CoSTAR National Lab partners with Magnopus

CoSTAR National Lab has today announced Magnopus, the experience technology company, as a new partner. The partnership will give CoSTAR National Lab supported access to OKO, Magnopus’ spatial intelligence platform. OKO enables the creation of ‘Connected Spaces’ – cross-reality environments that work across devices like VR headsets, AR apps, and web browsers. Joining the National Lab, Magnopus will sit alongside existing industry partners Pinewood, BT, and Disguise.   

The partnership will enable UK companies to explore the possibilities of convergent media production, bringing together the real and the digital to create new kinds of experiences for audiences.  

OKO, underpinned by the open-source Connected Spaces Platform and Magnopus Cloud Services, enables spaces to remain synchronised across realities, keeping physical and digital environments connected, interactive, and persistent. It includes a browser-based application for accessible participation, an Unreal Engine plugin for real-time development, and a Unity-powered iOS app for environmental capture and shared AR. 

The CoSTAR National Lab, led by Royal Holloway, University of London, is the central hub of the CoSTAR Network, a £75.6 million investment by the UKRI Infrastructure Fund, delivered by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Opening in 2026, it is the UK’s first national lab for Creative Industries R&D, and will offer cutting-edge virtual production technology, with a Sound Stage and a series of R&D labs featuring spatial audio, volumetric capture and multisensory devices, a cloud-based Creative AI Compute facility, business space and prototyping facilities.  

Professor Ade Woolard, Interim Co-Director and Director of Technology, CoSTAR National Lab said: 

"Magnopus brings over a decade of pioneering expertise across innovation, immersive technologies, and virtual production. Providing UK companies with supported access to their technologies, platforms, and production expertise — including the OKO platform — marks an exciting step in advancing R&D and accelerating the convergence of real and virtual media production across all platforms.

“Their collaboration with CoSTAR National Lab strengthens our mission to help the UK build a globally connected ecosystem for emerging creative technologies. Magnopus exemplify the kind of partner that not only pushes the boundaries of what’s technically possible but also shares knowledge and infrastructure in ways that will enable others to innovate faster and more effectively. Through their involvement, we’re able to support UK companies in developing scalable, future-ready capabilities that would be difficult to achieve in isolation.” 

Dr Sol Rogers, Global Director of Innovation at Magnopus said: 

“For many years, we’ve partnered with future-thinking companies to solve hard problems in the immersive experience space, and so we deeply understand the technical challenges that come with this. That knowledge led us to create OKO. OKO enables creators of all skill levels to build and publish their own cross-platform, cross-device, and cross-reality experiences with minimal friction. Critically, it solves the significant interoperability challenges that currently plague cross-platform development. We're excited to see what this partnership brings." 

Most recently, Magnopus collaborated with Amazon MGM Studios, Amazon Studios Tech Operations, and Kilter Films to deliver The World of Fallout interactive web experience. The team also created the Daft Punk Experience in Fortnite with Epic Games and Daft Life. 

Photo Credit: Magnopus / Expo 2020 Dubai