Partner up to reap benefits from immersive advancements
The UK is making significant strides in the immersive technology sector, which includes augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR). According to recent projections, the global immersive industry is expected to grow from $5.2 billion in 2016 to an impressive $162 billion by 2020 [1].
Despite this promising growth, the US currently dominates the market, holding 75% share compared to the UK's 5% [2]. Recognising the potential of immersive technologies, the UK government has outlined a plan to make the country the world’s number one destination for investment in creativity and innovation by 2035 [1]. This ambitious vision, known as the Creative Industries Sector Vision 2035, targets business investment almost double from £17 billion to £31 billion, with immersive technologies like VR, AR, and MR playing a significant role [1].
To achieve this vision, the UK's strategies focus on fostering collaboration and a unified approach. Key elements include industry engagement initiatives, sector-specific innovation frameworks, and a government-led Creative Industries Sector Vision [1]. For instance, industry groups such as techUK have run focused sprint campaigns exploring how the UK can lead in immersive technologies alongside related fields like AI, spatial computing, and haptics [3].
The UK's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) supports innovation using AR, VR, and mixed reality in creative industries such as museums and gaming [4]. This focus on practical applications creates collaborative opportunities between cultural institutions, technology developers, and educational entities to advance immersive experiences.
Moreover, the UK encourages the development or collaboration with centralised consulting and innovation hubs, such as the National Centre of Excellence for Immersive Technology in Canada, to help businesses access expert advice, commercialization strategies, and hands-on immersive tech development [2].
However, the UK's success in the immersive development field is not without challenges. Lack of collaboration among UK companies is currently a significant factor hampering growth [5]. To address this, encouraging the cross-pollination of ideas and establishing co-funding models across sectors can help prevent duplication and siloed innovation [5].
The potential of immersive technologies extends beyond the creative industries. For example, VR has the potential to transform the manufacturing industry by enabling businesses to interact directly with their designs, foresee and troubleshoot possible problems pre-production, and provide an enhanced, tangible experience for clients [6]. In the healthcare sector, VR is being used to simulate surgery for doctors in training, incorporate into diagnostics to avoid invasive surgeries, treat phobias, trigger memories for dementia patients, and distract from chronic pain [6].
To become a dominant leader in the immersive field, the UK needs to take a more strategic and unified approach to immersive development, involving government, academia, and industry [7]. This approach is crucial to ensure the production of high-quality immersive content to drive consumer demand for expensive hardware [3].
In conclusion, the UK's approach combines a government-backed strategic vision to increase investment and skills, industry-led collaborative initiatives and sprint campaigns, innovation promotion in cultural and gaming sectors, and creation of expert networks and hubs that together foster collaboration and a unified, global-leading immersive technology sector.
[1] Digital Catapult (n.d.) Immersive Technologies. Retrieved from https://www.digitalcatapult.org.uk/immersive-technologies [2] TechUK (2020) Immersive Economy: The UK, Europe and the World. Retrieved from https://www.techuk.org/insights/reports/report/immersive-economy-the-uk-europe-and-the-world/ [3] techUK (2020) Immersive Economy: The UK, Europe and the World. Retrieved from https://www.techuk.org/insights/reports/report/immersive-economy-the-uk-europe-and-the-world/ [4] DCMS (2020) Immersive Technologies. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immersive-technologies [5] The Drum (2020) Collaboration key to the UK's success in immersive development. Retrieved from https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/02/27/collaboration-key-uks-success-immersive-development [6] The Drum (2020) Collaboration key to the UK's success in immersive development. Retrieved from https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/02/27/collaboration-key-uks-success-immersive-development [7] The Drum (2020) Collaboration key to the UK's success in immersive development. Retrieved from https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/02/27/collaboration-key-uks-success-immersive-development
Technology plays a significant role in the UK's strategies for immersive industry growth, with AR, VR, and MR being key areas of focus. To achieve the government's vision of becoming the world’s number one destination for investment in creativity and innovation by 2035, collaboration and a unified approach are crucial elements in the UK's plan, involving government, academia, and industry.
