£75m convergent tech programme holds briefings

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The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is inviting attendees to a briefing in Pontefract on October 26th to increase awareness of the CoSTAR programme, run by the AHRC and UKRI, which plans to invest an estimated £75.6m over six years supporting innovative uses of convergent technologies in screen-based industries.

The briefing will be hosted by Production Park, the leading international live events production centre and educational campus for innovative production skills, and is an opportunity for potential bidders and consortia to learn more about CoSTAR (Convergent Screen Technologies and performance in Realtime) and find out full details of the application process.

Other events have been announced for November 1st in Manchester and on November 3rd in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Funded primarily through the UKRI Infrastructure Fund, CoSTAR will support a network of experimental labs to research the development and use of convergent technologies in the creative sectors. Applications for this call are opened.

The CoSTAR programme proposes a national response to the risks and challenges facing UK screen and performance industries.

It will comprise a central hub and experimental studio fitted with real-time digital technologies. These and other advanced technologies will allow the viewer to rotate or move around in what appears to be a three-dimensional space. The central hub will be enhanced by a network of regional labs across the UK.

CoSTAR facilities will be open to organisations across the UK creative industries which have an involvement or interest in adopting virtual production technologies and in the potential of the 'metaverse'.  This includes the film, TV, games, live performance (theatre, music, visual arts, etc.), and museum and gallery sectors.

Examples of the kinds of convergent technologies which CoSTAR aims to support include:

Virtual production (VP) techniques such as volumetric capture
Realtime software engines
Virtual and augmented reality

CoSTAR briefing events will be open to industry and researchers, to find out more about the programme and to ensure strong applications are put forward.

Applications are welcome from HEIs, IROs or RTOs as lead bidders, in partnership consortia with at least one commercial or industry co-location partner and one Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Local or Combined Authority or equivalent economic development body or enterprise agency.

https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/national-capability-for-rd-in-screen-and-performance/

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