Bridging Policy, Practice, and Innovation: The Future of Immersive Technologies in the CCIs

The Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) are at the forefront of technological innovation, often turning speculative ideas into transformative tools. To harness this potential, ekip’s Open Innovation Factories foster industry awareness of new methods for collaboration, ideation, and development developed through ekip’s original research and policy initiatives. By bringing together creatives, technologists, and policymakers, Open Innovation Factories also empowers participants to feed in to ekip’s work and help shape vibrant, inclusive futures for the CCIs across Europe and beyond. Our October 2024 Innovation Factory, held in Edinburgh and online, showcased the power of this approach, combining two panels with a hands-on workshop on immersive technologies.

The Policy and Impact Panel: Addressing Gaps and Opportunities

Chaired by Dr Suzanne Black of the CoSTAR Foresight Lab, this panel set the stage for how strategic policymaking can enhance immersive technology development. Liz Rosenthal, founder of Power to the Pixel, and Dr. Victoria Williams, Policy and Partnerships Manager, CoSTAR Foresight Lab discussed the challenges facing small creative businesses in navigating funding and policy landscapes.

Rosenthal highlighted the lack of dedicated funding for immersive technologies in the UK, contrasting it with more robust support systems in France and Canada. She called for targeted funding streams for immersive and interactive content, which could unlock private investment and international collaboration.

Williams emphasized the need for policymakers to engage directly with immersive technologies to better understand their potential. She suggested open-door models, like Digital Catapult’s 5G lab, where stakeholders can experience immersive innovations firsthand. Both panellists advocated for tax incentives and skills training initiatives to lower barriers for creators, especially those from underrepresented groups.

The panel concluded with a call for greater collaboration between policymakers and practitioners to craft flexible, forward-thinking strategies. ekip’s Policy Lab series is one example of how ekip is working to create bridges between policymakers and CCI practitioners to accelerate impact and innovation for the CCIs.

The Creative Practice Panel: Pioneers in Immersive Technology

This panel presented insights from creative practitioners Ana Betancourt of Black Goblin and Theodore Koterwas, an artist innovating with AI and tactile technology, chaired by Caroline Parkinson, Director of Creative Industries Engagement at the University of Edinburgh’s Edinburgh Futures Institute. Betancourt introduced Thol, a sound design suite that simplifies the creation of high-quality sound effects for film and game production. By using AI to handle monotonous tasks, Thol allows sound designers to focus on their creative vision, reducing costs and complexity.

Koterwas, meanwhile, explored the physical interactions between humans and AI in works like Tactile Intelligence, which uses motion-tracking and haptics to create immersive, embodied experiences. By positioning technology as a collaborator rather than a tool, his work redefines the relationship between creators and machines. Both speakers emphasized the importance of policymaking to support innovation, from R&D funding to clearer intellectual property protections for small creators.

Forecasting Futures Through Open Innovation

Following the two panels, participants engaged in an interactive workshop designed to explore how open innovation can shape future technology scenarios for immersive technologies. Following a brief icebreaker, the workshop followed a structured process:

1.  Futurecasting: Using trend cards prepared using ekip’s previous horizon scanning and policy priority clustering, participants identified key drivers of immersive technology development. Groups debated societal, industrial and policy priorities, with in-person attendees highlighting healthcare and therapy applications as a transformative focus. Meanwhile, online participants emphasized immersive storytelling, cultural heritage, and sustainability as critical areas.
2. Hopes and Fears: Building on the prioritization exercise, participants created scenarios for their chosen themes. For healthcare applications, hopes included improved patient-doctor communication and greater accessibility to treatments, while fears revolved around the misuse of data for control and the deepening of health inequalities.
3. Impact Analysis: Participants explored how open innovation could shape scenarios devised in the previous step. They envisioned a future where matched funding, networking hubs, and inclusive policies fuel health innovation—and its dystopian counterpart, marked by surveillance and systemic inequities. Discussions underscored the need for interdisciplinary collaboration to steer outcomes toward equity and inclusion.

Concluding with a brief wrap-up, participants consolidated their insights, identifying pressing questions such as, “How do we ensure technology creators represent user needs?” and “How can we break barriers between policy, academia, and industry?” Commitments ranged from fostering interdisciplinary dialogue to initiating specific collaborative projects and networks taken straight from the workshop.

Takeaways for the Creative Industries

The Open Innovation Factory approach we have templated demonstrates how speculative scenarios can guide actionable insights for CCIs. By prioritizing collaboration, inclusivity, and foresight, these workshops create pathways for creatives to influence policy and industry. As immersive technologies evolve, the CCIs have an unparalleled opportunity to shape their trajectory, ensuring these tools enrich rather than exploit. 

Whether creating soundscapes with Thol or designing AI-powered embodied experiences, the future of CCIs depends on our ability to imagine, and build, futures that reflect our collective hopes and address our shared fears. Open Innovation Factories offer a powerful model for helping CCI practitioners think through and apply ekip’s emergent research and policy priorities, supporting the CCIs in making these futures a reality.

A full video of the event and discussions can be viewed here: