

We provided expert advice on IoT and AI to the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) to optimise predictive maintenance of the region’s highways, helping DfI reach companies outside of its usual procurement process to develop a tool that captures real time data on the condition of the highway from DfI fleet vehicles and Translink buses. 16 companies applied for the challenge, with four chosen to develop a solution. By integrating the data with AI, the tool can predict road degradation, helping to deliver a proactive repair schedule and framework for ongoing and future highways maintenance. Phase 2 of the project is underway to deliver a robust, practical, affordable solution suitable for use across Northern Ireland.

We’re also working with a number of organisations including the Northern Ireland Advanced Composites and Engineering Centre (NIAEEC) to develop manufacturing operations demonstrators using VR. Aiming to demonstrate the efficacy of VR for training in assembly and maintenance, this project comprised three independent but related projects from Bombardier Aerospace, Thales and Denroy Plastics. Together, these demonstrators assessed state-of-the art technologies, evaluating them against the standard workflows for assembly-type tasks, giving the project partners an understanding of the end-to-end processes involved in VR deployment, evidence for the business case and value proposition of VR for training. We were lead partner on the project due to our significant expertise and understanding of immersive technologies, as well as our reach into the startup community, Sixteen small businesses applied, of which nine presented their ideas with two selected to collaborate across the project: Yellow Design, a Northern Irish startup and global enterprise organisation Dassault Systemes.

North East Tees Valley

The North East has long been synonymous with manufacturing, from its historic ship building roots to the base for the automotive industry today. As advanced digital technologies become more ubiquitous, the North East once again has the opportunity to lead the world. In partnership with Sunderland Council, we developed the Assistive Technology Testbed to help local residents live more safely and independently in their own homes for longer. We tested new assistive technology devices and created a platform to collect information from these devices, allowing the social services team to better plan their visits based on need. An independent evaluation found that if scaled beyond the initial pilot, Sunderland City Council could save £3.7 million over three years, with a return on investment in just seven and a half months.

We helped create an app, Sunderland Steps, that encourages local residents and employees to be more active, linked to a programme delivered throughout the city by the council. Nearly 2,400 people have downloaded the app so far, and the SME app developer has since been able to sell the IP. We helped Kielder Water and Forest Park (KW&FP) to engage a more diverse audience by working to educate partners and stakeholders on immersive technology, shape an open call brief, manage the application process and deliver remote pitching sessions for four startups. As a result, Tees Valley based company Animmersion won £10,000 to create a fly-by VR proof of concept.

We’re also supporting local creative and cultural organisations, venues and practitioners to explore how tech can enhance creative practices and help these organisations reach new audiences through the Sunderland Culture Coastal Communities project. Originally a physical residential event, the sessions moved online due to Covid-19 but continue to be popular: since launching in November 2019, 46 individuals, venues and organisations have been engaged.

We continue to work very closely with a range of medium sized and large organisations in the North East.

Our Digital Manufacturing residential programme helps manufacturers that want to explore innovation and emerging technologies but don’t know where to start, and has supported 22 businesses to date. We continued our relationship with P&G, working with the Digital Catapult London team to solve three problems faced by two P&G departments in Newcastle and Reading. We helped P&G narrow down over 70 applications from companies across the globe to 16 companies shortlisted to pitch. Three companies, from Belfast, Gateshead and London, subsequently secured commercial contracts with P&G as a direct result of our activity.

Creating better cultural experiences

The pioneering 5G Smart Tourism project in Bristol and Bath was one of the first large-scale demonstrations of the combined power of 5G and immersive technologies to revolutionise how we socialise and interact with cultural experiences

The multimillion pound project led by the West of England Combined Authority and funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, brought together 19 organisations including Digital Catapult, to change how the cultural, heritage and tourism sectors create interactive immersive experiences in a way never seen before by launching a virtual and augmented reality tour of 2,000 year old Roman Baths, 360 degree immersive experiences, and an entirely new way of looking at art enabled by 5G.

This kind of cultural experience would have been unimaginable with previous iterations of network technology, and that’s mainly because it’s hard to strike a balance between the technology advances in infrastructure and the real impact on improving where we live, work and play. 5G lets us bring it to life.

Using the most advanced network infrastructure at the University of Bristol 5G testbed and demonstrating exactly how immersive cultural experiences will benefit from 5G, and how the experience of the ordinary visitor will change with it, companies large and small showcased their experiences in Bristol and Bath.

BBC R&D blended 5G with virtual and augmented reality to bring the 2,000-year history of the Roman Baths in Bath, to life. Innovators Landmrk gave visitors an interactive, 360 video-guided tour around Bristol highlighting just the vast contrast between 4G and 5G capabilities. And Mativision presented simultaneous 360° VR experiences, revealing how 5G removes barriers to multiple users experiencing shared synced content. Smartify is using 5G to enhance its app, which provides information on artworks from around the world, via bonus content including audio stories and videos.

The stark contrast between current networks technologies and the potential of 5G to cultural experiences carries on behind the scenes as well with other partners including the University of Bristol Smart Internet Lab, King’s College London, Zeetta Networks, CCS, BT and Bristol City Council demonstrating how interconnecting 5G testbeds and network slicing unlock numerous benefits, from better shared experiences across different locations, to support large-scale events making them safer and better managed.

These experiences in venues including M Shed, Millennium Square and We The Curious demonstrated the momentous and transformative change 5G is having, not just on the infrastructure that you don’t see, but on the art, historical and cultural experiences you might visit on a normal weekend.

Innovating across the manufacturing value chain

We’re working across the manufacturing value chain, and on projects across the UK that are helping to develop pockets of capability harness advanced digital technologies.

Two major projects we’re currently undertaking are centred around Cambridge (INZIC) and Bristol (DETI) and target multiple parts of the manufacturing value chain. What both also have in common is that the lessons and outputs are not confined to the region where these projects are based.

We’re also working on projects with large organisations like Thales, NSG Group, and BOC to create proofs of concept that can be scaled for real business impact. This focus on helping to grow the capabilities of UK manufacturing has helped Digital Catapult to grow significantly from the same time last year.

INZIC

The new Industrial Net Zero Innovation Centre (INZIC) will target asset and energy intensive industries such as aerospace, utilities and energy. Digital tech has a key role to play in improving sustainability and efficiency in order to reduce both the carbon footprint of industrial processes and supply chain logistics, through better optimisation of resources.

INZIC will help organisations tackle industrial net zero challenges by exploiting advanced digital technologies and deep industrial domain expertise in areas such as digital twin and asset life extension, creating new market opportunities for UK tech startups and industrial businesses alike.

We are delighted to partner with Digital Catapult on this new venture to drive new regional research and technology capability for the acceleration of digitally enabled industrial net zero, and reducing the UK’s CapEx by creating new business service models in maintenance, repair and overhaul to extend the life of industrial assets

Aamir Khalid

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF TWI

DETI

The West of England is home to the UK’s largest advanced engineering and aerospace cluster and a vibrant digital community. As such, the region delivers the expertise, living labs and a technology test bed that companies need to progress.

We’re thrilled to be working on the Digital Engineering Technology & Innovation (DETI) project to push the boundaries of digital engineering for the future, to help UK businesses maintain engineering leadership. DETI is a strategic programme of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), delivered by the National Composites Centre (NCC) the Centre for Modelling & Simulation, the University of the West of England, the University of Bristol, the University of Bath, Airbus, GKN Aerospace, and Rolls-Royce.

Cutting edge immersive facilities and accelerators

Our facilities at Dimension and the Imaginarium are leading edge pioneers in volumetric and motion capture for the film and TV industry, and the expertise that resides in these facilities is truly leading the way in global virtual production developments. Most recently, Dimension has been involved in helping people get back to work in Covid-safe ways and aiding economic recovery, whilst our immersive acceleration programmes continue to help startups reach investors and commercial partners, or pivot to create at-home experiences to be accessed by audiences on their phones or computers.

CreativeXR and Augmentor

Hundreds of immersive teams have applied to take part in our immersive acceleration programmes. CreativeXR, now in its third year, has recently selected 20 new teams to test the boundaries of how immersive technology can be used and experienced. The programme allows for freedom to raise new forms of art, storytelling and entertainment using content delivered through VR, AR, haptics or immersive audio technologies. 60 teams have taken part in CreativeXR raising £2.7m since leaving the programme.

Augmentor focuses on boosting investment readiness, commercial viability and product market fit for immersive startups. Success stories from this programme include HoloMe, the technology provider behind Asos’ ‘Virtual Catwalk’; Arcade which has since developed worked with Digital Catapult and MUNCH; Somewhere Else which developed the BodySwaps immersive training platform that recently received funding and business support from HTC VIVE X; and Kagenova, which raised over £400,000 for its interactive realism products.

Dimension

Dimension is a world-class volumetric video capture studio. One of the most advanced facilities of its kind, Dimension has given a significant contribution to the UK’s capability to produce volumetric video which enables an array of new audience experiences.

The Imaginarium Studios

Imaginarium is the UK’s leading performance capture studio, and is revolutionising storytelling by applying the latest innovations in performance capture technology, helping to cement the UK’s global leadership in creating immersive content. Based in Ealing, London, the studio constantly explores new platforms, technology, and ways of using motion and performance capture to tell stories - from a major Hollywood feature, a live theatrical performance, children’s TV or an emerging platform such as mixed reality.