Arcturus Partners with DOCOMO to Bring Volumetric Videos to 5G Mobile Devices

Large volumetric video to be streamed to 5G devices.

(Image courtesy of Arcturus.)

(Image courtesy of Arcturus.)

Arcturus, a provider of editing tools for volumetric videos, announced that they will be partnering with NTT DOCOMO, a Japanese mobile operator. The collaboration aims to make it possible for users to stream volumetric videos of any size or length over a 5G mobile network.

Volumetric videos record 3D videos in real-time. Capturing depth and space in a video uses more data, which makes them difficult to stream online. The video files require storing multiple camera angles of an event, which creates large and complex files. This has made it difficult to share volumetric videos longer than a short clip over a network.

Although the volumetric video is not ubiquitous right now, Arcturus expects its usage to grow. LiDAR sensors are becoming more available on mobile devices (such as the iPhones 12), which gives average users the ability to capture volumetric video. Arcturus and DOCOMO are betting volumetric video will be the next big trend.

“Working with Arcturus, we are able to anticipate the needs of our customers now and in the future, and offer them solutions before they know they want them,” explained Naoto Matoba, innovation manager at NTT DOCOMO. “Volumetric videos offer an entirely new way to experience content, and now that we can offer them to anyone with a mobile device, we expect the interest to grow rapidly.”

The larger capacity of 5G networks will allow anyone to record and stream volumetric videos. The videos can be played in a web browser, virtual reality, or augmented reality. This opens many possibilities for how the new content could be shared. It could allow people to create virtual spaces, or augment real locations with volumetric video.

The announcement of the partnership coincides with the ongoing global rollout of 5G networks and Arcturus’s release of their volumetric video content delivery platform, Holostream. The new software will allow artists to edit and export volumetric video to third-party tools, including post-production software or game engines.

But the advancement of volumetric video is expected to go beyond entertainment—it also presents opportunities for enterprise. For example, volumetric videos could be used to train employees.

“We’ve learned how brain engaged employees are when trained by content captured volumetrically,” explained Tim Zenk of volumetric video studio Avatar Dimension, in an interview with Forbes. “It results in more knowledgeable employees because they learn from every angle. Enterprises have reported that using this technology sees enormous efficiency gains while increasing the quality of training skills learned.”

It will be interesting to see what the future of volumetric video will be. Kamal Mistry, CEO of Arcturus, explains that the company’s goal is “to put volumetric video technology in the hands of anyone with a mobile device.” A limiting factor to this goal has been the network’s ability to support the video format. Their partnership with DOCOMO promises to overcome that barrier.