Digital Catapult and Arts Council England announce applications for next round of immersive content fund CreativeXR

CreativeXR programme to renew following first year success.

London, 22 January 2019 – Digital Catapult and Arts Council England today announce an Open Call for a new cohort of content creators to join CreativeXR, a programme aimed at supporting the development of new virtual, augmented and mixed reality experiences within the creative industries.

CreativeXR is seeking submissions which focus on creative, consumer-facing experiences enabled by immersive technologies. Entries could include:

• Artistic pieces
• Cultural experiences (including those inspired by museum, gallery, library or heritage experiences)
• New forms of storytelling (fiction or non-fiction)
• New forms of interactive entertainment

20 successful applicants will receive up to £20,000 of early stage investment to develop their prototype, mentoring from industry leaders, access to Digital Catapult’s nationwide network of Immersive Labs and opportunities to pitch for further development funding.

This year’s programme follows the success of the first CreativeXR in 2018, which saw twenty teams create prototypes and five teams receive further funding to complete their projects. These five immersive experiences will be previewed at a showcase event at Digital Catapult on 4 February 2019.

“CreativeXR is about stimulating the strength of British storytelling and commissioning talent. Immersive technologies offer many new content opportunities to be bold and experimental in creating engaging and authentic experiences,” comments Jeremy Silver, CEO, Digital Catapult. “This collaborative effort with Arts Council England pushes UK creative startups to innovate in order to reach new audiences, tell new stories, and establish new business models. We hope it will encourage a new boldness in investors and commissioners too.”

In 2018, CreativeXR received over 1,000 registrations of interest and over 250 applications from its Open Call. Digital Catapult and Arts Council England are now on the lookout for the next cohort of ambitious immersive content creators.

“We’re excited to partner with Digital Catapult again to recognise the best immersive content creators in the UK and offer them the support they need to reach their full potential,” comments Francis Runacres, Executive Director, Innovation and Enterprise at Arts Council England. “The popularity of last year’s programme indicates the huge appetite for this kind of support, while the incredibly high-calibre of immersive experiences that emerged from it demonstrate the UK’s leadership in this space and potential for further growth.”

Next Steps

• Interested parties can apply to the Open Call at: www.creativexr.co.uk
• Or submit any queries to: [email protected]
• The deadline to submit proposals is 17 February 2019

Notes to Editor

About Digital Catapult

Digital Catapult is a technology innovation centre that unlocks digital growth in the UK economy. It works with companies of all sizes to transform their businesses by accelerating the practical application of digital innovation. We bridge the gap between research and industry, finding the right technologies to solve problems, increase productivity and open-up new markets faster.

Digital Catapult connects experts with established enterprises, start-up and scale-up businesses, and researchers to discover new ways of solving big technological challenges in the digital manufacturing and creative industries.

It provides experimental and testing facilities and access to experts so that new services and applications can be trialled and brought to market faster. We do this across the UK via our five innovation centres. This breaks down barriers to technology adoption for start-ups and small businesses, de-risks innovation for enterprises and uncovers new commercial applications for digital technology in the fields of immersive, connectivity, data and artificial intelligence.

Our ambition is to bring the best of UK digital capability to the world.

To find out more about Digital Catapult, please visit: www.digicatapult.org.uk / @DigiCatapult

About Arts Council England

Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk