Unique VP studio opens at Royal Holloway to support creative technology businesses

A new virtual production facility, Futures Studio, is opening at Royal Holloway, University of London, offering creative technology businesses a space to innovate, showcase their work and collaborate with industry experts and world-class researchers. 

The launch was celebrated with an event attended by leading partners and industry including Sky, BT and Limax Studios, and featured a series of talks and demonstrations in the studio led by Disguise and CoSTAR National Lab specialist teams.  

Jointly funded by Royal Holloway and Surrey County Council, the studio, which is based at the University’s Egham campus in Surrey, is packed with cutting-edge equipment. This includes a unique combination of a virtual production environment and a next generation audio system, including ambisonics and object-based audio. The Futures Studio is powered by Royal Holloway’s partnership with Disguise, which is behind world-leading visual experiences including live events for Taylor Swift, Adele, Beyonce and Massive Attack.  

The Futures Studio offers businesses an advanced facility to innovate and generate new products and services – from new immersive experiences to new production tools. The facility will enable the flourishing local creative economy to thrive and grow.  

It is also the first facility to be opened as part of the CoSTAR National Lab, a £51.1 million project funded by the UKRI Infrastructure Fund and delivered by the Arts and Humanities Research Council  (AHRC), to create a national infrastructure for creative innovation. Futures Studio will also act as an experimental space for CoSTAR National Lab’s flagship studio due to open in Buckinghamshire next year. 

Professor James Bennett, Director, CoSTAR National Lab and Royal Holloway’s Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Creative Industries), said: “Futures Studio is CoSTAR National Lab’s first step in building the UK’s infrastructure for the next generation of creative innovation and entertainment and we’re excited to see how local businesses can benefit from this unique space. 

“By providing an accessible facility that combines research and the latest technology we’re lowering the barrier for local smaller businesses to not only compete, but to lead the wider evolving creative tech industry. 

”The launch of the Futures Studio comes just weeks after the government’s budget confirmed its commitment to support the UK’s growth-driving creative industries, worth £125 billion to the UK economy.” 

Matt Furniss, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth, said: “We want to nurture and grow this world-class sector, which is why we have invested £3 million in supporting Royal Holloway and the CoSTAR National Lab.  

“This exciting project has innovation and collaboration at its core, allowing local businesses to tap into the cutting-edge research and technologies at Royal Holloway, one of our leading universities in the county. 

“In time, this initiative will deliver real benefits to our regional economy, creating up to 300 jobs and supporting 180 businesses while stimulating further investment into our creative sector.”

Futures Studio project lead Professor Peter Richardson, Vice-Dean of Research and Knowledge Exchange (School of Performing and Digital Arts) at Royal Holloway, and Head of Worldbuilding for the CoSTAR National Lab, said: “Technology often powers creativity; our approach is to have creativity power technology which allows us to push the boundaries of what is possible. The Futures Studio gives us a space where we can push the boundaries with creative companies in a way that will de-risk their research and development projects.” 

Futures Studio not only has the potential to support local businesses by creating hundreds of jobs and delivering on the objectives set out in the recent Civic Agreement for Surrey, but also aligns with key values and ambitions set out in Royal Holloway’s new strategy, RH2030s.  

Professor Julie Sanders, Royal Holloway’s Vice-Chancellor and Principal, said: “I’m enormously proud that Royal Holloway is home to the Futures Studio. Stretching the creative possibilities of new technologies, and helping to build the skills our wider community needs to make the most of them is exciting, timely and essential work. 

“It’s a brilliant example of what we thrive on here: collaborative, forward-thinking, and full of purpose and positive impact.”

Small and medium-sized local businesses in Surrey will be offered access to creative technology showcases throughout the year and are encouraged to apply for access to the studio and expertise to develop their projects.  

Virtual production techniques have been gaining momentum in recent years by using high-resolution LED screens displaying pre-filmed or 3D computer-generated environments as a backdrop instead of shooting on location. This has revolutionised working practises for production companies across film, live performance, games and immersive experiences while reducing both cost and impact on the environment.  

The studio is fully equipped to respond and contribute to the growing demand for this changing technical landscape and includes a 10.5 m LED volume and ’wild wall’, virtual production tools and workflows for seamless virtual production, and an advanced IP-networked audio recording and playback system to enable users to work with ‘Next-Generation Audio’ formats such as object-based media, which forms the foundation of Dolby Atmos. 

Gemma Campbell, Lead Creative Producer at Disguise, said: “There is so much demand for specialists working in the Virtual Production industry, we’re on a mission to drive accessibility to the latest technology creating opportunities and spaces where students and early career individuals can step into an LED production environment and see the exciting possibilities for their own career.  

“Alongside our expertise we offer online and in person training across a wide range of workflows in VP but also AR, mixed reality, real-time graphics, projection mapping and lots more to enable independent learning and up-skilling.”