Last August ProVideo Coalition shared that Arcturus, a pioneer in volumetric video technology, was selected as the go-to-market partner for Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Capture Studios (MRCS) solutions. Now Arcturus announces that former Microsoft and Lucasfilm veteran Steve Sullivan is the new Chief Product Officer at Arcturus. It’s the logical next step as Microsoft distances itself from a technology whose name many people associated with the company.
Steve Sullivan, who was Partner and General Manager at Microsoft, founded and led the Mixed Reality Capture Studios program to produce holographic video of human performances for VR, AR, and 2D applications. His team incubated the technology in Microsoft’s Startup Business Group, graduated to the HoloLens team for launch, then rebooted as a studio program in San Francisco to commercialize the technology widely.
According to his profile at the Grainger College of Engineering website, Steve is an inventor on more than 25 patents and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He served on the SciTech Academy Awards committee and the Academy’s Science and Technology Council for many years. Steve has also received a Lumiere Award for his work in volumetric video.
From 2002-2012, Steve was Director of R&D and then Senior Technology Officer at ILM/Lucasfilm. He led R&D across the Lucas Divisions, driving both strategy and execution to advance the state of the art in computer graphics and production technologies for film, TV, and games. He received three Academy Awards for Technology for matchmoving, image-based modeling, and on-set motion capture – the R&D team earned nine more for work during his tenure.
As we wrote back in August, “content creators looking to leverage the power of volumetric video will soon have access to one of the highest-quality end-to-end capture solutions on the market: Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Capture Studios. Available through Arcturus, the solution features one of the most advanced 3D capture and reconstruction systems in existence and paired with an award-winning editing and streaming tool, all overseen by the most experienced volumetric team in the world.”
Now the second piece of the puzzle is revealed, as Arcturus appoints industry veteran and innovator Steve Sullivan as Chief Product Officer. Sullivan will assume comprehensive oversight over all Arcturus offerings, including a complete capture-to-distribution solution for the creation of volumetric video, featuring the award-winning HoloSuite tools and the new Mixed Reality Capture System (MRCS) originally developed by Microsoft.
As CPO, Sullivan will be in a position to help shape the trajectory of volumetric video across everything from virtual production to e-commerce to live broadcasts and more. He will accelerate Arcturus’ plans to make volumetric video more accessible through an increased focus on R&D — including the use of AI to improve quality and reduce the number of cameras needed to capture volumetric performances — along with creating new tools and techniques that will expand the scope of what volumetric video can do, and where it can be deployed.
With the market expected to grow by 28.6% and reach $7.6 billion within the next five years, according to the “Global Volumetric Video Market Analysis Report 2023-2028” from Research and Markets, the world’s leading source for international market research reports and market data, it’s only natural that Arcturus, following the selection as the go-to-market partner for Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Capture Studios solutions (MRCS), goes and hires the founder and leader of the Mixed Reality Capture Studios program at Microsoft.
In his new role, Sullivan will manage the transition of the MRCS technology from Microsoft to Arcturus, including the creation of a new, next generation pipeline that combines the advanced capture technology with Arcturus’ own leading editing and distribution software. He will also oversee the ongoing development of HoloEdit and HoloStream, ensuring that the industry-leading editing and distribution tools will remain hardware agnostic, available to all capture solutions.
“Joining the team at Arcturus feels like a natural fit. We’ve both dedicated years to the advancement of volumetric video, and together we can unite the best capture, creation and consumption solutions in ways that will immediately benefit current and future partners,” said Sullivan. “Creators have been clear about their needs, and Arcturus remains committed to innovating alongside them, making volumetric video more accessible, affordable and practical.”
Sullivan’s appointment is the latest in a series of recent developments from Arcturus that have seen it increase its influence within the volumetric video market. Building on a successful Series A funding round in 2022, Arcturus has grown to nearly 45 employees spanning multiple countries. In August, Arcturus announced that it reached a deal with Microsoft to become the sole license provider and take over the MRCS business, including all development. Along with providing support for some of the biggest and most innovative capture studios in the world, Arcturus now has access to the top capture solution available anywhere.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to have Steve aboard. He’s shown an impressive track record of bringing projects from research through to production, and he’s been a prominent leader pioneering volumetric video,” said Kamal Mistry, Arcturus CEO. “His vision for capture and post production solutions will open up volumetric video to countless potential users, and having him on the team helps to further solidify Arcturus as a leader in volumetric video.
Additional announcements — including new license agreements, HoloSuite features and partnerships — are expected later this year.