This new mobile app, Pixotope Pocket, aims to stimulate students to use their phones to create virtual production and immersive creative content

It’s a game changer: Pixotope just stirred up the stage of virtual production education releasing Pixotope Pocket new app.

The application provides professional creators with what they need most: easy, unfettered access to augmented reality (AR) and virtual studio (VS) tools and workflows, and integrates Pixotope Education Program platform. There won’t be more need for a fully equipped studio; a smartphone running the latest iOS and a PC will be the only tools needed by students to create powerful and immersive content anywhere, anytime.

“The introduction of Pixotope Pocket represents the next evolution of the Pixotope Education Program,” says Pixotope Education Program Manager, Carina Schoo. “While we’ve made great strides in addressing the virtual production skills gap, we knew the technology could be made even more accessible to aspiring creators. The first step was to provide students access to our platform via their media facilities through the Pixotope Education Program. With Pixotope Pocket we are taking this one step further.”

With the introduction of Pixotope Pocket, the Pixotope Education Program expands the ways in which students can engage with virtual production tools and workflows. Students can now access virtual production tools via both their school’s existing media production infrastructure and their own technology.

Unlike traditional AR and VS workflows, with Pixotope Pocket there is no need for a professional camera plus specific tracking hardware. The user can use the camera of their mobile phone to shoot footage while Pixotope Pocket takes care of the camera tracking. It does this by combining device motion tracking, camera scene capture, and advanced scene processing. Video and tracking data are transmitted via SRT stream through a local network to the local machine that has Pixotope Graphics installed.

Pixotope Education Program partner, University of Gloucestershire, played a crucial role in bringing Pixotope Pocket to market. To ensure that Pixotope Pocket meets the needs of today’s virtual production students with precision, a group of students from the Digital Media course tested the app in a workshop and provided valuable feedback.

“In order for our students to succeed in their careers they need to be able to understand technology, whether they’re using it themselves or commissioning someone else to use it,” says Anne Dawson, Head of the School of Creative Industries, University of Gloucestershire. “It’s very important that we partner with leaders in the industry, like Pixotope, to make the technology more accessible and help our students achieve this understanding.”