In recent years, the use of robotics in content production has been steadily increasing. From robotic arms and rigs, to drones that push the boundaries of what content creators can capture, these technologies have become commonplace in the industry.

WPP has been working with Boston Dynamics' Spot robot since 2020, leveraging LiDAR technology to capture entire environments, which is particularly important in virtual production – an increasingly crucial component of AI-powered advertising content creation.

However, there are limitations to how robotics are currently used in these environments.

Robotic arms and rigs can be heavy and time-consuming to set up, sometimes taking up to half a day. Even minor shot adjustments can require dismantling and rebuilding the entire setup, eating into valuable shooting time.

Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of human camera operators is also crucial, reducing their exposure to hazardous locations, extreme conditions and physically demanding tasks. Even in controlled settings – like filming luxury ads – operators often face challenges, such as holding high-angle shots of luxury cars or capturing intricate details of watch parts and fine leatherwork. These repetitive and awkward positions can be uncomfortable and exhausting.

Lights, camera, Atlas

To explore potential solutions to these challenges, WPP collaborated with NVIDIA, Boston Dynamics and Canon to investigate how combinations of the latest technologies could be applied to future production sets.

“When we saw the unique way that WPP was using Spot,” says Vatche Arabian, Senior Marketing Manager at Boston Dynamics, “it made us want to work with WPP more on other unique use cases for both Spot and then looking towards the future with cool things that we could do with Atlas that would help production.”

For the first time, Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot was placed behind a camera to demonstrate how humanoid robotics might address some of the issues faced on sets today and elevate human creativity.

The usefulness of humanoid robots like Atlas stems from their design, which is tailored to navigate and interact with the world that humans inhabit. Their ability to repeat complicated movements allows them to seamlessly integrate into existing workflows and use equipment such as production cameras in new ways. This compatibility means that production companies can leverage their existing technologies, like state-of-the-art cinematic cameras, in innovative ways when working with humanoid robots, rather than having to start from scratch and develop entirely new systems. Canon's cutting-edge Cinema Cameras and lenses were utilised for the shoot including the EOS C400, EOS C80 and CN-R primes lenses, providing outstanding clarity and organic colour science to the production.

"Atlas can lift heavy objects in the order of 20 kilograms, hold it in an awkward position, maintain its balance, and bring it somewhere else," says Alberto Rodriguez, Director of Robot Behaviour at Boston Dynamics. This capability is crucial when hundreds of precise, repeatable shots are needed for advertising content, where backgrounds or product SKUs need to be replaced between shots while maintaining consistency.

Capturing the impossible

For Brett Danton, an international director and Director of Photography who works across commercial production, the experience of directing Atlas on set was remarkably similar to working with a human camera operator. However, Atlas brings unique capabilities to the table that expand creative possibilities. "Atlas performed typical moves in different ways. The way the robot turned sideways and walked forward, which obviously we can't do as humans, Atlas could do," Danton explains. "But the biggest thing Atlas was able to do was just to repeat the move exactly the same as we've done before."

This repeatability and precision open up exciting avenues, particularly in the realm of virtual production and location shooting.

Perry Nightingale, Senior Vice President of Creative AI at WPP points out that Atlas not only opens up the possibility of scanning locations that were previously inaccessible but also enables filmmakers to venture into environments and capture footage in places that would be too dangerous for human operators, he explains. "This technology allows us to push the boundaries of what's possible in content creation, bringing unprecedented opportunities to tell compelling stories and showcase products in ways that were once unimaginable."

Boston Dynamics’ Arabian agrees: “You might be in a situation where you want to send the robot to capture a close-up of a volcano or down into a cave”.

“There are all kinds of different ways that you might want to film. But the idea of a humanoid being able to do some of that keeps humans away from some potential danger while allowing them to tell the story that they want and capture things in a unique way,” he says.

Mapping environments with synthetic data

But bringing a robot into a new environment is not as simple as it may seem.

For robots to operate in dynamic environments like film sets or location shoots, they need to be trained on vast amounts of data to understand and adapt to the world around them. However, collecting real-world data can be time-consuming, expensive, or even impossible in some cases. That's where synthetic data comes in, and NVIDIA Cosmos™ offers a powerful solution.

NVIDIA Cosmos™, a set of world foundation models, helps developers create physically accurate virtual worlds and simulations that mimic the real world. These simulations serve as digital training grounds for robots, allowing them to learn and practice in a wide variety of virtual scenarios before being deployed in reality.

While these technologies may revolutionise content capture and enable robotic systems to shoulder more responsibilities on production sets, the role of human crews remains indispensable, even if the nature of roles on set may evolve.

As Boston Dynamics’ Arabian emphasises, "Robots are there to augment, not replace, what's already taking place. Just as drones have expanded our ability to tell stories, various forms of robotics offer new avenues to push the boundaries of what we can achieve in content creation."

The integration of robotics in content production means that many of the physically demanding, repetitive and dangerous jobs being done today will expand to be more visionary, creative and strategic. This technology frees up human talent to focus on the artistic vision of the shot, rather than being bogged down by monotonous movements and technical constraints. The type of content that will be able to be captured will only be limited by human imagination.

The creators of tomorrow

Rocio Rey, a Creative Technologist and graduate of WPP's Creative Technology Apprenticeship programme, experienced the use of Atlas on set firsthand. "It's been really exciting to be able to see how Atlas is able to rotate and move in ways that we can't do, and how that's going to be really helpful for production crews," she says. "It's impressive how precise the robots are and how much they can do that you wouldn't imagine is possible. I don't think I've ever seen such innovation in terms of movements."

As the industry continues to evolve, the collaboration between humans and robotics in content production will undoubtedly lead to groundbreaking innovations and breathtaking content, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the world of advertising and beyond.

WPP's Creative Technology Apprenticeship programme, delivered through WPP’s word-leading production agency Hogarth, is a testament to this future, training a cohort of new-to-industry talent on the skills that will be essential to virtual production and content creation in the advertising industry of tomorrow. By providing hands-on experience with the latest technologies and real-life creative briefs, the programme prepares the next generation of creative technologists to harness the power of technology, including robotics, and human ingenuity in shaping the future of advertising content production.

Omotara Edu, a WPP Creative Technologist who was also on set for the experiment with Atlas and NVIDIA Cosmos™, emphasises the importance of bringing engineering, technology and creativity together. "Creatives should have their hands on new technologies," she says. "It's important that creatives like me get to have a say in how innovations change the world."