Toward ‘RealTime’ Made In Code
Project partners: University of the Arts London (UAL), Numerion Software
XR Network+ supported a collaboration between UAL’s Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology (BFTT) and Numerion Software that explored the power of supercomputing to create believable, interactive, real-time virtual garments for use on Virtual Production (VP) projects.
Digital renditions of fabric and the clothed body in gaming, screen, and wider cultural and commercial contexts are slowly evolving, however due to significant complexities aligned to this field of practice, depictions of textile and dress tend to be considered unreal or cartoon-like.
Toward ‘RealTime’ Made In Code used Numerion’s Carbon software to render a complex theatrical garment as a proof of concept for Virtual Production. The project team worked through variations of the garment in movement, adjusting different aspects to test simulation and rendering performance alongside aesthetic evaluation.
Image © Toward ‘RealTime’ Made In Code : UAL Fashion, Textiles and Technology Institute; Jane Harris, Maria Grachvogel, Numerion Software, Freddie O’Reilly.
Through this process the team developed an enhanced understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of the application of different digital textile qualities alongside software applications.
The research has established a benchmark for current capability in the field and an understanding of the challenges and opportunities for the use of supercomputing to move us closer to real time rendition
Funding from XR Network+ enabled the project team to significantly develop the work carried out in the original Made in Code project (Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology, AHRC). The challenge of creating complex, aesthetically believable moving digital renditions of textiles and garments remains a key challenge for the digital experience industry, and one that is not yet developed by any of the industry’s major players.
Toward ‘RealTime’ Made In Code is one of five projects supported by the XR Network+ Embedded R&D funding call. Grants of up to £60,000 were awarded to researchers at UK universities to explore the transfer of knowledge between academia and industry in areas aligned with VP. The projects took place between September 2023 and March 2024.
Categories: Arts, Film, Performance, Research, Technology