Brainstorm, leading manufacturer of real-time 3D graphics and virtual studio solutions, has successfully completed the TelePorter project, funded by the Google Digital News Initiative. Thanks to Brainstorm's Augmented Reality technology, TelePorter allows reporters to be 'teleported' to the TV set from whatever location they are reporting from at that very moment. The TelePorter application is installed on the mobile phone and guides the user in capturing their image and communicating between the reporter and the production centre of the news programme or TV show.
TelePorter has made the technology required to teleport the reporter very simple, affordable and actually easy to use, requiring only a mobile phone to capture the reporter's video signal and send it to the TV studio via a standard Internet connection. This project builds on Brainstorm’s expertise in 3D graphics, virtual sets and augmented reality, and has been developed on the ground of Brainstorm’s patented TrackFree™ technology, and more specifically the acclaimed TeleTransporter feature of InfinitySet, and other advanced features like virtual shadows and defocus or talent optical tracking to name just a few.
TelePorter has been designed to empower the new breed of journalists with new, compelling technologies that will enhance the way news are created and delivered, in a more affordable way. By teleporting' journalists or participants into an AR environment, viewers can have access to rich visual news. The system also allows for additional content to be included and sourced from standard presentation tools. The TelePorter technology will be affordable and user-friendly, enabling smaller broadcasters to access and use the technology.
In addition to journalism and broadcasting, the development of this project has opened the door to the generation of applications for other fields that require the 'telepresence' of people located in different places to share a virtual or real environment together. In this way, TelePorter can be used in the organisation of events such as conferences, congresses and virtual tradeshows that, despite the pandemic and mobility restrictions, require remote participation, as well as for remote training and marketing events.
Francisco Ibáñez, R&D project manager at Brainstorm, says the company is pleased of being part of the Digital News Initiative and to have successfully completed the project: “we are excited to be part of Google’s Digital News Initiative, which will allow us to expand our advanced AR technology to new fields such as journalism, which will surely change the game in the news arena by providing additional tools for newsmakers. Additionally, TelePorter targets significant new business opportunities in several market segments in which Brainstorm does not have a strong presence so far.”
