{"id":1255,"date":"2020-01-15T00:44:21","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T00:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/2020\/01\/15\/design-unfolded-m-xr-interview-with-elliott-round\/"},"modified":"2020-01-15T00:44:21","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T00:44:21","slug":"design-unfolded-m-xr-interview-with-elliott-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/2020\/01\/15\/design-unfolded-m-xr-interview-with-elliott-round\/","title":{"rendered":"Design Unfolded: M-XR Interview with Elliott Round"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The world of VR and AR is one that is emerging, slowly interweaving itself amongst cultural conversations amid the zeitgeist. However, in the ways that brands and people consider the integration of technology in their everyday life, London-based tech firm M-XR (formerly Mimic-XR) has intently surveyed the arena and believes the industry has not hit peak maturation. Imploying their forward-thinking prowess, M-XR is using machine learning and 3D capture technology to import the real world into the digital realm as a means to develop inventive experiences to suit the needs of companies to creators. Recently, speaking at <a href=\"https:\/\/hypebeast.com\/tags\/samsung\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Samsung<\/a>\u2018s Design Unfolded experience, alongside debuting its immersive project with <a href=\"https:\/\/hypebeast.com\/tags\/byborre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BYBORRE<\/a>, HYPEBEAST caught up with its co-founder Elliott Round to discuss how he and his business partner established the studio as a means to change how people will interact with the 3D world in the near future.<\/p>\n<p><b> Can you give some background behind what M-XR is?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>M-XR is really interested in the 3D space, so VR and AR \u2014 also anything 3D from live visual effects, films and games. We\u2019re really focused on how can we make this industry more user-friendly, in terms of the creation process. At the moment, it\u2019s very tedious: It\u2019s a lot of manual work. And as a result of that, the creative tends to get forgotten or the budget\u2019s so high. So, we\u2019re really interested in how can you use tech and specifically AI to build tools that can almost automate a lot [of] this process to then empower the creator.<\/p>\n<p><b> How did you find your way into working with VR and AR? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>I was working in the film industry, [and] we moved into doing 360 and that was quite fun. But, you couldn\u2019t really interact with it. That\u2019s when I started playing around with a program called Unity. We started with some interactive work and you could pick stuff up, you could interact with the characters. It stopped being film and it was more like you [were] transferred into space and environment. And that was really exciting all of a sudden, but I was never [into] 3D games until that point; I thought it was a bit geeky, and I was like, \u201cOkay, you can do some cool stuff with this like live music, events, exhibitions \u2014 all that kind of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But, the problem was [that] it took so long to do anything, and, even then, it still looks a bit kinda crappy. So I kind of took a step back, and I was like, \u201cIf this really wants to pick up, how can we move it forward?\u201d And the thing that seems to be the biggest problem was how would you create the content that goes into these worlds? I started looking to photogrammetry, which you\u2019d just take a bunch of pictures and make some models. But the problem is, it isn\u2019t real because it doesn\u2019t have any textures and materials and suede, leather or plastic wouldn\u2019t react to light differently at all.<\/p>\n<p>So that\u2019s when Ryan and I founded MXR, originally called mimic. And we started looking into how could we actually acquire these materials. So when we do a scan, we have all the properties of how it reacts to light. The technology has been progressing-and-progressing over the past couple of years. And now we can really capture a whole variety of material properties when we scan an object and put it into a digital environment, and if we light it the same way as the real objects, they\u2019re indistinguishable.<\/p>\n<p> <iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/304239932\" width=\"640\" height=\"1138\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p><b>Do you think the work you are doing could overtake the physical world?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t think VR should be seen as replacing the real world. I love traveling and seeing real-life stuff; I don\u2019t want to ever replace that. I [do] think it is great to enable people to shrink the world. There are places that you can\u2019t visit for a whole plethora of reasons, VR can enable that. Equally, if you want to buy a product, you can\u2019t always get that product or if you\u2019re buying online you can only see it from a certain viewpoint or angle. If you can see it in AR, then you\u2019re more likely to buy something and keep it rather than buy it and return it. Normally, you might see something online but can\u2019t tell [if] that it is black suede or leather. I have no idea. If you can do that virtually, then there\u2019s less disparity and you know what you\u2019re getting into.<\/p>\n<p><b> You\u2019re almost breaking down the information gap.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Exactly. It\u2019s almost like the Internet\u2019s kind of blown up and got really far. We\u2019ve started to hit a bit of a wall where we\u2019re trying to take this 3D world we live in and compress it into a flat, 2D space. But there are times when that just doesn\u2019t work, and I think that\u2019s what VR and AR are already starting to show that you\u2019re surpassing that.<\/p>\n<p><q>If you\u2019re creating something which genuinely serves a purpose and you\u2019re using it as a tool, which you can\u2019t natively just [use] on a touchscreen, then you\u2019ve got something that isn\u2019t a novelty.<\/q><\/p>\n<p><b> What do you foresee a struggle in the VR and AR industry? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>I think the biggest problem is audience uptake. We are seeing all this stuff and it\u2019s like, \u201dOh, this is amazing. Why is no one else getting on that? Why is no one using VR?\u201d And the biggest problem is that there wasn\u2019t enough content for the headsets, which are crazy expensive. So, you\u2019re only buying if you\u2019re a hardcore gamer; therefore, people are only going to make gaming experiences.<\/p>\n<p>Now you\u2019re getting headsets like the Oculus Quest, which is just dirt cheap for what it can do. This starts opening up the window for anyone that wants to try VR, and as a result of that, you\u2019re getting more content creators. [It\u2019s] starting to snowball a bit \u2014 not as rapidly as I think it should \u2014 but it\u2019s starting to get there. But now it\u2019s a really exciting time where you\u2019re getting people play around [with] VR. Before it felt like you were only getting people from the film and games industry who\u2019ve already got a pre-held notion of what this format should be. [This] is a new thing and it needs to be treated that way; It isn\u2019t a film and it isn\u2019t games.<\/p>\n<p> <iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/380532870\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><b> Why do you feel brands haven\u2019t fully understood how to implement the technology into their infrastructure? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>AR three or four years ago came out, and it wasn\u2019t really where it should have been. It was a bit premature and, as a result, you\u2019ve got loads of people that threw a bunch of money at it and people got burned. So [now], people are a bit kind of cautious, but it\u2019s really starting to pick up now. But with a lot of the big brands, I think they\u2019re kind of waiting for someone else to make that first move. And in addition to that, they haven\u2019t got the departments. I don\u2019t think they see that there\u2019s a huge need for as of yet. It\u2019s coming, but a lot of these big studios and brands don\u2019t have an in-house team to create an experience. They kind of hit a wall.<\/p>\n<p><b> How does M-XR look to creating a product that goes past just being novel? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>When the iPhone first came out and people were playing those hold a beer glass and you drink it or you\u2019ve got a ball and you\u2019re kind of navigating [through] a maze [games]. I feel like that\u2019s where we are right now with AR because it\u2019s so new. It\u2019s like, \u201cWhat do you do with that?\u201d I think you can categorize something as being really good if you can take a VR piece and it [doesn\u2019t] translate to a 2D format, then I think that\u2019s a great use of that medium because it only exists in that [space] \u2014 and I think that\u2019s the same with AR. If you\u2019re creating something which genuinely serves a purpose and you\u2019re using it as a tool, which you can\u2019t natively just [use] on a touchscreen, then you\u2019ve got something that isn\u2019t a novelty; It has an actual use and it is something that you\u2019re going to keep coming back to and not for just a bit of fun.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode-slider before-booted full-screen-enabled light\" data-width=\"100%\" data-animate=\"slide\" data-slideshow=\"\" data-loop=\"\" data-slideshowspeed=\"7000\" data-group-cells=\"1\">\n<div class=\"flickity-carousel\">\n<div class=\"flickity-carousel-cell\" data-gallery-index=\"2\"><span class=\"gallery-image-index\"><span class=\"image-index\">2 of 5<\/span><span class=\"sprite-gallery-expand\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<div>. Most of the high-end AR on the internet was sneakers, so it felt obvious [that] we should do a sneaker. So we reached out to Nike and they actually sent us the Vapor Max. We\u2019re like, \u201cCool, let\u2019s scan it.\u201d And [Nike] put some stuff out and we did the same. So we put that [shoe] online and it got quite a bit of traction.<\/p>\n<p>[Looking] at CAD, I think the problem is it\u2019s only ever going to be as good as the artist that is using it. So it\u2019s as good as your eyes looking at a picture and trying to copy that picture, which can be pretty good but you\u2019re always going to make it too perfect. That\u2019s when it falls into this thing called the uncanny valley \u2014 where you\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, it doesn\u2019t look quite right, and I don\u2019t know why.\u201d That\u2019s why you have to capture it; you can\u2019t guess. You have to measure the objects as a whole and put it back onto the object so that all those nuances and subtle scratches and scuffs are there. And that\u2019s when your brain\u2019s like, \u201cYeah, this is a real thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b> Do you think what you do fosters a great deal of accessibility for more people to get involved in using this tech to create?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Oh, definitely! In all honesty, that\u2019s the whole reason I started looking into this. I wanted to be able to create more content. Before, all my time was spent modeling texture and dealing with stuff. I couldn\u2019t actually build the experiences, [but] if we can automate this, it\u2019s going to allow small studios to focus on the creative side of things, like the experience.<\/p>\n<p><q>\u2018Okay, how can I reduce the amount of waste? How am I using the digital world as a means to cut back on my resources in the physical world?\u2019<\/q><\/p>\n<p><b> How do you think fashion can benefit from further integrating itself with AR and VR?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>If that AR experience is good, the hope is that you\u2019re going to start reducing things like waste. I also think for brands, it is going to open up a lot more freedom for customized clothes whereby you can customize it and see it instantly. I think it\u2019s going to allow people, especially smaller brands, to capture stuff and put it into an AR experience. They won\u2019t need a storefront. [Smaller brands] will be able to use the internet as a digital store and not be bound to the small town there in. They\u2019ll have a virtual store for the whole world and people can come in and try on their clothing.<\/p>\n<p><b>What could this do for sustainability, as well? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Obviously, the number of clothes that get bought and thrown away can hopefully be reduced. I think also it can be used for education. I mean we\u2019ve done pieces in the past where it\u2019s helped teach people about plastic waste. If you can do that with clothing, you can somehow show these products can be a little bit more expensive but made with all these really high-quality materials. Also, where the materials come from. You can see the positive impact that these make as opposed to buying cheap [clothes]. People are becoming a lot more kind of wise to it all. Like, \u201cI bought this shirt. What\u2019s going to happen afterward? Is it gonna just go in a landfill? Is it going to dissolve?\u201d I think [AR and VR] can show and explain that. And especially with what BYBOORE is doing with picking the best quality materials and then why they\u2019re picking those materials and sharing the whole production processes [digitally], it is almost as real and raw as possible. This should help curve the environmental impacts.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/380532841\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><b>What was it like working with BYBORRE for this project? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>It was quite exciting. When we first started speaking, we found out that he was very much focused on the R&amp;D side of things, so that kind of matched with like our workflow and our mentality. It was quite fun seeing how he approached it, compared to how we did. So he sent us a massive cut of fabric and a bunch of parkas and sweaters. And it was a bit of an exciting challenge because we were like, \u201cHow do we digitize this?\u201d Normally, we would scan things as a whole because we want to have that kind of customizability.<\/p>\n<p>So we kind of started breaking it down into components. We first identified the different kinds of stitches within the fabrics that we were scanning. And then we looked at the fabric and patterns and how they came together. So we kind of created like a computer program to make this all procedural. That meant BYBORRE could sort of send us new designs and we wouldn\u2019t have to scan it. We had all these elements, and we could then generate those on the fly. In some of the videos, you see almost a few of those designs moving in real-time. And his perspective and why he\u2019s using tech, not as a tool to make more made us think like, \u201cOkay, how can I reduce the amount of waste? How am I using the digital world as a means to cut back on my resources in the physical world?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b> And what else did you learn from him? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>The biggest thing was that I didn\u2019t know anything about textiles. I kept tripping up on all my terms. It was interesting just seeing the different stages that they go through and how they test [materials and products]. They sent us this massive board of all the different tests they consider, like IM for stretch or waft. And then there are these scans of the human body where you could actually see where he was coming from. So that was quite close in their approach to that and then we thought how could we kind of recreate that in a synthetic, authentic way.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/380532904\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><b> How did you decide upon the movement for the videos? <b\/><\/b><\/p>\n<p>We were initially looking through some of the decks that we were sent, what became apparent was the reason they were creating these 3D stitches was to give it a sense of rigidity. You could have areas which were already stiff and areas which are soft within the same piece of fabric \u2014 not having to layer anything up. So motion became key. There was also another image that we saw that their team created. It was sort of like a day in the life of two characters: One was sort of going to work and was going to play sports. And it was all about how the fabric would adapt to that heat and motion. So, we wanted to show that it was adapting to that. So we used video. In climate chambers, you can see [clothing] is moving in a certain way in the wind. We tried to copy that. We had my guys wearing a coat and had them run around as a reference. In the video, you can see there\u2019s Erosie, like this rusty brown colored [fabric], moving apart from the other materials because it\u2019s soft. So that\u2019s kind of big. It\u2019s keeping the character cool and when he\u2019s running you can see it flapping in the wind<\/p>\n<p><b> What\u2019s the future?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Aside from getting this capture system completely automatic, it\u2019s then once you have this object, what do you do with it? So, as I mentioned, there\u2019s not a huge infrastructure for AR right now and I think that\u2019s something that we\u2019re going to have to start building with brands, understanding what is the brand\u2019s need, what are the brand\u2019s customers needs and how can we slot AR into that. So this interactive piece that we\u2019ve developed is sort of a preamble and a bit of R&amp;D for us because it\u2019s allowed us to sort of see how you interact with a digital fabric, how do you customize it, how do you see it in different lighting scenarios and do you want to see it in different environments?<\/p>\n<p>So that\u2019s something we can then start exploring and developing a little bit more. Hopefully, then we can put this into studios like BYBORRE\u2019s where Borre can create new designs and see it instantly and how that fabric moves. In-store or online, the system will allow consumers to see an item before it\u2019s been designed and made. And if at a brick and mortar, they can customize it on like a holographic light field display, take pictures of it and then send it to their friends for an opinion on it, as though it was a real item. When they hit send or buy, whatever is created will reduce iterative waste or return.<\/p>\n<p>Check out M-XR\u2019s work above and head to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.samsung.com\/global\/galaxy\/galaxy-fold\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Samsung\u2019s website<\/a>\u00a0to learn more about the Galaxy Fold.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/hypebeast.com\/2019\/12\/samsung-m-xr-vr-ar-interview-profile\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] The world of VR and AR is one that is emerging, slowly interweaving itself amongst cultural conversations amid the zeitgeist. However, in the ways that brands and people consider the integration of technology in their everyday life, London-based tech firm M-XR (formerly Mimic-XR) has intently surveyed the arena and believes the industry has not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[168],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-xr"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2TFCd-kf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1255\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielparente.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}