Navigating successful content creation in the immersive sector 

New reports from Digital Catapult brings practical advice to virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) players

London, 28 June 2018 – Leading innovation centre, Digital Catapult has today launched a set of three reports highlighting key trends in the UK’s immersive ecosystem. Guidance to maintain Britain’s leadership in immersive content creation, contained in the reports, aims to keep production world class and British companies healthy in a complex, early stage VR/AR market.

The report set, available at digicatapult.org.uk/technologies/immersive, has been produced in partnership by Digital Catapult with Limina Immersive, Opposable Group and Tech Spark, Nesta and i2 Media Research. These publications feature a number of case studies, interviews with top UK immersive content makers from different industry sectors and insights from lab trials.

The first report, Immersive Content Formats for Future Audiences, conducted by Limina Immersive, takes a look back at the range of creative, immersive content experiences released in the last five years, identifying patterns, trends and insights to emerging formats. Those with the biggest potential to capture the general public are identified, such as Immersive maker tool, Activity stimulator and Fantasy trip, with 15 creative format trends leading the way with audiences.

Catherine Allen, CEO, Limina Immersive, says: ‘As the immersive media sector grows, so does the need for a shared language and a way of categorising content from a creative perspective. Working with Digital Catapult, we examined the opportunity for Britain’s immersive experience creators. By providing both creative inspiration and a shared language, we hope to support UK companies in maintaining leadership in developing the most engaging material for audiences around the world’.

The second report in the series, Creative Tools and Workflows for Immersive Content Creation, written by Opposable Group and TechSpark, asks ten of the top UK immersive content makers to explain in detail how they make their content. The result is a snapshot of workflows and examples for others in the market to follow. The final report, Evaluating Immersive User Experience and Audience Impact, conducted by Nesta and i2 Media Research, considers a research methodology for testing and evaluating experimental immersive content being made now, in order to help predict potential audience appetite, cultural impact, and commercial opportunity in the future.

Innovate UK’s recent Knowledge Transfer Network report on The Immersive Economy maps out Britain’s immersive sector, predicting around 1,000 immersive-specialist companies with an expected turnover up to £1 billion this year. Britain is thought to represent 9% of global market share and concedes leadership only to the US.

Rebecca Gregory-Clarke, Lead Technologist for Immersive at Digital Catapult, says: ‘The flurry of creative content innovation over the last few years has led to a wealth of brilliant and varied experiences. The challenge now is to draw insight from them to make the next generation of content even better. By helping new players take rapid advantage of Britain’s immersive leadership, our creative economy will continue to grow at pace. ’

Digital Catapult is contributing to the UK’s immersive sector by providing access to the latest AR/VR equipment in its nationwide network of Immersive Labs. Together with partners in 2017 the organisation has also launched Dimension, a world-leading and the first volumetric capture studio in the UK.

To find out more please visit https://www.digicatapult.org.uk/technologies/immersive

Please find the reports as follows:

• Immersive Content Formats for Future Audiences
• Evaluating Immersive User Experience and Audience Impact
• Creative Tools and Workflows for Immersive Content Creation

About Digital Catapult

Digital Catapult is the UK’s leading advanced digital technology innovation Centre, driving early adoption of technologies to make UK businesses more competitive and productive to grow the country’s economy.

We connect large established companies, startup and scaleup businesses and researchers to discover new ways to solve big challenges in the manufacturing and creative industries. Through this collaboration businesses are supported to develop the right technologies to solve problems, increase productivity and open up new markets faster.

Digital Catapult provides physical and digital facilities for experimentation and testing that would otherwise not be accessible for smaller companies.

As well as breaking down barriers to technology adoption for startups and scaleups, our work de-risks innovation for large enterprises and uncovers new commercial applications in immersive, future networks, and artificial intelligence technologies.

For more info please visit www.digicatapult.org.uk

About Limina Immersive

Limina Immersive is a leading immersive media curation, events and consultancy company who specialise in creative VR and AR. Founded by BAFTA-winning Catherine Allen, who led the creation of two of the BBC’s first VR experiences, Limina’s goal is to make immersive media more accesible by diversifying audiences and widening participation in the emerging sector. Key projects include the Limina VR Weekender arts festival, ongoing VR curation for the British Council and the VR Diversity Initiative.

About Nesta

Nesta is a global innovation foundation. We back new ideas to tackle the big challenges of our time. We use our knowledge, networks, funding and skills – working in partnership with others, including governments, businesses and charities. We are a UK charity but work all over the world, supported by a financial endowment.

About i2 Media Research

i2 Media Research is the expert consumer insight and user experience research and strategy consultancy based at Goldsmiths University of London, delivering rigorous research and innovation to business – since 2002. The research base on which i2 was founded was on user experience of immersive media, starting in the 1990s. Fully self-funded through commissioned projects and through collaborative R&D, i2 media has successfully completed more than 250 commissions for clients spanning the commercial, public and third sectors.

About Opposable Group

Opposable Group are a technology company that specialise in the development of VR and games, and are co-founders of the Bristol Games Hub, VR World Congress and the Bristol VR Lab.
For more information visit www.opposablegroup.com.

About TechSpark

TechSpark is the information hub for all things tech, connecting, informing and preparing market insight for companies that work in in Bristol, Bath and the West of England region.