Read the interview with Dr. Sergio Cabrero and Ramón Perisé and their winning proposal: BAZKARIA: Eating together through immersive telepresence
Sergio Cabrero & Vicomtech and Ramón Perisé & Mugaritz
Dr. Sergio Cabrero will be the project coordinator. He leads Interactive Media Technology research line at Vicomtech. Ramón Perisé is the head of R&D at Mugaritz, and will lead their contribution as partners.
Vicomtech is a Technology Centre specialised in Artificial Intelligence, Visual Computing and Interaction and their application to different sectors of activity. It researches and develops technologies keeping a constant eye on market demand and offering companies real digital solutions.
MUGARITZ is a creative ecosystem where interdisciplinary experimentation is done through cuisine, for which it has been awarded with 2 Michelin stars. It is the only space that has been for 14 consecutive years in the top 10 of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Can you give a brief overview of your winning proposal?
What are its key objectives and innovative aspects?
Eating is a vital, social, and intimate experience. However, in the modern world we sometimes lack the time to physically meet or live far away from our friends and family.
BAZKARIA (Basque word for lunch) aims to use XR technology and the platform offered by SPIRIT to create an immersive and augmented experience of eating together while far away. We aim to connect people eating in two different locations using immersive telepresence, focusing on three key challenges. The first challenge is understanding how remoteness changes the experience of eating and how technology must be deployed in this specific use case and operational context. The second is to use volumetric video to provide immersion and co-presence. The third is to enhance the experience with alternatives for actions that are commonplace while dining, but that are hard to replicate remotely, such as toasting.
What motivated you to apply for the SPIRIT Open Call?
Mugaritz and Vicomtech have been discussing this use case for some time, waiting for the right context to develop it. When we learned about SPIRIT’s open call, we immediately saw it as a great opportunity. Firstly, the topics and goals of the project align perfectly with our use case. Real-time immersive telepresence is the core technology to enable a remote dinner. Secondly, the SPIRIT consortium is formed by experienced research groups and relevant companies in this field of technology; we were already familiar with their work in this area. Finally, we verified in the project deliverables that its developments and the available infrastructures were a good fit for the use case and in sync with Vicomtech’s current developments. Thus, since we started working on the proposal, we felt that SPIRIT and BAZKARIA could benefit from each other at different levels.
How do you envision this project making an impact?
We predict project impact at different levels. The immediate effect will be the demonstration of XR and volumetric video technologies towards a use case in an operational and challenging environment like restaurants. This will require paying attention not only to research and technology challenges but also to practical aspects of deployment and usability, following a human-centric approach. The result of this process will be more mature technological enablers showcased beyond the lab. In the process, the team will have the chance to acquire valuable know-how useful for many other verticals and future steps.
The team also aims to investigate the long-term impact of immersive technology in the hospitality industry and in society in general. Mugaritz expertise will be paramount to envision how the experience of eating will be redefined through immersive technologies. We hope that this technology will also help connecting families and friends, reduce loneliness and boost health.