US-headquartered Gracia AI has snapped $1.2 million in seed investment. The investment came from The Venture Reality Fund, Triptyq Capital (which backed BeatConnect and ShapesXR), led by the founder of Vrvana (acquired by Apple), LVL1 Group, and Future Fund. In addition to this, the company unveiled its AI-powered technology, designed for professional creators and media companies, to create first-of-its-kind photorealistic volumetric videos for Spatial Computing with 6 degrees of freedom viewing.
Funds utilisation
The proceeds will be used to strengthen the company’s team and support the launch of a platform that combines the viewing capabilities of platforms like YouTube with the interactive and creative potentials of Spatial Computing.
Currently functioning on all major Virtual Reality headsets, Gracia AI has already been tested by over 1,000 tech enthusiasts and will soon be accessible on desktop, mobile devices, and the Apple Vision Pro.
“Bringing lifelike volumetric video is the holy grail of Spatial Computing content. Previous methods relying on photogrammetry were very limited but new breakthroughs in AI that use radiance fields represent a game change for how the real world can be digitally captured and experienced and Gracia AI is bringing that revolution to Spatial Computing. We’ve been waiting for over 10 years for the type of content that Gracia AI will enable and it will have profound effects on how we entertain, educate, and communicate,” stated explained Tipatat Chennavasin, co-founder and General Partner of The Venture Reality Fund.
The team behind Gracia AI
The company is led by Prisma’s early employees Andrey Volodin and Georgii Vysotskii, who have previously achieved a successful exit together. The team includes 15 top developers and designers and a marketing advisor from Spotify.
Since its debut at the end of 2023, the startup has already been tested in a trial mode by over 1,000 tech enthusiasts and agreed to develop pilot projects with contemporary artists such as Elen Sheidlin and British designer Sabina Bilenko.
What challenge does it tackle?
Gracia AI tackles the issue of limited diversity in VR content by providing tools for professional creators, enabling rapid content production and efficient distribution to a wide audience. The startup develops volumetric videos using its own AI model training pipeline, rendering them in native resolution 10x faster than any solution available in the market today. It enables on-device real-time VR rendering with natural parallax effects, ensuring the precise transfer of events from the real world to the digital realm.
Gracia AI also provides full flexibility of camera positioning in post-production, enabling the delivery of impossible camera 2D flythroughs and immersive repeats extracted from initially processed volumetric video. Its AI technology integrates into various industries, including sports, entertainment, art, and fashion, with content that could be published on Gracia AI or easily delivered through an SDK on a partner’s platform.
With over 51 million headsets already shipped worldwide, the Spatial Computing content market is projected to reach over 70 million monthly active users by 2026, propelling the industry’s growth to over $7.5 billion. Gracia AI is dedicated to rapidly creating high-quality spatial content for the fast-growing Spatial Computing Market, addressing the limited diversity in VR content by providing professionals with tools for rapid production and efficient distribution to wide audiences.
“As VR keeps advancing, its applications are extending beyond gaming, its current beachhead application. Our recent launch of Gracia AI is providing a glimpse of a new era of spatial content, making it possible for users to experience events like they were actually there: right next to Taylor Swift at her concert in front of 50,000-person audience, walking on stage, or following the fighters on the UFC octagon, all from the comfort of their own home,” noted Georgii Vysotskii, the co-founder & CEO of Gracia AI.
What do we think about Gracia AI?
The company specialises in creating photorealistic volumetric videos, marking a significant advancement in Spatial Computing. By leveraging AI to deliver high-quality, immersive content, it addresses the limitations of VR and enhances content diversity. This innovative approach promises to revolutionise entertainment, education, and communication in the rapidly growing VR market.
