20 trailblazing immersive projects selected for second year of CreativeXR

Digital Catapult and Arts Council England are proud to reveal the 20 teams taking part in the second year of CreativeXR, the industry-leading immersive content prototype accelerator programme. By providing teams with £20,000 of funding and access to immersive facilities and industry mentors, CreativeXR will enable the teams to develop innovative immersive prototypes which are set to change the UK’s arts and cultural sector.

CreativeXR supports new forms of creative content enabled by immersive (virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR)) technology and gives teams a platform to focus on R&D to create riskier, content-driven projects, opening up novel ways of engaging audiences and telling new stories.

As well as providing funding, CreativeXR provides a unique opportunity for the teams to develop skills and contacts to finance their projects and create commercially viable content, with workshops on pitching skills, developing business plans, and distribution and partnership strategies. The process will then culminate in a final showcase and marketplace event later in 2019, where teams will have the opportunity to pitch their prototypes to commissioners, distributors and financiers.

Jeremy Silver, CEO, Digital Catapult said: “CreativeXR is all about encouraging the development of new formats leading to new markets for cultural applications of immersive technologies. As a new medium, the ideas and approaches that can succeed are as likely to come from edges of contemporary art or from more commercially focussed industrial design. This year’s cohort is an inspiring combination of inventiveness, tech ability and commercial approach. We’re super excited to see them get started on their projects, and to be working again with Arts Council England.”

Digital Catapult and Arts Council England recently announced a new partner for CreativeXR. RYOT Studio, part of Verizon Media, is a global leader in XR, creating award-winning virtual reality films and branded content experiences across VR, AR and MR technology. In addition to RYOT Studio, the teams will receive support and mentorship from industry experts from a range of organisations including: Royal Opera House, Serpentine Galleries, Science Museum, BBC, Unity, Abbey Road Studios, NBCUniversal, Marshmallow Laser Feast and the Royal Shakespeare Company. CreativeXR will also have an Executive Producer this year, Liz Rosenthal, who will bring her experience and knowledge of the evolving immersive creative and business ecosystem through her work at Power to the Pixel and as VR programmer of Venice Film Festival.

Francis Runacres, Executive Director of Enterprise and Innovation, Arts Council England said: “It’s fantastic to be working with Digital Catapult again on a second round of CreativeXR. These projects demonstrate the potential of immersive content to produce new forms of creativity and cultural experience when artistic vision is combined with technology. We’re very pleased to have all the teams on board, and look forward to seeing their projects develop.”

Among those selected for this years’ CreativeXR are a number of mixed reality theatrical projects that mesh elements of live performance, projection, sound, gaming and AR; an interactive sonic performance in complete darkness; a mixed reality installation exploring gender identities; immersive dancing with artificial intelligence; a virtual motorbike journey exploring Native American ancestral roots; and an augmentation of Akram Khan’s Dust for the English National Ballet, UnDust.

The following 20 teams were selected to join the programme:

• COSMOS Immersive by Abandon Normal Devices, Manchester
• Dazzle Ball R&D by Gibson Martelli, London
• Invisible Light by 59 Productions, London
• Therese & Peta: A Tale of Two-Spirits by Queer Media CIC, Lancashire
• Rory Mullarkey’s Flood by Megaverse, London
• Bedlam by Mat Collishaw, London
• A Split Second by Also Known As, London
• Goliath by Anagram, Bristol/London
• Europe After the Rain by Imitating the Dog, Leeds
• The Time Machine by The Old Market, Brighton
• Breathe by Darkfield, London
• UnDust by Satore Tech, London
• Basic Tension by Jamila Johnson-Small Dance, London
• What is Normal? By Call & Response, London
• Present by Fight in the Dog, London
• Zia Dance Duet by BespokeVR Ltd, Middlesex
• Through the wardrobe by Colour My Reality, Bristol
• Madrid Noir: The Office by No Ghost, London
• basilisk by Studio Leg, Manchester
• Game Over by Blackwatch Entertainment in association with Circa69, London

The CreativeXR programme has received around 2,000 registrations of interest and almost 500 applications since it began in 2017, demonstrating the huge appetite for the programme within the UK’s immersive content community and across sectors and communities, from theatre to art, music, education, and gaming.

Companies that took part in the first year of CreativeXR have seen numerous successes: three of the projects have been selected to premiere at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival and All Seeing Eye’s Immersive Histories project now has a home at the RAF Museum in London.

CreativeXR has been developed by Digital Catapult and Arts Council England, in association with Immerse UK. For more information, visit creativexr.co.uk