Scotland’s largest city will today position itself as the UK’s 3D content creation capital with the launch of a groundbreaking industry-academic partnership.
The University of Glasgow (UofG), The Glasgow School of Art (GSA), and City of Glasgow College (CoGC) are joining forces with key industry partners Float Digital, ISO Design, Lateral North and Soluis to establish the 3D Content Creation Working Group.
3D content creation – encompassing the design and production of immersive digital environments, animated visuals, and interactive experiences – is a rapidly expanding field with applications across sectors including film, Cultural Heritage, gaming, architecture, education and healthcare.
This new Glasgow initiative builds on years of successful collaboration in the city and aims to strengthen economic opportunities across Glasgow City Region, leveraging the area’s critical mass of local 3D content creation industry and deep talent pool.
The new working group will identify key commercial challenges and opportunities in this rapidly growing field, co-developing innovative solutions that leverage UofG, GSA and CoGC strengths in research, innovation and skills development to drive sustained economic growth in Glasgow’s creative economy.
The launch of the partnership is bolstered by the recent announcement that Los Angeles-based Halon Entertainment, specialists in animation and visualisation technology, are establishing a state-of-the-art studio based in Glasgow. At the time of the announcement, Halon said they were attracted to Glasgow by its computer graphics, animation and digital technology as well as its thriving creative and digital economy.
Professor Gordon Hush, Head of the School of Innovation and Technology at The Glasgow School of Art said: “The 3D Content Creation working group combines the creativity, skills and academic excellence of The Glasgow School of Art, the City of Glasgow College and the University of Glasgow to highlight the importance of our city to the global economy and culture of the future – a future that marries technological innovation, the power of the imagination and international research collaborations. Glasgow is preparing for a twenty-first century industrial revolution.”
Professor Pauline Mackay, Co-Director of Realities and Immersion Glasgow at the University of Glasgow, said: “The city of Glasgow punches above its weight in terms of quality 3D content creation, with local studios winning major global contracts on a regular basis. The arrival of California-based Halon Entertainment in the city is further evidence of the potential of Glasgow to lead in this area of the creative economy.
“This working group will explore the opportunities to further align industry, academia, and government in support of 3D content creation in our city.”
Alison Bell, Dean – Faculty of Creative Industries, City of Glasgow College said: “Glasgow has long been a creative powerhouse, and the emergence of this new working group is a timely and exciting step forward for the 3D content sector. At City of Glasgow College, we are committed to equipping the next generation of talent with the hands-on skills and industry insight needed to thrive in this fast-evolving space. By collaborating across education and industry, we can ensure that Glasgow continues to lead in creative innovation, attracting global investment and creating high-quality jobs for the future.”
UofG, GSA and CoGC have, over a number of years, been collaborating on a range of projects focussed on 3D visualisation including:
- UofG’s Innovate UK funded Project Mobius where City of Glasgow College’s 3D animation students supported the development of Virtual Reality(VR) applications which enable teaching interventions that would simply not be possible without immersive technology.
- A Masters programme in Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy jointly delivered by The Glasgow School of Art and University of Glasgow.
- The EU funded EMOTIVE project where 3D animation students from the City of Glasgow College recreated the life of the slave Verecunda contributing to The Hunterian Museum’s Verecunda VR experience.
- A collaboration between The Hunterian Museum, Historic Environment Scotland and the City of Glasgow College ‘Rediscovering the Antonine Walls Distance Stones’ where 3D animation students from the College were involved in a competition to make 3D models from scans of the distance stones which then went on to be used by the College’s stonemasonry students to produce to-scale reconstructions which are now in-situ along the Antonine Wall.
- UofG’s Innovate UK funded Museums in the Metaverse project has created a two-sided Virtual Reality platform for the curation of, and interaction with, virtual 3D museum objects, in partnership with Soluis Tech, National Museums Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland and The Hunterian, with the collaboration of Float and Lateral North.
for further information on the initiative please contact press@gsa.ac.uk
Notes to Editors
A Dropbox of free to use images can be found HERE
About The Glasgow School of Art (GSA)
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is internationally recognised as one of Europe’s leading independent university-level institutions for education and research in the visual creative disciplines. Our studio-based, specialist, practice-led teaching, learning and research draw talented individuals with a shared passion for visual culture and creative production from all over the world. Originally founded in 1845 as one of the first Government Schools of Design, the School’s history can be traced back to 1753 and the establishment of the Foulis Academy delivering a European-style art education. Today, the GSA is an international community of over 3500 students and staff across architecture, design, fine art, innovation and technology in our campuses in Glasgow and Altyre (in the Scottish Highlands) and a thriving Open Studio programme delivering non-degree provision to over 1500 students annually.
About the School of Innovation and Technology (SIT)
The School of Innovation and Technology (SIT) explores future opportunities for innovation by considering alternative ways of living in the present. SIT aims to integrate social and technological innovations in a way that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries within art and science and examine complex questions in fields such as healthcare, education, technology and pressingly within the context of the climate/ecology crisis.
Museums in the Metaverse
The Museums in the Metaverse (MiM) platform is supported by funding from the UK Government’s Innovation Accelerator programme, led by Innovate UK on behalf of UK Research and Innovation. The MiM project is a two-sided Virtual Reality (VR) platform created for the curation and interaction with virtual museum objects. The project was carried out in partnership with Soluis Tech, National Museums of Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland and The Hungarian, with the collaboration of Float and Lateral North.
Website HERE.
Realities and Immersion Glasgow (RIG)
Realities and Immersion Glasgow (RIG) is the centre for research, teaching and innovation in Immersive Realities. Learn more about this new research centre HERE.
