A $7 million research lab that could significantly cut the cost of making films, animation and games was launched on Tuesday by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

The Future Studios Research Lab, which is sited in NTU, is already poised to help home-grown production company Richmanclub Studios reap cost savings for a movie that it is currently making at the lab. Entitled The Boy And His Robot, the science-fiction live action film is slated to be released at the end of this year or early next year.

By using the lab's equipment and technologies to create the film's visual effects instead of traditional production methods, the movie's production costs and the number of workers needed are expected to be slashed by up to 80 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively.

The lab's equipment include computer servers from HP and high end Nvidia graphics cards.

Technologies developed at the lab used for the film include a cloud computing system and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The former allows artists from different parts of the world to work on a project through an online network, while the latter can shorten the time needed for animating digital objects.

NTU intends to commercialise these technologies developed in-house together with Richmanclub Studios.

The Media Development Authority provided the bulk of the lab's funding, while HP and Nvidia sponsored equipment to NTU.