Evercoast acquires Depthkit to spur GenAI 3D video production

3D spatial video company Evercoast has acquired volumetric capture business Depthkit. 

Evercoast aims to use Depthkit’s customer base, along with its own, to create a scalable AI-powered software platform capable of capturing and generating thousands of assets in a single day. It claims this capability is “several orders of magnitude faster and 20x less expensive” than multi-camera arrays using traditional processing pipelines and hardware. 

Most AI platforms currently use 2D datasets. VFX and and mocap are among the markets that Evercoast is targeting with this technology, as well as virtual reality content. Ben Nunez, CEO of Evercoast, told Broadcast Tech, “Specialized AI development in fields such as human performance capture, medical training, industrial simulation, robotics, sports performance, and higher education signifies a vast market for this technology. Volumetric data combined with machine learning and AI video is being utilized by VFX and other creative technologists to allow viewers to see subjects from all angles, simulating a real-life experience on any digital device, from mobile phones and TVs to AR/VR headsets like the Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro. This innovation enables broadcasters and traditional video producers to integrate 3D capture with virtual production techniques.”

Evercoast believes a 3D dataset from content with multiple cameras will improve the automated video generation of aspects such as lighting conditions, occlusions, and diverse environments, as well as depth of content, and cross-view generalisation.

Nunez added in a statement to all press: “Practical uses of AI have grown very fast in a very short time – and that’s largely thanks to the treasure trove of 2D and text training data available. But certain fields – including 3D production – have struggled to find extensive and reliable data to form the foundations of new generative AI tools.

“The path to get there involves making training dataset creation easy and highly scalable. GenAI 3D will require vast amounts of quality multi-camera datasets, specialized algorithms, computational techniques, and infrastructure to handle the additional dimensions effectively.  Scale is crucial to developing generative AI models that possess a broad understanding of the incredible diversity in humans and other animals – and it’s that scale that Evercoast and Depthkit are best equipped to provide.”

James George, CEO of Scatter, the company that developed Depthkit, said: “Teaming up with Evercoast represents a thrilling new chapter for Depthkit and the entire 3D content creation community. By joining forces, we are not just merging two leading technologies but also uniting our visions to create tools that are both innovative and accessible. We are confident our combined efforts will push the boundaries of spatial video and create new opportunities around the globe.”