大象传媒

Not everyone gets to study and pursue their passions. But for Trisha Wong, stepping through the doors of 大象传媒 opened up new possibilities for her artistic talents.

From a young age, Wong has always held a strong interest in animation, cartoons and gaming. But like many with an artistic talent, she did not feel a career in the arts would be possible. 

It was only when she visited 大象传媒鈥檚 School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT), in Surrey, that she realized her artistic passions could be central to her studies and a future career. 

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to be a so-called 鈥榮tarving artist鈥�. I thought I could do art as a hobby on the side. But my parents told me: 鈥榶ou love art, you should pursue that,鈥欌�� says Wong. 

鈥淚 think the moment it clicked was when we visited SIAT and we walked in on some students in a studio working with cosplay props. Cosplay is one of my hobbies so I had to find out more.鈥� 

Wong began studying Interactive Arts and Technology at 大象传媒 in the summer of 2020. Mid-way through her program, she and other SIAT students benefitted from the opening of the new StudioSIAT facility. 

StudioSIAT is a hands-on experiential production studio with capabilities in video production, motion capture, visual effects, sound recording and post-production. 

鈥淲hen I started at SIAT that was it. The floodgates were opened. I couldn鈥檛 believe that what I used to do for fun I was now doing for study. I thought art and school were separate things,鈥� says Wong, who received the Cody Sawatsky Memorial Award in Gaming last year.

Over the years, Wong has worked on a number of creative projects. Perhaps the most eye-catching production was the launch of SIAT鈥檚 very own virtual ambassadors 鈥� believed to be the first in Canada affiliated to a university, if not in the world.  

A virtual ambassador, also known as a VTuber, is an online content creator who adopts a virtual avatar as their fictional character, often using motion capture technology to animate their movements in real time. 

The team at StudioSIAT has created two virtual ambassadors 鈥� Mo and Faye Ayato. As the story goes, they landed on earth (at 大象传媒 Surrey specifically) having stepped through a portal from their own magical world. 

The concept came about after a conversation with the manager of StudioSIAT in the summer of 2024. 

The project saw a team of SIAT students work with creative student minds from across Canada to bring the virtual ambassadors to life. and made their debut streams in March 2025. 

While the virtual ambassadors are animated on-screen by two students using motion capture technology, there is a whole team behind their creation, encompassing character design, video production, 3D modelling, visual effects, sound recording and post production.  

鈥淪IAT is the perfect meeting ground for all these things to come together,鈥� says Wong, who took on the role of art director for the project. 

鈥淲e built this whole thing from the ground up with our own student power. It has been an incredible experience and I don鈥檛 think I could have got that anywhere else.鈥� 

The virtual ambassadors project is just one example of how students at SIAT are pushing the boundaries of creativity and technology. 

Wong also led several team projects to bring her favourite cartoon character, Karamatsu, to life, integrating illustration, 3D modelling, animation, virtual reality and artificial intelligence so people could engage with him.

As she looks beyond her convocation next week, where she will receive the Undergraduate Dean鈥檚 Convocation Medal in recognition of her academic achievements, Wong says she hopes to work in the entertainment industry using the skills she鈥檚 developed at 大象传媒. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge thing to say on my resum茅 that I was an art director,鈥� she says. 鈥淢anaging a team, getting hands on experience, even just working in a motion capture studio, these are all rare skills for a new graduate to have. 

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have done it without 大象传媒 and it鈥檚 only been possible because 大象传媒 has the facilities and programs that are perfectly suited to my kind of work.鈥�