CoSTAR Screen Lab Call: 5G Innovation in Screen Technologies

CoSTAR Screen Lab invites creative companies to explore innovative applications of 5G in the screen and performance sectors.

Call closes Thursday 22 May 2025, 14.00 GMT

Synopsis

The CoSTAR Screen Lab is exploring how 5G is accelerating innovation in the screen and performance sectors including film, TV, gaming, and beyond. 5G offers faster speeds, lower latency, higher capacity, increased flexibility, and increased reliability, supporting a range of digital applications in the creative industries such as virtual production, broadcast, advertising, digital twinning, automation and generative AI, amongst others.

This call is designed to support innovative applications of 5G in the screen and performance sectors and will encourage proposals addressing a range of potential challenges including those in content production, multi-site collaboration, data access, distribution, consumption, net-zero and sustainability.

What are we looking for?

Advanced wireless networks, such as 5G, are key to driving economic growth and innovation across a range of industrial sectors including creative industries.

With ultra-low latency and high-speed data transfer, 5G enables more efficient and streamlined content production including real-time multi-site pre-visualisation, production and post-production.  5G-enabled real-time media storage provides rapid access to high-resolution footage, ensuring that data is captured, stored, and retrieved more efficiently. 5G capability can also significantly enhance workflows in distribution and consumption of content. Crucially, 5G innovation in the screen technologies sector has the potential to address well-known issues around carbon footprint and the quest for net-zero. Recently, Studio Ulster led a DSIT-funded Belfast 5G Innovation Region project exploring application of 5G technologies in multi-site, real-time remote virtual production. This project investigated use of a mobile solution, ‘5G in a box’ to facilitate remote control of robotic cameras on location from a central control studio, with real time capture and display on LED walls and collaborative editing capabilities on the fly. This proof of concept aimed to demonstrate how costs can be reduced, efficiencies increased and production workflows optimised. More details on this project and similar 5G enabled use-cases can be found here.

This call is designed to support innovative application and creative use cases for 5G across the screen and performance sectors and it encourages proposals covering a range of potential solutions that include but are not be limited to; 

• Multi-site real time pre-visualisation, production and post-production

• Low latency data transfer in studio environments (LED wall focus)

• Camera tracking

• Automation of LED wall configuration

• High volume, real-time motion capture

• 3D and 4D scanning applications for real time

• Real time spatial audio automation

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applications in real time studio environments

We are seeking proposals from companies interested in exploring the opportunities and addressing the challenges of 5G applications in creative contexts from technological and/or creative perspectives.

The projects selected through this call are expected to deliver tangible outputs. These may be early-stage prototypes or proof-of-concept demonstrations, or later stage product developments that leverage Screen Lab’s advanced infrastructure. 

These projects will also help the CoSTAR Screen Lab to trial, test and showcase new ways of supporting R&D in the creative industries.

Social Impact

Environmental Sustainability and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) are central to our work at CoSTAR and all our Access Programmes. All projects, regardless of their main R&D focus, are expected to have a demonstrable engagement with either EDI, sustainability or both. This will be supported by training and mentorship in areas that include; equitable design, developing environmental sustainability principles and working with diverse user groups. 

For more detail on this and guidance on what to include in your proposal, please see the Full Call Brief document.

Intellectual Property

Successful Applicants will own any new IP created through their projects, however, some terms and conditions will apply. Please see the section on IP in the Full Call Brief document for more details.

What is on offer?

CoSTAR support for this call offers a combination of access to equipment and facilities, research expertise, and cash funding to support project costs. The total value of this support package is valued at over £150k per project. For this specific open call, up to two projects will be awarded cash funding of up to £35k per project.

Successful projects will have the opportunity to access:

• Equipment and facilities: up to two intensive one-week development sprints at CoSTAR Screen Lab. This includes on-boarding and orientation on the required equipment by our technical team. Please see here for a description of the Screen Lab facilities.

• Research Expertise: staff will guide and collaborate with you during the tenancy, and will also be able to provide up to 10 days of ad-hoc support outside of these sprint windows over the project’s total duration. Please see here for a description of Screen Lab’s research expertise.

• Cash funding: up to £35,000 is available to contribute to costs in undertaking the project. Please see section on Eligible Costs in the full Call Brief document.

• Travel Budget: if a project requires a period of residency (two or more days) at the Screen Lab and if travel distance is more than two hours from that lab, a company stipend of up to £4,000 is available to support travel and accommodation.

Who can apply?

This competition invites applications from teams across the UK. Teams may include a variety of UK-based companies, technologists, researchers and creative practitioners, however, the lead applicant must be a UK-based company and demonstrate a high level of ambition to deliver technological advancement and business growth in its application to creative industries challenges. 

Organisations applying must meet the following Eligibility Criteria:

• have a lead applicant that is an enterprise or legal entity registered and trading in the UK

• be from or support the screen and/or performance sectors

• have an operations and/or project team based in the UK

• intend to carry out any project work arising from this award in the UK intend to exploit the results of work from or in the UK

• only include eligible project costs in their application (see guidance on Eligible Costs in the Call Brief document)

• not attribute more than 75% of project costs to subcontractors. Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK

How to apply

To apply, please complete the online application form on the Submittable platform by the deadline on Thursday 22 May 2025, 14.00 GMT. You will be informed in writing of the outcome within 8 weeks of the closing date.

Please make sure you have read the full information available for this call, found in the following document:

Full Call Brief

For more information, please join our Webinar on Tuesday 8 April 2025 from 12.00-13.30 GMT.

Accessible applications:

Support is available for those who require assistance with the application process. Reasonable adjustments may include: 

• Submitting an application via a form in Microsoft Word format (available upon request)

• Options made available for video or audio submissions in place of written answers for each section in the application

• All webinars will be accessible with visual/written briefs made available for review during and after the event

• Individual requests for access support will be accommodated wherever possible and equitable

To request support please costar.pilots@rhul.ac.uk

Assessment Criteria:

Once CoSTAR has received your application, it will go through a formal assessment process. This will be undertaken by an independent panel of CoSTAR assessors and partners. The assessors will consider the following criteria:   

• The problem that your innovation seeks to address is well defined

• The proposed solution is clear and achievable

• The specific R&D focus and/or innovation of the project is novel and well-articulated*

• The proposed solution has strong commercial value, with an appropriate route to market

• The project team has strong leadership, and the range of skills and experience needed to deliver the project

• The project management plan and approach to risk management is appropriate and achievable*

• The request for CoSTAR support is clear and reasonable

• There is a clear rationale for why CoSTAR support is required to progress and/or accelerate the project

• The project is of clear value to the performance and/or screen sectors

• There is a strong approach to engaging with Social Impact (EDI and/or Environmental Sustainability)

* denotes criteria that will receive double weighting during the assessment process

Timeline

Open Date for Applications: Monday 31 March 2025

Closing Date for Applications: Thursday 22 May 2025, 14.00 GMT

Application Outcome: You will be informed in writing of the outcome within 8 weeks of the closing date.

Project Start and Duration: Projects can be up to 3 months in duration and must begin after 1 September 2025 and end no later than 30 November 2025.