Augmented reality and virtual reality
The UK augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) sector is a pioneer in the digital revolution, with the fastest growing market in Europe.
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The UK is internationally recognised for creative excellence and world-class innovation. From 2019 to 2024, it is expected there will be a 78.3% growth rate for spending on AR and VR in the UK. Growth is predicted to reach £62.5 billion by 2030, and the UK offers significant opportunities for investors.
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Video games in Coventry and Warwickshire
Reach a global audience across the full spectrum of games technologies, from mobile, PC and console, to fast-developing sectors such as VR/AR and eSports.
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Opportunity highlights
Radical innovation
The UK is home to globally renowned creative and technical expertise and UK immersive businesses are creating ground-breaking experiences across industries. Digital catapults encourage growth, providing facilities for companies and start-ups to create, demonstrate and commercialise their work.
AR and VR for any industry
AR and VR technologies are being used across industries, such as smart cities, engineering, film and TV, gaming and health tech. With 1,250 immersive technology companies operating across various sectors, the UK’s immersive industry provides a large pool of talent with a broad range of transferable skills.
Connecting for creativity
A range of services is available to the AR and VR sector in the UK. Immerse UK, for example, connects businesses to content, applications, services and solution providers, along with buyers and customers of immersive technology in the UK. Sentireal, an AR and VR firm based in Belfast, credits the assistance provided by Immerse UK in building business networks in the immersive technology sector.
Commercial maturity
The UK’s AR and VR strengths span all aspects of the industry from creation, development and production of immersive content to software and hardware creation. The industry can access talent from internationally recognised universities, such as Durham University, who excel in computer science. Durham has the UK’s first Intel oneAPI Academic Centre of Excellence.
The UK has consistently offered grants, such as 2021’s Audience of the Future – Design Foundations 2 challenge. This enabled UK-registered businesses to apply for a share of up to £800,000 for early-stage, human-centred design projects in creative or immersive experiences.
