Sejong University launches Asia’s largest university-run AI virtual media studio

Sejong University senior officials and other participants pose during an opening ceremony for Team Studios Sejong, an artificial intelligence-powered virtual media studio, on the school campus in northeastern Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Sejong University

Sejong University has opened Team Studios Sejong, the largest artificial intelligence (AI) virtual media studio at a university in Asia, the school said Tuesday.

The studio, equipped with state-of-the-art devices and facilities, was created by renovating a 990 square meter theater in the university’s Gwanggaeto Building.

The studio opening was the result of an industry-academia cooperation agreement the university signed with SK Telecom, the largest mobile carrier in Korea, in November 2023.

Since then, the school has carried out a range of joint research and collaborative projects with the company in the field of virtual media.

During the process, SK Telecom donated large-scale LED walls and other advanced equipment previously used at its virtual studio in Pangyo, just south of Seoul, to the university.

A school official said the donation was intended to support media research and industry collaboration by professors and students in the university’s comics and animation technology program, paving the way for the establishment of the studio.

Team Studios Sejong is an AI-powered virtual media studio equipped with a large LED wall measuring 16 meters wide by 8 meters high and an LED floor measuring 11 meters wide by 6 meters high, according to the school.

The university said the studio is also outfitted with cutting-edge equipment on par with that of professional commercial studios, including Mo-Sys trackers, Sony VENICE cameras and six Disguise media servers.

In addition, the studio features modern motorized seating capable of accommodating more than 200 people, enabling the facility to serve various purposes such as education, research, performances and industry collaboration.

The school noted that the studio can also support real-time performances featuring virtual idols and characters through an optical fiber connection with a motion capture studio set up on the sixth floor of the university's Gunja Building.

It added that through these facilities, the university has laid the foundation for conducting convergent research and experimentation in advanced media technologies such as AI, animation, extended reality (XR), virtual humans and media facades.

Virtual idols perform on the LED stage at Team Studios Sejong, an AI-powered virtual media studio, on the campus of Sejong University in northeastern Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Sejong University

About 240 researchers, managers and officials from state-run research institutes and businesses in the field of entertainment, animation and virtual idols attended the studio opening ceremony.

During the event, industry-academia partner companies of the university presented XR demonstrations and live performances featuring virtual idols, showcasing the studio’s technological competitiveness and broad potential applications.

“The studio opening is meaningful in that it highlights the university’s research achievements in arts and technology, one of its key strengths, and serves as a declaration of its vision for the future, going beyond the establishment of a simple high-tech facility,” said Park Jae-woo, professor of comics and animation studies and head of the Sejong University RISE Project overseeing the studio’s operation.

He added, “Going forward, we will actively pursue research linking AI with advanced media fields such as animation, media facades, extended reality and virtual humans, with the comics and animation major in the lead.”

“Together with the Sejong AI Media Lab, which is currently being established, we aim to develop Sejong University into a globally recognized institution in arts and technology and take a leading role in the domestic and global AI media industries,” he said.

The university said it plans to step up its efforts to expand creative research and industry-academia collaboration that integrate advanced media technologies, the arts and AI, while nurturing global talent capable of leading the future content industry.