Sensorium Galaxy – An Overview of 2023
Saying ‘Hi’ for the last time (this year). The past twelve months have been intense. We’ve achieved many milestones in terms of development and content production. Now more than ever before, Sensorium Galaxy stands an industry frontrunner, pushing the boundaries of interactive digital entertainment. We thank you for your ongoing support.
From Steam to Epic Games Store to Oculus App Lab, Sensorium experiences are now available across the world’s top platforms, giving millions of users the opportunity to immerse themselves in prime digital entertainment and share these experiences with their loved ones. As we wrap this eventful 2023, it’s time to take a moment and reflect on our achievements, setting the stage for a stronger and rewarding future.
The year of AI
No doubt AI was the worldwide trend for 2023. At Sensorium Galaxy, we are no strangers to the endless possibilities of such technology. In fact, we’ve been relying on language models from the very beginning, giving our avatars and characters autonomy and the ability to interact with humans in meaningful, natural ways. What excites us is conversational AI. The big goal behind it was to make them character-like, contrary to lifeless chatbots that were available at the moment.
Mobile app
With the Sensorium Galaxy Mobile App, released in 2021, we removed communication barriers between you and our avatars. It was a challenge to make a stable platform that enables interactions with AI. The magic lies not only in the dialogues with AI, but the whole chain of interactions, including the appearance of avatars. Earlier this year, we reached the point where fully rigged photorealistic avatars were talking to you confidently, regardless of your device.
Customization was a top priority for 2023. We wanted to ensure our users could reach new levels of customization, so we worked hard to put in your hands multiple tools to tune avatars visually. Furthermore, we implemented the personality creator with more than 1000 traits to be combined into complex identities. In addition to a fully reimagined interface, we tried to make sure that no technological barriers separate you from insightful voice and text conversations.
Historical characters
What if the timeline of real remarkable people could be extended using digital tools? With this thought, we’ve started exploring the idea of digital immortality. It’s not easy to make an AI behave like a real person considering all the nuances and the contextual training required. Yet, we did our best and experimented with complex neural chains that could be efficiently fed with the information trail of the person. The technology is called ‘Phantom Memory Injection.’
Salvador Dali became the proof of concept and the first historical character in Sensorium Galaxy. We designed a dedicated location within our metaverse and further polished his mimics, responses, reply time, facial rig and other minor things widening the gap between the real Dali and his virtual version.
As a result, we integrated this activity into Sensorium Galaxy, giving everyone the chance to interact with Dali using a VR headset or a PC. Spectating people talking to avatars in VR at events was spiritual, and we were glad to make it finally available to everyone meeting the technical requirements. Take a look at Sensorium’s ambassador Aurora interviewing the famous surrealist in the interiors of Starship.
Virtual shows
Mona Lisa: Metaverse Renaissance
Our journey didn’t stop with Salvador Dali. Mona Lisa became the second AI-driven replication of a historical figure onin Sensorium Galaxy. Unlike her forerunner, she prefers to act rather than talk. Her digital rebirth took an unexpected turn, giving her the ultimate freedom and a passion for music. She gave an hour-long DJ set in Sensorium Galaxy featuring two appearances.
The social hub of Sensorium Galaxy was chosen as a venue. Smooth interior curves, spectacular lighting, and Mona Lisa's ultra-modern looks make it an unforgettable experience to meet the enigma of the millennium. The Starship was injected with a romantic mood—couples are dancing here and there to melodic space house grooves. Listen and watch Mona Lisa: Metaverse Renaissance on YouTube or in 360-VR in the Oculus App Lab.
Sensorium Party Episode II: Volcano
In 2023, we’ve also witnessed the release of Volcano — the second episode of Sensorium’s signature virtual parties. Following the launch of this format and the first party at the Meteor Vortex, Volcano spotlighted three original AI artists from Sensorium Galaxy immersed in the stunning landscapes of PRISM World. Spectate AX421, JAI:N, and Yonaka accompanied by dancers.
Intermundium
Is it possible to transfer the energy of a real artist into the virtual realm? How can digital tools be implemented to explore new angles of Carl Cox, who’s been performing for over 40 years? These were the questions behind ‘Intermundium.’ Between dimensions – that’s what it stands for.
Carl Cox’s avatar
Motion captured a while ago, the hyper-realistic avatar of Carl Cox needed improvements before being deployed into Sensorium Galaxy. The pre-release version was showcased in a MixMag article back in 2022, reviewing how Carl moves beyond being a DJ and his recent album ‘Electronic Generations.’ The final result was a cross-platform, meticulously rigged virtual ego ready to perform in Sensorium Galaxy and to interact with electronic music fans.
Avatar set
For this special format, Carl prepared an exclusive avatar set. The whole audio timeline was written, produced and performed by him. This vibrant set is not what you hear at conventional large festivals and perfectly fits the detailed evolving visuals crafted by the Sensorium team.
MixMag made an overview of ‘Intermundium’ and uploaded the mix to their SoundCloud.
This experience kicked off with 2 offline preview events in London and in New York where Carl Cox presented it personally. Special thanks to all guests for joining us and for their invaluable feedback. Behind closed doors, we have a joke about our content being made for large screens because it shines differently on them. The photo below certainly proves us right.
At the moment, ‘Intermundium’ is available in full-fledged VR for ultimate immersion, where you can walk to catch every detail and as a video accessible on any device.
Experience on Steam
Try it now on Epic Games Store
See you next year,
Sensorium Galaxy
Entrepreneur: ‘How AI Is Shaping The Future Of Virtual Worlds?’
Forbes: How Virtual Entertainment Is Merging Cutting-Edge Technology With Legacy Techniques