1.  Singapore’s Interactive Digital Media Industry gets a boost 

The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, together with the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), have officially launched the new NUS-Tsinghua Extreme Search Centre.

This was announced by DPM Wong Kan Seng at the sidelines of the China-Singapore Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation. The NExT Search Centre (N for NUS, Ex for Extreme, and T for Tsinghua), facilitated by the Interactive Digital Media R&D Programme Office (IDMPO), focuses on researching the technologies, framework and applications of live media search, as well as exploring the commercialisation of technologies of companies in Singapore, China and further abroad.

Supported by a funding of S$10 million over five years by IDMPO, which is hosted by MDA, with combined contributions in kind from NUS and Tsinghua, NExT has a total vaue of support of approximately S$20 million. The Centre also aims to raise an additional S$4 million in external grants to support its work. The agreement to set up the Centre was signed between NUS, Tsinghua University and MDA on 1 May 2010.

There are plans for NExT Search Centre to engage more than 150 graduate students and researchers, and a total of 25 principal investigators from both NUS and Tsinghua University will be leading various projects at the Centre. The Centre will be overseen by a Management Committee comprising senior personnel from MDA, NUS and Tsinghua University.

The NExT Search Centre will carry out research in the following four areas:

a) Live media search: to research on the analysis, filtering and retrieval of information embedded within thousands of live sensors, along with mobile devices and other associated news, calendar and e-mailing information.

b) Live forum search: to study the mining and retrieval of multilingual and multimedia forum data, including opinion mining, question-answering and extraction of user behaviours and interests.

c) Distributed infrastructure: to tackle the key research challenges in developing distributed and networking support for the sampling, updating and distribution of data from millions of live sensors over large geographical regions.

d) Extreme database support: to examine database support for live stream indexing, and spatial-temporal querying of millions of live streams.

Further links in the media: CNA, ZaoBao 

2.   MXR gains traction in the Chinese market  

IDMPO-supported MXR Corporation recently signed 3 agreements with Chinese companies, as part of its push into the Chinese market. These agreements were signed during the showcase of Singapore IDM companies at the Shanghai World Expo. This media showcase at the Singapore Pavilion featured many of MXR Corporation’s mixed reality products, including its popular Magic Cards product.

The agreements –signed with Changzhou Dinosaur Land Culture & Creative Co. Ltd.Suzhou H&H Capital Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Jiecui Digital Co. Ltd—span a variety of business activities, including co-development of mixed reality products and venture capital funding. Having already established offices in Nanjing, Beijing, and Hong Kong, MXR Corporation is strengthening its presence in the Chinese market with these new agreements.

Of particular note is the investment agreement signed with Suzhou H&H Capital Co. Ltd, by which Suzhou H&H Capital will invest in MXR Corporation to help the company expand in China. Mr. Hou, Chairman of SuZhou H&H Capital Co., Ltd. is optimistic about MXR Corporation, saying: “We are confident (that) our investments are well placed. With the support of the Chinese government and the hard work that MXR’s staffs are putting in to contribute to the development and popularization of Mixed Reality, we believe that MXR can expand successfully in China.” This investment agreement also marks one of the first steps for Suzhou H&H Capital to build plans to invest in Singaporean companies.

MXR Corporation is a spin-off from Mixed Reality Lab of the NUS, and its mixed reality education products have been sold in dozens of countries worldwide since its inception in 2007.

3.    Personal eMotion (PEM) signs licensing deal with Tien Wah Press

PEM has signed a definitive term sheet with Tien Wah Press (TWP), for licensing of PEM’s KooBits software platform.  TWP is among the Top 10 printers in the world and has some of biggest publishers in the world, with its portfolio. The licensing deal requires PEM to commit to using their platform and patented technology to convert books to the interactive e-Platform.

4.   VEEV and CETV partner to develop and market new educational tools

VEEV Interactive has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China Education TV (CETV) for a partnership to develop new media educational content and technologies. The 2 companies will be co-developing and promoting several products and services, including the “Chinese Village”, which is a 3D virtual learning community for Chinese language. CETV is one of only 3 nation-wide Chinese broadcasters, and it is the only national education TV station in China.

VEEV and CETV will also be marketing bilingual teacher-training, and vocational and professional training courses. They will jointly develop and market the largest iTNC (Interactive TV Network for Campus), where regional schools can share their work, resources, ideas and experiences.

5.    Time Voyager’s new venture into China

Within two years of receiving IDMPO funding, Time Voyager has set up a branch office in China and also acquired another game company in Hangzhou. With the acquisition of Azure Studio (China), Time Voyager will bring on board Azure’s strengths to enhance the level of in-game art quality and visual effects.

Time Voyager is a Singapore-based, IDMPO-supported company with founders hailing from Singapore, Taiwan and China. The 50-man strong company is currently working on a large-scale 3D Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) titled “PROJECT A”, and the core development team members have an average of between 8 to 15 years of experience developing online games, animation, software, game publishing and operational management.  

6.    Visual Factory moves into China market

IDMPO-supported company Visual Factory signed an agreement with Beijing Hong Zilan Art Centre to provide a new next generation 3D immersive plug-in for the art centre’s “China Art 114″ website. This plug-in is the foundation of Beijing Hong Zilan’s online 3D art galleries, which promote art to the global market. The new plug-in will support all spectrums of standard web-browsers and will enable web users to enjoy highly optimized 3D graphics for online art.

Visual Factory has also created other similar products such as an online 3D virtual showroom called Cybermuseum for the National Heritage Board of Singapore. The Cybermuseum showcases some collections in the Singapore National Museum, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore Philatelic Museum, as well as the Singapore National Archives. 

Visual Factory recently opened a new representative office in Beijing, and within a month this news received media coverage at the China ArtIntern website , Chine 99ys.com , and China Art guide .These sites went on to state that museums and art institutions are currently looking to use 3D technology, and this brings benefits such as initiating the exchange of different cultural heritages around the world. With future developments in 3D technology being planned, there are now more possibilities than before to bring arts and heritage culture closer to the younger generation.

                                                                                                     Visual Factory CEO Ilan Ofek (first from the left); Ms. Zhou, owner of Beijing Hong Zilan Arts Centre;  Ms. Ying Shu, Chief Representative Visual Factory (China); and Prof. Zhou, owner of Hong Zilan.