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Research at the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering on computer vision tracking led to the creation of Extra Reality Limited in 2010, which was subsequently acquired by a new company called Zappar Limited in May 2011. Zappar employs 17 staff and had revenue of GBP612k in the financial year 2012/13, an increase of 35% on the previous year.
Over 50 different brands have used Zappar's augmented reality application across more than 300 offerings in over 17 countries to deliver entertainment-based marketing interactions from 2011 to 2013. [text removed for publication] Examples of partners include Disney, Warner Brothers and Marvel. Zappar has changed attitudes in the media sector by showing that "augmented reality is finally ready for prime time" (President, Creative Strategies Inc, Time Online, 2012).
The Geometric Modelling and Pattern Recognition (GMPR) Group at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) has developed and patented internationally-known line projection technologies for fast 3D scan, reconstruction and recognition. Three types of impact can be identified: (i) through our patents, we have licensed to companies in Europe and the USA; (ii) these technologies are being transferred to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) across Europe, through the European funded MARWIN and ADMOS projects; and (iii) social and cultural impacts are evidenced by the 3D scanning of representative items from the Museums Sheffield Metalwork Collection which have been made publicly available on the web, and through the `Man of Steel' community project where a landmark sculpture will form a gateway to South Yorkshire and the Sheffield City Region.
The Boujou special effects software was developed from research carried out at the Department of Engineering Science. It enables sophisticated computer generated imagery (CGI) to be quickly and easily added to `real' film footage, facilitating the visual effects that feature so importantly in films such as Harry Potter and X-Men. The software has become an essential tool used by film-makers, TV advert producers, and video game manufacturers, and for instance played a pivotal role in helping `The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' win the 2009 Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Between 2008 and 2013, sales of Boujou totalled £1.37 million and this software boosted productivity and profitability right across the global digital entertainment industry.
UCL's pioneering use of 3D body surface scanning and national anthropometric surveys has had impact in the fashion industry and healthcare. In 2008, a UCL spinout, Sizemic, was founded to sell clothing size charts and fit mannequins based on the UK survey data, helping manufacturers and retailers improve the fit of their clothing, and reduce their product development times and costs. Sizemic now has 10 employees and a turnover of £1m. The research also led to other national sizing surveys, including in Germany (2008/9), Thailand (2009/10) and Mexico (2010), with results used for product development. In 2009, UCL built a prototype 3D-healthcare system for GPs and established a company, ShapeDynamics, to support the platform. The software is being tested at a private healthcare practice in London. Another UCL spinout, Bodymetrics, has commercialised body scanners for use as a clothes-fitting aid in stores.
The introduction of computer vision algorithms that allow creation of stereo 3D content in film and broadcast using conventional 2D monocular video cameras has permitted fundamental advances in the 3D reconstruction of complex real-world dynamic scenes from video, enabling the rendering of stereo views from a single camera view. Technology introduced by Surrey has been used for 3D scene analysis by the UK company, The Foundry, in their film post-production for major Hollywood 3D film productions (Avatar, Harry Potter, Planet of the Apes, Tron, The Hobbit). Since 2007, The Foundry has transformed to become the leading provider of 3D stereo production software tools to the global visual effects industry, growing from 20 to over 200 employees.
This impact is on society, culture and creativity. Series and Schleimer from Warwick's Geometry and Topology group have produced attractive visualisations and physical realisations of mathematical objects arising in their research. These have elicited a wide response from members of the public, with designs being creatively used for commercial, aesthetic and educational purposes.
Series popularised a novel form of fractal art, based on the geometry of iterated Möbius maps, in her book Indra's Pearls. This has inspired many artists working in a variety of media ranging from posters to quilts. Schleimer designs elegant yet mathematically accurate realisations of three and four dimensional figures, such as knots and related surfaces, suitable for 3D printing. These are being commercially manufactured, sold and displayed publically.
HWUCS Texture Laboratory research since 1995 has developed techniques to capture 3D surfaces via stereo scanning, resulting in capability for fast, accurate capture in a way that supports realistic rendering. In 2007 the Texture Lab installed its texture capture system at IKEA, Sweden. Since then it has been used continually to amass a digital library of over 5,000 materials for generating sales imagery, and is behind 30% of room-set and 75-80% of single product shots in ~1.5Bn IKEA catalogues printed 2008--2013, in addition to online content. Meanwhile IKEA's r 3D graphics team has grown from 3 to 50.
Research at the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering (DoEng) has enabled accurate positioning to be added to 2D freehand ultrasound probes to enable the acquisition of large coherent blocks of high-resolution 3D ultrasound image data. The software code base developed in the DoEng was licensed to two separate companies, Schallware and MedaPhor, to enable them each to develop an ultrasound training product. Both companies have sold to more than 30 customers worldwide during the REF impact period; the Cambridge software had a key role in contributing to the innovation and quality of the products developed by both companies, and significantly increased the speed at which they were able to bring these products to market.
This case study involves the development and implementation of novel algorithms that control the mapping of depth from a scene being imaged by a camera to an image being viewed on a stereoscopic display so as to make viewing more comfortable for the human visual system. The algorithms, developed at Durham University between 2003 and 2005:
A permanent museum display has been set up at House for an Art Lover, Bellahouston Park, Glasgow as a direct result of the AHRC-funded "British Empire Exhibition" project undertaken at the Digital Design Studio. The display includes workstations with project outputs such as 3D interactive virtual models of the non-extant architecture of the 1938 Exhibition (which itself was situated in Bellahouston Park), large format images of the architecture, interviews and interpretation, the full digitised project archive, and a selection of the physical project archive materials (a collection which was significantly enhanced by multiple donations from members of the public thanks to engaging and effective project publicity). The display has contributed intellectually, artistically, and economically to the House's assets.