MR Camera

Aim

Marion Surgical wants to save film professionals time and money during the content production stage by creating a pre-visualisation tool which helps them map video production during the planning stage.

Summary

The idea for MR Camera came about when the team was approached by a screen lighting technician who was working on the television show Green Harvest and looking for ways to cut costs. With each episode of the show costing between $8 and $8.5 million, Green Harvest is one of the most expensive television shows ever produced.
Marion Surgical’s project reflects the need for more capable pre-production visualisation tools to ensure that content producers can meet the ever-increasing demands for immersive content. Their sophisticated and collaborative tool will support immersive, 360 and multimedia content production during the planning process.
The team’s simulation expertise, which is also being used to train surgeons before they turn to the operating table, is enabling professionals across sectors to learn, collaborate and practice in a realistic, safe, cloud-hosted environment.

Target Audience

The end users of this technology are film professionals. Upon completion, the technology will be first used on the set of the iconic television series Star Trek.

Outcome

Marion Surgical’s current revenue generation model is with a simulator which trains urologists to perform kidney stone removal operations. The Canadian company is now expanding their customer base to approach stakeholders in the creative industries sector, and has set up a UK entity based at The Landing in MediaCityUK, Salford.
The beginning of the MR Camera project focussed on building a prototype of the camera rig using spare parts and an iPad. The team then developed a usable prototype which is now being tested in a real film scenario.
The team is currently testing the first iterations of the project, including a tool to help with spacing crew members two meters apart to meet government regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
UKRI’s investment in Marion Surgical’s project is matched by GC Angels, who are also Manchester-based.

Contact

Marion Surgical

Applications

Content – VR, Content – AR, Content – MR, Content – theatre, film & video, Content – special effects, Content – animation & graphics, Tech – VR/AR headsets, Infrastructure – 5g, Capture & scanning – volumetric