Magnopus takes global team approach to in-vehicle entertainment

Entertainment technology company Magnopus is preparing to play a major role in the new world of in-vehicle metaverse experiences.

Magnopus, founded by best visual effects Oscar winners Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning in 2013, has been recognized for virtual reality projects. It produced groundbreaking work on 2019's The Lion King and has been noted for endeavors across augmented and extended reality projects that unite physical and digital worlds.

In March 2021, the Los Angeles company acquired Rewind, in the U.K., which collaborated on the in-vehicle VR experience Bride of Frankenstein with startup Holo- ride, Universal Pictures and Ford Motor Co.

The Rewind team, which specializes in real-time VR experiences, has created an air race program for Red Bull, collaborated with BBC on a journey to the International Space Station and worked with Jaguar Land Rover to create a program for the launch of the Jaguar I-Pace.

Magnopus' acquisition of Rewind combines leading talent in real-time engineering, immersive technology and spatial design under one global organization.

Grossmann said the combined experiences of the Rewind and Magnopus teams, one of a growing number of alliances in the expanding world of in-vehicle entertainment, give them an edge.

"We have a unique capability to deliver the experiences that will define a new era of entertainment," Grossmann said via email.

"Our focus is on uniting the physical and digital, and the ambition is to continue to bring new experiences into the world while launching products that will empower everyone."

The teams at Magnopus and Rewind first collaborated in 2019, creating a digital twin of the Expo 2020 Dubai. The project, delayed a year because of the pandemic, features an app-based virtual experience encompassing the nearly 3 square miles of the event.

The virtual experience, known as Expo Dubai Xplorer, enables users to attend the expo via a customized artificial intelligence-powered avatar and connect with others in real time across the physical and digital worlds.

The Dubai virtual experience, one of the first projects of its kind, includes 200 architectural structures from some of the leading architects in the world and nearly 200 country pavilions across three thematic districts.

The Expo Dubai Xplorer features day and night lighting cycles as well as art installations, gardens, water features and other animated experiences. It involved artists collaborating from around the world.

Expo 2020 Dubai ends Thursday, March 31, but people will be able to experience Expo Dubai Xplorer via the app until June 2023.

Sol Rogers, co-founder of Rewind and now Magnopus' global director of innovation, said the Dubai experience has prepared the company for in-vehicle entertainment projects.

"We ... have 200 people globally, two studios, one in London and one in Los Angeles, for the engineering, the art team," explained Rogers.

"The engineering team, the art team, the entire company is fully integrated. It has real benefits, being across two time zones. And it also culturally allows us to work in the European market and the U.S. market really fluidly."

Now, Magnopus is looking to build on its global approach to immersive entertainment in new ways as the world of mobility enters the metaverse.

"We now have a world that we can enhance, adapt, and create new worlds that we want to see, which we move through," Rogers said. "I think it's going to be really, really interesting because it's a completely new medium. Now that our mobility becomes an entertainment layer or a moving theme park, I think it's going to be some phenomenal stuff."