Shining the starlight on industry trailblazers shooting for the stars

Exclusive TrailblaXR interview: Where the Moon Meets the Game
Eight360 is bridging worlds: training astronauts on lunar rovers at Texas A&M and now pushing VR gaming and immersive entertainment to levels of realism never seen before. The NOVA sphere makes every movement matter.

Exclusive TrailblaXR interview: REPLIKANT on the future of interactive digital experiences
Past, present, and future – REPLIKANT’s CTO Luc Schurgers shares how he is redefining animation and digital content with the companies AI-powered 3D virtual production platform that brings high-quality character creation, digital humans, and immersive environments within reach of every creator.

AI Gamechangers interviews Luc Schurgers CTO of REPLIKANT
“We’re building real-time 3D TV shows that talk back”
Luc Schurgers, CTO of REPLIKANT, on AI characters, 3D animation pipelines, and the future of real-time storytelling

Forbes – Charlie Fink discusses REPLIKANT Chat
Charlie Fink, Forbes’ AI, XR, and The Metaverse expert talks with REPLIKANT’s C-Suite on AI-Driven 3D characters across platforms

PikPok – Why compelling stories position the player at the heart of the company’s video games
PikPok’s Design Manager and Narrative Director, Rick Stemm explains why great story is the Holy Grail to gamer experience. Shhh… there’s an innovative XR game in development, more to come

Manifold Valley – The Hollywood AI and machine learning company revolutionising hyper-realistic digital humans for triple-A games
Exclusive interview with Ian Bloom, Founder and CEO of Los Angeles technology start-up, Manifold Valley as he unveils the company’s next-gen performance capture tech set to transform gaming—bringing real-world actors to life as identical in-game characters with AI and machine learning techniques.

REPLIKANT launches next-gen AI companion platform, REPLIKANT Chat on Steam
Step into a world where conversation comes to life. REPLIKANT Chat lets you engage in real-time dialogue with AI personalities that feel truly alive—complete with human-like speech, gestures, and emotions. Whether you’re diving into immersive games, interactive e-learning, or dynamic storytelling, REPLIKANT Chat is set to elevate the experience with secure, cutting-edge AI

Manifold Valley: Cinematic quality digital humans
Los Angeles start-up develops cutting-edge performance capture and 3D scanning technology to bring hyper-realistic digital humans to life in games. Have your say in their industry questionnaire.

Emil Nidal: Crosses over from VFX to Games
With multiple blockbuster movie credits to his name for his work on the likes of Wonka, Doctor Strange, Venom and Amazon Prime TV series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Emil Nidal’s career in virtual production, motion capture and real-time now finds him in the world of video games as Technical Animator

Pt2 – RocketWerkz and ICARUS: Elissa Snowball
We talk to Elissa Snowball on life as Producer at RocketWerkz games studio headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand.

Pt1 – RocketWerkz and ICARUS: Chrissy Woods
Chrissy Woods shares her experience at RocketWerkz, the self-publishing games studio backed by Tencent, her transition out of the Travel industry into Interactive Media and Games – fast becoming one of New Zealand’s high growth sectors.

VIA University: Søren Klit Lambæk: When Software Developer turns Adjunct
The VIA University in Denmark takes a focused approach to XR; students are future-proofed with their latest software engineering education for real-time applications the likes of VR training simulations and game development with powerful games engines Unity and Unreal Engine, real-time software and 3D animation… and more on his side projects

Animatrik: Real-time performance capture for games, SIGGRAPH 2022
Animatrik is a world leader in groundbreaking motion capture, pre-visualisation and virtual cinematography services. Meet them at SIGGRAPH Vancouver, 2022

CONICAL achieves VR magic with Epic Games
Awarded the Epic MegaGrant, CONICAL launches ‘The Green Fairy’ to the world – New Zealand’s first ever CG animated VR movie and Vlog series, featuring voiceover actors from Disney and Netflix

Look Designer 2 merges Hollywood film aesthetics with real-time game engines
Triple-A games harness the power of Look Designer 2.0 color technology to bring true cinematic look and feel for engaging gameplay experiences
Instinctively Real Media | Global Creative Agency
The creative agency that moves mountains for brands through effective strategy, planning and unique insights. We celebrate the cutting-edge industry sectors of Technology, Media & Entertainment. We champion creators, pioneers and teams in the fields of motion capture, 3D animation, games, visual effects, live performances, enterprise, XR, immersive experiences and live broadcast, with a special focus on digital humans and interactive virtual characters everywhere.
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