From interactive video games to outer space – Catalan visions at MWC 

The Catalan digital heart is beating strong at this year’s Mobile World Congress. 46 companies and research centers are showing a variety of new technologies and ideas, spanning from systems to help improve the environment, as is the case with the company EarthPulse, or the satellite developers at the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) who are bringing their knowledge into outer space. 

Barcelona-based game developer Eshodo is also present, representing the entertainment aspect of technological development, or CVC, that is developing ways to give computers the ability to see and understand.  

From space to earth 

EarthPulse is a Barcelona-based startup that seeks out to ''help companies extract their full potential,'' through land data collected from satellites.  

The company can measure the water quality in reservoirs such as the Boadella Reservoir in northern Catalonia and monitor specific levels of chlorophyll, among other things. 

''The old and classic methodology consisted of going in with a boat and taking measurements,'' explains Fran Martín from EarthPulse to the Catalan News Agency (ACN).  

''Now, every three, four or five days we can provide the same data, practically in real time,'' he adds.  

The technology, which is primarily aimed at ''large companies'' can also be used to evaluate the state of roads, vegetation, and calculate climate vulnerability.  

Small but mighty satellites 

The Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) is another Catalan enterprise that is working to and from space and participating in the MWC.  

Founded in 1996, the institute does space research and develops new technologies. This includes building small satellites to ''learn more about the universe'' but also to learn more about earth and the environment, according to Josep Colomer, the director of area promotion of the Space Sector of Catalonia of the IEEC. 

In 2020, the Catalan Government launched the NewSpace Strategy to ''boost the growth'' of the space sector in Catalonia, and the IEEC has participated in this project since its inception. 

The IEEC primarily constructs satellite components and small satellites, and then ''put them in orbit, operate and retrieve data that the satellites collect from space,'' explains Colomer to Catalan News.  

Although small, the Catalan satellites are no less mighty.  

''We are used to seeing big satellites, which are built in collaboration with many organizations, space agencies, countries with a big budget, and that started to change a few years ago,” explains Colomer.  

But according to the director, times have changed and now, the use of smaller satellites is “new space disruption,'' because the small satellites are both reliable and cheap, making them more obtainable.  

At the MWC, the IEEC is showing their Menut satellite, which provides data that complements larger programs such as the international Copernicus program. 

A visual novel by Eshodo 

Eshodo, a Barcelona-based software company, shows another creative, yet more art and entertainment focused side of the World Mobile Congress.  

The company developed a game where the player can engage within the world of Lost Elite. A visual novel where the person playing the game decides the outcome of the story.  

For this interactive storytelling game, they use the image of real creators and reproduce them as a digital avatar to introduce them into the digital world.  

''Real people can exist inside the game as a digital avatar, because these avatars can go from a still image to a 3D generated render that we can create,'' explains Alessandro Villaggi, the Chief Communications Officer of Eshodo.  

The anime-style game features a team of artists that created Lys Sogno University and its students. ''The main thing of a visual novel is obviously the story but we implied great art and I think players are really going to enjoy that,'' says Villaggi.  

The storyline of the Lost Elite will be in the style of a Thriller-Mystery. Signing up is possible via this link. 

Computer vision center 

Another company at the MWC is working with technology in a similar way. The Computer Vision Center, in collaboration with the Catalan Government, is combining the tools of image analysis and data transmission ''in order to make people's lives easier.''  

By giving computers the ability to see and understand, they can solve problems like garbage overflow in the city, improve clinical decisions in operating rooms and analyze documents with camera-based reading systems. They also work on cybersecurity, 3D reconstruction and other technological areas.  

''Developing this will not only have benefits for Barcelona, but I would say for society in general,'' states Coen Antens, Technological Innovation Unit Manager at the Computer Vision Center. 

The Mobile World Congress takes place until Thursday March 6 at the Fira de Gran Via in Barcelona.