By Riley Kaminer
We’re entering a new era of immersive storytelling, with creators looking for new ways to connect with their audience. The Levan Center, an innovation hub based at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, is here to help make that possible with this month’s launch of its volumetric capture studio.
The self-styled “World’s First Theme Park for Entrepreneurs” has partnered with Sony and Canadian content creation studio GeniusXR to develop the studio, which is one of the only two community-accessible studios of its kind in North America. Located within the Levan Center’s facilities, the studio has 75 cameras and 70 lighting panels.
While the entertainment industry is one of the most obvious use cases for the technology (we’re looking at you, Avatar), its utility extends far further. For example: In the healthcare space, volumetric capture can be used to create 3D digital twins of patients’ bodies for medical imaging and diagnosis. Educators can create interactive and immersive content for students. Retailers can capture interactive product displays and virtual try-on experiences. And the list goes on.
“This was something that we dreamt of doing but didn’t even fully understand or envision it until it arrived,” said John Wensveen, NSU’s Chief Innovation Officer and the Levan Center’s Executive Director.
“The world is still understanding what volumetric capture technology has the ability to do,” he said of the seemingly limitless applications.
Beyond this new addition to the Levan Center’s suite of offerings, it continues to provide our community with the tools and programming necessary to grow South Florida as a tech hub.
Refresh Miami spoke to Wensveen the day after its Spacepreneur Pitch Night, showcasing the businesses of spacetech entrepreneurs that participated in one of the Levan Center’s accelerator programs. “There was a lot of audience engagement,” Wensveen said of the around 120 people in attendance.
“There’s a perception that space has a high barrier to entry, but that’s not the case anymore.” Wensveen sees significant open space for South Florida entrepreneurs to create software solutions, particularly around data. And it’s not all about building for extraterrestrial environments, noted Wensveen: “Space is really about earth. Space influences our life every single day, directly and indirectly.”
The Levan Center continues to find success with its other programming, running the gamut from helping early-stage entrepreneurs to turn their idea into a business to advising full-fledged companies on how to scale. Wensveen shared that the courses have a 99% completion rate, underscoring the value that they provide.
“We’re really impressed by how far these companies have gotten,” including one founder who sold 150,000 products through a deal with HSN after having completed a Levan Center program, Wensveen said.
The success story continues on a macro level, with the Levan Center having helped to launch 85 new companies that created 425 new jobs in South Florida, with an economic impact of $86 million. Through its country desk model, the Levan Center is creating links between the US and innovators from half a dozen countries.
It’s worth remembering that the Levan Center itself was just an idea less than four years ago – and clearly much more to come.
READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:
- With $65M in tow, Paysend doubles down on the US-LatAm remittance corridor
- M&A lawyer and Miami native Josh Samek is optimistic about 2024 for #MiamiTech. Here’s why
- Q&A with the Levan Center’s John Wensveen on creating connections across South Florida’s tech ecosystem
- Blast off! Extraterrestrial entrepreneurship on display at Levan Center’s South Florida Space Day
