• Swindon & Wiltshire Culture
• Thursday February 8 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

UWE Bristol to lead Immersive Arts – a new £6 million project supporting UK artists to work with immersive tech

A new project led by the University of the West of England will support over 200 UK-based artists and organisations to explore the creative potential of virtual, augmented and mixed reality technologies.

Funded through a £6 million grant from the XRtists scheme – backed by UK Research and Innovation – the three-year cross-UK Immersive Arts project will build on the UK’s record of supporting artists to unlock the creative potential of new technology.

Immersive Arts will be led by UWE Bristol, with the main hub at Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol and Watershed as executive producer.

Working in partnership with University of Bristol and cultural organisations in Belfast and Derry, Cardiff and Glasgow they will generate a programme of inclusive and accessible opportunities, breaking down the barriers for artists of all backgrounds to engage with immersive tools.

The term ‘immersive technology’ encompasses a wide spectrum of tools and technologies, including the games engines used to make virtual and augmented reality apps such as Beat Saber or Pokémon Go, as well as the motion capture, LED screens and spatial audio magic of Abba Voyage.

The Immersive Arts programme will give artists based in the UK the opportunity to access training, mentoring, specialist facilities and vital funds, with £3.6 million in grant funding available to help them get their ideas off the ground.

Principal investigator and director of immersive arts, Verity McIntosh, associate professor of virtual and extended realities at UWE Bristol, said: “I am delighted that this incredible consortium of partners will now be able to support more than 200 artists from across the UK.

“We look forward to working with creatives of all backgrounds who are interested in developing their practice, and testing the boundaries of what might be artistically possible using immersive technologies.

“In the coming three years we will be offering an inclusive and accessible programme of research, training, funding opportunities and events. Immersive Arts has been designed to foster a growing, collaborative community of UK artists experimenting with immersive materials, and connecting with audiences around the world.”

Funding for Immersive Arts comes from an ambitious partnership between the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Arts Council of Wales.

Culture secretary Lucy Frazer said: “The government has already invested £75 million to build a network of R&D labs across the UK that will put us at the forefront of advancements in visual effects, motion-capture technology, and AI for the screen and stage industries.

“This new funding will help even more of our brightest artists and creatives harness the power of this innovative technology. Developing the skills and infrastructure underpinning immersive technology will maximise the potential of our powerful creative industries and achieve our goal of growing them by £50 billion by 2030.”

Minister for tech and the digital economy, Saqib Bhatti said: “From the printing press to digital streaming, leaps forward in technology have always led to advances in art and creativity.

“The Immersive Arts programme will ensure that British creatives are given access to the tech they need to push new creative frontiers. Blockbuster shows like Abba Voyage demonstrate that extended reality brings about artistic innovation and a list of economic benefits that goes on and on and on.”

Photo credit: Jon Aitken