Dexter Studios (CEO: Kim Wook, Kang Jong-ik), a company specializing in visual effects (VFX) and content, recently signed a strategic business agreement with dob Studio (CEO: Oh Je-wook).
Dexter Studios announced on the 24th that it had signed an MOU with dob Studio at its headquarters in Sangam-dong, Seoul, on the morning of the 23rd to ‘promote the metaverse joint project and cooperate on the production of virtual faces and relevant synthesizing technology.’
Dexter Studios, an all-in-one comprehensive content company, has been consistently engaged in research on the production of humanoid digital characters along with its movie production business. Starting with the screening of a digital human-making video titled ‘Someone’ at SIGGRAPH in 2015, Dexter Studios has worked on various projects, including the de-aging of Jet Li in the movie ‘League of Gods’(2016) and the production of a digital character for Cha Tae-hyun in ‘Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds’(2017). In doing so, Dexter Studios was able to accumulate extensive experience in creating 3D humanoid digital characters.
Meanwhile, dob Studio is an AI technology development startup that created a virtual human named ‘Rui,’ which made headlines in recent news. Rui eliminated what is known as the ‘Uncanny Valley’ – a theory that when looking at non-human beings, the more they resemble humans, the more favorable they are, but when they reach a certain point, they become rather unpleasant – by synthesizing a virtual face created using artificial intelligence-based deep learning technology with a real portrait (video) of a person. In this regard, it earned positive reviews in the metaverse and avatar industry.
The two companies plan to engage in full-scale technical cooperation based on the new MOU agreement. First, Dexter Studios and dob Studio plan to conduct research and development to apply the former’s sophisticated VFX technology to the latter’s virtual face creation and synthesis technology, and apply said technologies in various video content environments, including movies, TV shows, and OTTs.
Both companies will also look to promote joint research and commercialize virtual body creation and synthesis technology using body-tracking technology. This technology will be used in movies, TV shows, and games that require humanoid digital characters. Dexter Studios and dob Studio plan to expand the use of virtual body creation technology for virtual characters in the metaverse, which is expected to become a much larger part of the content market in the future.
ⓒdob Studio
Dexter Studios’ CEOs Kim Wook and Kang Jong-ik said, “There has been some ongoing demand for the production of humanoid digital characters across the film industry. This MOU is particularly important since humanoid digital characters are essential for content that features VFX technology.” Both CEOs expressed their excitement over the MOU, saying, “If we combine the technologies of the two companies, we expect to generate significant synergy and produce surprising content the market has never seen before.”
dob Studio CEO Oh Je-wook said, “Our virtual face technology can complement VFX technology in video content, and it can dramatically reduce the cost and time that goes into creating digital characters. With our MOU, we’re hoping to collaborate with Dexter Studios, which is well-established not only in Korea but also abroad, and participate in producing a diverse range of content.”
Meanwhile, Dexter Studios recently released its fifth feature film, ‘Escape from Mogadishu.’ Escape from Mogadishu tells the story of a group of Koreans escaping the civil war that broke out in Somalia in 1991.
