Another Week in Seattle: Monorails, Basketball, and Magic Cards (and Some Work Too!)
(Same as last weeks, AI helped me with grammar and cleaner translation)
Another week has flown by, so here's a quick update. Not a ton of new adventures this time (I think I’m starting to settle into the local rhythm), so I’ll finally share a bit about the projects we’re working on right now. But first, a few highlights from the week:
Seattle Monorail: Short but Sweet
We took a ride on the legendary Seattle Monorail. It lasts just about a minute, but it’s got its charm. What surprised me most is that each car rides on around 60 (or something like that) rubber wheels, so the "rail" is really just a big concrete slab in the middle. It may not be practical as a widespread transportation solution, but honestly, I wouldn’t mind if it were more common. It’s fun. ??
College Basketball Vibes
We went to a university basketball game, and wow—what an experience! Sitting next to us was a super-friendly retired pro basketball player (who must have been about three meters tall), and he gave us great insights throughout the game. There was live music, an electric atmosphere, and tons of enthusiastic students. It felt like stepping into an American teen movie—American Pie vibes all the way. ?? This week, we’re heading to an NHL game, which I’m also really excited about.
Birthday Cake Drama
I picked out a birthday cake for my daughter this week and, well… I failed. Even she said it was “too sweet,” which I never thought I’d hear her say. She was right, though—it was probably the sweetest thing I’ve ever eaten (I kind of liked it, to be honest). I shouldn’t have been surprised, though. I’ve already found sugar in salt here, so clearly, I need to recalibrate my expectations. ??
Magic at Wizards of the Coast
Last night, I attended a gaming networking event at the Wizards of the Coast offices—creators of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. It was a fantastic event, and I even snagged a few Magic booster packs. No Black Lotus in there, sadly, but hey, one can dream. ??
Once again, I met a ton of amazing people, both professionally and socially. I’m loving it here more and more. And to think we haven’t even properly explored the great outdoors yet!
What We’re Working On
So, what are we up to these days? Most of our efforts revolve around our platform, Remāngu, which enables game developers, VFX artists, animators, and other creatives to work securely from anywhere—without risking data leaks.
One of my favorite use cases was essentially invented by one of our brilliant customers, Fredrik, CEO of Stockholm-based studio Dextry. Dextry runs a top-notch motion-capture studio, but because they’re tied to a physical space, scaling their work can be challenging. That’s where Remāngu comes in.
Using Remāngu and Unreal Engine (Live Link feature in this case), we’ve found a way to hack the unscalability. It’s not just about live-streaming video from the studio (that’s cool but not groundbreaking). What we’re enabling is the ability to stream the entire editor with a virtual camera—complete with animation data already mapped to the actors in real-time.
This means that teams no longer need to travel to the studio for every single session. Studios like Dextry can save time for their clients while boosting their own production capacity, since this approach allows for more shots to be completed in a single day. It’s a fantastic example of how tech can make life easier—and more efficient—for the creative industries.
If you’re curious to see how it looks, drop me a message, and I’d be happy to share a sneak peek. ??
That’s it for now! If I can stay consistent (and I hear consistency is the key to being a good influencer), I’ll check in again next week.
Have an amazing weekend! Cheers, Stepan