Creative Economy Agency

Experience a new frontier of imagination that merges the real and virtual worlds at the Virtual Media Lab, a laboratory for digital media and virtual reality. Elevate Thai creative content through the integration of art, science, and technology, brought to you by the Creative Economy Agency (Public Organization) or CEA.

Inspiration from Virtual Economy to Virtual Media Lab

The virtual economy is booming, with investments in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies fueling growth in a wide range of business sectors. Notably, the creative content industry, including film, advertising, games, animation, and events, is increasingly embracing virtual production techniques. However, a study by the Creative Economy Agency (Public Organization) or CEA reveals a major challenge hindering Thailand's full participation in this growing market: most Thai creators lack the knowledge, understanding, and resources to create virtual reality content and services. The high cost and complexity of these technologies limit access, resulting in missed opportunities for skill development and new creative works, thereby affecting Thailand's competitive edge in the global creative economy. 

In recognition of the need for Thailand's creative industries to adapt and leverage technology, CEA has established the Virtual Media Lab under its Creative Ecosystem Development for Virtual Reality Project. This lab is a breeding ground for developing creative skills and integrating creative thinking and design processes with technology to enhance the potential of Thailand's creative content industry and promote the virtual economy ecosystem. CEA officially announced the opening of the Virtual Media Lab on 4 October 2023, and it is scheduled to launch its services in November 2023. The lab is located at TCDC Bangkok, Fl. 4.

What Is the Virtual Media Lab?

The Virtual Media Lab is a digital media and virtual reality laboratory that helps Thai creators elevate their content by blending art and technology. It provides a space to develop creative skills (through reskilling and upskilling) for the digital and virtual economy, serving as a springboard into the virtual world and enhancing the capabilities of Thailand's creative content industry.

What Are the Benefits of the Virtual Media Lab?

The lab offers a creative space for experimentation, testing, and learning, providing the following benefits:

1. Upskill and Reskill: A nurturing space to experiment, test, and learn how to merge creativity with technology to develop skills and create new works for the industry.
2. Ecosystem: A hub for networking and collaboration between educational institutions, businesses, and the public sector through various programs and projects.
3. Inspiration Space: An open area to inspire and raise awareness about virtual reality technology for the public to experience and learn. 

Who Is the Virtual Media Lab for?

The lab is ideal for the creative content industry (film, games, and animation), including:

1. Students and creative designers: The lab provides access to high-investment technology to develop and extend content to an international level.
2. Creative entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized companies in the creative content industry: The lab helps creators and businesses looking to create new content but lacking access to high-investment technology and seeking to enhance their competitive business capabilities.

What Are the Services Offered in the Virtual Media Lab?

The lab provides high-quality hardware and software that meets international standards for virtual production, including 1) Studio Equipment and 2) Software Engine.

1. Studio Equipment 
The lab comprises five units with over 20 pieces of equipment, including 1) a 45-square-meter LED full-screen virtual production unit, 2) a Red Komodo 6K camera unit with Vive Mars Tracker, a standard crane for filming, a dolly set, and a director's monitor system, 3) Metaverse unit with four VR pieces of equipment, and 5) sound unit and lighting unit for filming. 

2. Software Engine 
The lab offers five systems, including 1) Unreal Engine, 2) Creative Cloud, 3) Blender, 4) Windows 10 Professional, and 5) Davinci Resolve.

These hardware and software tools elevate virtual production (VP) by combining VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) techniques with computer-generated imagery (CGI) using the Unreal Engine game technology. Additionally, the lab offers a 45-square-meter LED full-screen virtual production studio for immersive content creation, In-Camera Visual Effects (ICVFX), and high-performance rendering for post-production.  

What Are CEA's Desired Positive Impacts?

1. Cultivate students and develop creative workforce skills.
2. Support SMEs in reducing high-tech costs for new content creation.
3. Create a learning hub and ecosystem for the virtual economy, inspiring and educating the public.

Economic Impact Goals of the Virtual Media Lab 

1. Increase skilled personnel in content creation, developing high-skilled labor for the global market.
2. Enhance global market-responsive content with new formats and narratives, boosting the country's competitive edge.
3. Support the growth of creators and designers in the content and digital sectors.

How to Access Virtual Media Lab Services

Students can visit or use the Virtual Media Lab by reading the terms and registering at www.tcdc.or.th/virtualmedialab Access is free of charge starting from November 2023.

CEA also aims to provide Virtual Media Lab services to businesses, with a particular focus on SMEs, for creative activities related to their operations. Keep an eye out for information about renting space in the Virtual Media Lab, with fees levied to cover utility costs.

Virtual Media Lab Opening Activities
Under the Creative Ecosystem Development for Virtual Reality Project

To lay the groundwork for using the Virtual Media Lab and to build an understanding of the virtual economy and virtual production in Thailand, which is expected to grow in the future, CEA has organized a series of various activities. These include exhibitions, seminars, and online courses focused on the virtual world and metaverse. They are designed to provide knowledge, spark creative ideas, and facilitate more effective utilization of the Virtual Media Lab.

1. CreaTech: The New Reality Exhibition with Exclusive Seminars

Date: Exhibition from 4 - 29 October 2023 / Seminar on 7 October 2023
Time: 10.30  - 19.00 hrs (Closed on Mondays)
Venue: TCDC Bangkok  
Free admission

Technological factors are crucial to the creative industries, both directly and indirectly. Technologies like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), blockchain, etc., coupled with the rapid global changes, especially post-COVID-19 pandemic, require people to adapt to various fluctuations and transition into a new, fast-paced world. 

These technologies provide people with more efficient experiences, opening up specialized employment prospects and new commercial endeavors. At the CreaTech: The New Reality Exhibition, CEA encourages everyone to experience boundless virtual world technology. When the worlds of art and technology collide, a new reality develops that blends the real and virtual worlds beyond imagination via three concepts: Experience, Explore, and Exchange. 

(1) Experience 

Immerse in virtual reality through a 4K digital art installation, encompassing visuals, scents, and sounds, and explore the virtual world with augmented reality technology.
Venue: TCDC Bangkok, Meeting Point on Fl. 1, and Rooftop Garden on Fl. 5.

Additional activities include:
1. Doppelgänger: Create your virtual twin with a 3D scanner and find your avatar at TCDC Bangkok. Available from 13 - 31 October 2023.
Venue: TCDC Bangkok, FabCafe, Fl. 3

Note: Participation fee is THB550, including a drink, a souvenir, and a movable QR twin (30% discount for cosplay participants).

2. Meet the Saw Real Rabbit from KAIJU SMUGGLER, creating an imaginative experience.
Venue: TCDC Bangkok, Creative Space, Fl. 5

(2) Explore 

A space to look back at the past to understand and envision the future of virtual world technology, divided into two zones:

2.1 CreaTech & Virtual Production Introduction: When creativity meets technology, it creates new things that will shape our lives and businesses in unprecedented ways. This zone introduces you to virtual world technology, including insights into related businesses and industries such as art installations, music & entertainment, animation, and virtual production. It also showcases exciting works by Thai creators and students.

2.2 Virtual Production Kiosk: Participate in simulating virtual production filming and experiment with interactive virtual screen systems using VR and AR technology.
Venue: TCDC Bangkok, Creative Space, Fl. 5

(3) Exchange 

- Exclusive seminars on virtual production are led by industry experts sharing insights, readiness, and new business opportunities. Scheduled for 7 October 2023, at Virtual Media Lab, Fl. 4, TCDC Bangkok. Topics include "Virtual Production: Opportunities and Market Creation in the Thai Creative Industries" from  13.00 - 15.00 hrs and "Creating Virtual Artworks" from 15.00 - 17.00 hrs. 

- On 29 October 2023, from 13.00 - 15.00 hrs, the Exchange: 48H Virtual Production Filming Contest (Behind the Scenes) seminar delves into the behind-the-scenes of the 48-hour film production contest using virtual production technology by three Thai teams. The contest was open to participants from all over Asia. Thailand was represented by three teams of students: the Communication Design team from the School of Architecture and Design, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi; the Media Art team from the King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi; and the Interactive Digital Arts team from the Dhurakij Pundit University. One of the Thai teams won the Outstanding Work Award.

More details at: www.tcdc.or.th/th/all/events/1905

2. Virtual Technology for Business Opportunities Workshop

Held on 23 September 2023, at Virtual Media Lab, Fl. 4, TCDC Bangkok, this workshop aims to introduce and delve into the use of the Virtual Media Lab in line with the growing trend of virtual production in Thailand. It focuses on developing skills and knowledge in virtual production for students and those interested in the creative industries, creating new business opportunities, and diversifying production work.

3. CEA Online Academy  

CEA Online Academy offers online courses that provide an in-depth understanding of the virtual world. There are two courses available on this online platform that present knowledge in the creative industries, brought to you by CEA. These courses aim to guide everyone on a journey into the metaverse and the world of virtual production, a universe beyond imagination that connects people through virtual reality, creating new experiences and opportunities for the creative industries.  

(1) Introduction to Virtual Production

Get to know virtual production (VP), a field brimming with diverse, imaginative, and feasible content production opportunities. The online course "Introduction to Virtual Production" is ready to take everyone on an exploration of the world of virtual production. This involves filming in a virtual system that breaks the boundaries of creativity, extending content production, and pushing the media production industry to grow beyond limits, creating enormous new opportunities.

This course is suitable for students, scholars, or creators who wish to learn more about media production through virtual production. Learn about the workflow, from conception to filming, utilizing Unreal Engine, filming procedures, using modern equipment and tools, generating scenes, lighting, sound, special effects, and integrating the real and virtual worlds, all taught by industry experts. The course also includes numerous case studies from throughout the world.   

What does this course cover?

Ep. 1 Introduction to Virtual Production
Ep. 2 Unreal Engine
Ep. 3 Creator ในโลก Virtual Technology
Ep. 4 The Making of Virtual Production
Ep. 5 Virtual Media Lab

Register for the course at 

academy.cea.or.th/course/81
It's free! No fees required, and you'll receive a certificate from CEA upon completion of the course.

(2) Metaverse 101 

Embark on a journey into the metaverse, a universe beyond imagination that connects people through virtual reality, creating new experiences and opportunities for the creative industries. The online course "Metaverse 101" is ideal for students, scholars, or creators. It offers an exploration of the basics of the metaverse, an important tool in the world of digital technology. The course includes case studies and current technologies like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), providing a space that connects people and has immense potential to transform lives, offering new experiences and creative options, and leading to new career opportunities and business ventures.

What does this course cover?

Ep. 1 Into the Metaverse
Ep. 2 Digital Twin & Virtual Reality
Ep. 3 Metaverse Development
Ep. 4 Virtual Identity

Register for the course at

academy.cea.or.th/course/82

It's free! No fees required, and you'll receive a certificate from CEA upon completion of the course.

More details and information about the Virtual Media Lab at

Website: www.tcdc.or.th/virtualmedialab, www.cea.or.th
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tcdc.thailand, www.facebook.com/CreativeEconomyAgency
www.facebook.com/changebycea, www.facebook.com/CONNECTBYCEA

Press Releases

CEA เปิดตัว Virtual Media Lab หนุนนักสร้างสรรค์ไทย ยกระดับคอนเทนต์ สร้างซอฟต์พาวเวอร์ สู่ตลาดสากล

นิทรรศการ “CreaTech: The New Reality” ชวนสัมผัสประสบการณ์ Virtual World 4 - 29 ตุลาคม 2566 TCDC กรุงเทพฯ