Visual Computing Incubator Generating Virtual Worlds Visual Computing Incubator Generating Virtual Worlds

In the long term, the VCI will be a place where people can use state-of-the-art computer graphics methods to turn innovative ideas into reality. For example, this kind of technology is already enabling physicians to create moving 3D models of patients, known as digital twins, in order to detect conditions such as Parkinson’s disease more accurately. However, there are many other fields in which the VCI can help to create virtual figures and simulations of our real-life environment, which could then interact and collaborate with actual people in the so-called metaverse—a digital, interactive “intermediate world.” 

Europe’s only research and innovation center of its kind 

“What might sound like science fiction to many people is already not only a flourishing industry sector with countless start-ups in it but also a valuable tool for gaining new scientific findings,” explains Professor Matthias Hullin, a computer scientist at the University of Bonn, who serves as Scientific Director of the VCI alongside his colleague Professor Reinhard Klein. 

In the future, the possibilities afforded by the VCI will, for example, enable behavioral studies to be conducted in the digital space, new potential treatments for mental health conditions to be developed and trialled, and astronomical and geographical simulations to be run. Researchers are also planning to record eyewitness accounts and live concerts to the highest possible technical standard, establish a forum for interactive digital art and drive forward research into computer graphics methods. In short, there will be a wide range of activities going on that will put the findings of the University of Bonn’s visual computing researchers into practice.

“The Visual Computing Incubator is the only research and innovation center in Europe that’s dedicated to technologies and applications linked to the metaverse,” Professor Hullin explains. “It’s part of the Institute for Computer Science and will be kitted out with the kind of hardware arsenal that you’d usually only find at big companies like Google VR or Netflix.” The building on Am Propsthof will boast a high-resolution LED wall for virtual film and TV productions that can be used for technology demos, for example, as well as various motion capture and virtual reality devices, a well-equipped data center and, of course, the capture stage itself—a large-scale laboratory for producing digital twins. 

Creating photorealistic 3D models of people and objects

First of all, however, the groundwork had to be laid: the VCI team moved into the first extensively renovated room in the building on Am Propsthof in late 2024. One of its floors had had to be removed in order to provide the height required by the over six-meter-tall scaffolding, which was erected in December 2024 with the aid of an army of helpers.  

Over the next few months, the VCI team will be fitting hundreds of pieces of electrical and optical equipment to it so that it can function as a capture stage once the VCI server room next door is finished. It will be the kind of space for recording motion and 3D images in optimum quality that is also used in the film industry. Researchers will use motion capture and similar technologies to create digital reproductions of people or objects and their movements and behavior with great precision. 

This will allow researchers and start-ups alike to think up and implement disruptive business ideas such as virtual reality applications, innovative approaches in media production and data-intensive mobile applications in partnership with the University of Bonn’s enaCom Transfer Center, which supports fledgling start-up teams and newly developed technologies with its start-up and innovation consulting services. 

The VCI is being funded by the NRW Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy to the tune of around €3 million as part of an individual grant from the Exzellenz Start-up Center.NRW initiative.

Technology already good to go

Researchers and budding start-up entrepreneurs are already able to gain experience of using the VCI technology and put their own ideas into practice thanks to an interim solution offered by the Institute for Computer Science. The service, which is available to start-up projects associated with the University, has been incorporated into various courses and is already being used in a number of research projects.