How to Enjoy the Popular Animation Exhibition Experience at Home

KOCCA's 'Confinity Project' Launches 'Shinbi Apartment VR Package' in Collaboration with CJ ENM and Alpha Circle
Seamless 8K Ultra HD Realized with 3D VR Video Playback Service
Combining Large Corporations' Human Resources and Intellectual Property with Startups' Ideas and Technology

The realm of immersive content using animation has expanded. Media immersive experience exhibitions have reached the stage where they can be enjoyed at home through virtual reality (VR). The country's most popular animation, "Shinbi Apartment," has taken its first step.

The Korea Creative Content Agency announced on the 19th that CJ ENM and Alpha Circle, connected through the content company-linked startup nurturing and support project "CON:FINITY," have released the "Shinbi Apartment VR Package." This product is a VR content reconfiguration of last year's successful "Shinbi Apartment Media Adventure: I Will Save!" experience exhibition program. Lee Geon-chang, head of CJ ENM's XR Business Team, explained, "You can experience the world of 'Shinbi Apartment,' which was only available at the exhibition, anywhere," adding, "You can feel as if you are actually meeting the main characters Shinbi, Hari, Kanglim, and various ghosts."

There have been previous cases of exhibition spaces being realized as VR videos. However, poor image quality and interruptions prevented full immersion. CJ ENM overcame these challenges with "AlphaView," developed by Alpha Circle. It is a service that plays local 8K 3D VR videos through segmentation of 360-degree full videos and synchronization technology between segmented videos. It provides VR playback players and codec files necessary for optimized playback environments. The technology to improve VR image quality through screen segmentation and synchronization is highly regarded as the best.

Shin Eui-hyun, CEO of Alpha Circle, stated, "We were able to achieve 8K-level image quality in VR with a dedicated algorithm." He explained, "We implemented ultra-high definition only in the user's field of view up to the display limit, while minimizing the quality in other areas. The segmented videos are seamlessly connected without a single frame error, and various applications are expected."

The technological innovation gained momentum by participating in "CON:FINITY." In exchange for providing various ideas and technologies to CJ ENM, they were able to utilize the human resources and intellectual property (IP) held by CJ ENM. CEO Shin said, "As a result of starting a collaborative project arranged by the Korea Creative Content Agency, we were able to prove the potential of our technology," adding, "With this product launch as a milestone, we will focus on the commercialization of 'AlphaView,' as well as the development of 16K ultra-high-resolution VR content streaming and video synchronization technology that prevents dizziness." Lee said, "We met excellent startups and were able to meet customer needs," adding, "We plan to continue collaborative projects in various fields."

This achievement is also expected to lead to the expansion of "CON:FINITY." Park Kyung-ja, head of the Corporate Talent Development Division at the Korea Creative Content Agency, said, "Last year, 12 content startups that secured projects with large corporations doubled their sales compared to the previous year and attracted investments worth 20.1 billion KRW," adding, "We will expand cooperation opportunities this year to contribute to building a co-growth ecosystem." She further added, "We plan to conduct content open innovation worth 1 billion KRW and support commercialization funds, business cooperation with partner companies, investment linkage, and customized consulting."