SK Telecom Co. announced on Tuesday that it signed a strategic partnership with Hong Kong-based telecommunications company PCCW Group to produce 5G-based virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) content and services in Hong Kong.
PCCW and SKT would also jointly create and launch an application showing videos produced by SK Telecom.
SKT said it would export its mixed reality studio creations, hoping to benefit from the K-pop industry’s popularity. Currently, SK Telecom is in talks with T-Mobile for the U.S. market and Deutsche Telekom for the European market. The company also aims to penetrate the Southeast Asian market.
Expanding AR and VR Content Globally
The company currently offers AR and VR content through its Jump application, which includes over 600,000 active users monthly. The Jump application service involves a broad range of AR and VR content, concerts, and virtual meetings via avatars.
SKT aims to raise the Jump Studio app’s subscribers to 10 million from 3 million by 2021.
According to SKT, PCCW would hold exclusive marketing rights for Jump AR and VR services in Macau and Hongkong. PCCW would also offer promotional benefits for its 5G subscribers coupled with a Chinese language support system.
The Jump Studio showcases the video production site inside the SKT headquarters in Seoul. The studio features virtual elements in an actual setting (AR) and allows interaction with the digital content (VR).
A total of 106 cameras enable the hologram-like technology in a 360-degree studio with the support of Microsoft’s volumetric video-capture technology.
The studio offers a wide range of content, such as the 39-feet hologram of Choi Si-won, a Super Junior member, during a virtual concert.
SKT built AR/VR technologies since 2013 and would secure 44 AR/VR-related patents more to its existing 140 patents this year.
Meanwhile, SKT’s local competition LG Uplus Corp. also increased its efforts and made alliances with other telecom firms last month.
