This new iPhone VFX app is already blowing minds

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By Matthew Griffin Virtual World 26th September 2023

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

These renders are so real and interactive that you could be fooled into thinking they’re in the room with you.

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It looks like CGI filmmaking is about to get a whole lot more accessible. Simulon, an iOS app currently in invite-only beta, aims to offer studio-quality VFX and AR capabilities to iPhone users, allowing digital objects to be placed in the real world live with no need for a complex set-up.

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Few details have been released, but Simulon’s founder Divesh Naidoo has begun sharing initial tests online. Many observers are stunned that the videos were created using one of the best camera phones rather than a studio setup or even a laptop.

Dataset generated with @Simulon + 3D Gaussian Splatting = real-time interactive Radiance Field with digital objects placed in the real world, running at 250fps 🤯 pic.twitter.com/CErOP6iq2G

— Divesh Naidoo (@diveshnaidoo) August 21, 2023

Naidoo says that he made the videos you can see featuring Unity’s Adam robot “with a live in-camera preview and auto-exposure matching, no camera solve, no HDRI capture and no manual compositing setup.”

To create the dataset, he used the Simulon iPhone app to place digital objects in the real world and render them with accurate lighting, shadows and reflections.

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In the second example Naidoo notes that some objects in the radiance field are not real. He says the robot is a 3D asset from the Mech Squad Collection, while the desk and rug are from Megascans and the chrome and glass balls were added in to “test the quality of view-dependent render effects.”

Twitter has been knocked over by the initial results.

Over the next days I will be posting a few experiments with @Simulon's new workflow for photorealistic VFX video production.

The video below was made with a live in-camera preview and auto-exposure matching, no camera solve, no HDRI capture and no manual compositing setup. pic.twitter.com/Odp6hmC6Iz

— Divesh Naidoo (@diveshnaidoo) August 22, 2023

“Hard to believe this isn’t a hand-made render and compositing,” one person responded, “You don’t have any defects and you see perfectly what’s behind.”

“Man, isn’t it wild how it actually casts a shadow when the camera swings behind it?” someone else wrote.

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Simulon says it wants to “see the capabilities of a Hollywood production studio in the hands of an independent creator with access to consumer hardware,” and you can apply to register for the beta at the Simulon website.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is the founder and CEO of the World Futures Forum and the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working across the next 50 years, and is an award winning futurist, and author of “Codex of the Future” series.

Regularly featured in the global media, including AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, RT, Viacom, and WIRED, Matthew’s ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled. Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future.

A rare talent Matthew’s recent work includes mentoring Lunar XPrize teams, re-envisioning global education and training with the G20, and helping the world’s largest organisations envision and ideate the future of their products and services, industries, and countries.

Matthew's clients include three Prime Ministers and several governments, including the G7, Accenture, Aon, Bain & Co, BCG, Credit Suisse, Dell EMC, Dentons, Deloitte, E&Y, GEMS, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lego, McKinsey, PWC, Qualcomm, SAP, Samsung, Sopra Steria, T-Mobile, and many more.