Submit Applications for Immersive Arts Program (United Kingdom)

Immersive Arts is an ambitious three-year programme taking place across the UK, using an artist-led approach to working with immersive technologies. Immersive arts mean different things to different people. They define it as making art with technology to actively engage with an audience.  Think virtual, extended and augmented realities:

• engaging multiple senses
• bridging the gaps between physical and digital spaces
• connecting people to each other and the environment
• changing the way, they think and create.

Focus Areas

• They know the term ‘immersive art’ has many meanings for different people and across many sectors. For this programme, they mean art that uses technology to actively involve the audience. They welcome applications which make the case for using other technologies that enable an audience to be actively involved in the artwork.
  • Virtual Reality (VR) Projects that create digital environments, allowing users to interact within a computer-generated world using devices such as VR headsets and motion controllers.
  • Augmented Reality (AR) Initiatives that overlay digital content (usually visual or audio) onto the physical world through devices like smartphones, tablets or AR glasses, enhancing the user’s perception of their environment.
  • Mixed Reality (MR) Developments that blend real and virtual worlds to produce new environments where physical and digital objects coexist and interact in real-time, often using headsets with ‘pass-through’ capabilities like the Meta Quest 3 or Apple Vision Pro.
  • Extended Reality (XR) A collective term that encompasses VR, AR, and MR, referring to all physical-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology and wearables.
  • Spatial computing Projects that use spatial mapping and perception technologies to create interactive experiences in the physical space, enabling intuitive interactions between the user and digital content.
  • 360-degree video Utilisation of immersive video technology to create engaging and interactive storytelling experiences, allowing users to look around and explore a scene in every direction.
  • Spatial audio Projects that use 3D audio effects to place sound in 360 degrees around a listener.
  • Binaural sound Projects that utilise a stereo sound technique that gives audiences a sense of space and distance.
  • Haptics and sensory feedback Incorporating tactile feedback and other sensory technologies to enhance the immersive experience, making the digital interactions feel more real and engaging.
  • Responsive environments Installations that use technology such as movement, audio, touch or depth sensing to acknowledge and respond to the presence of the audience in creative and imaginative ways.

Funding Information

• With £3.6million of funding available till 2027, Immersive Arts will fund over 200 UK-based artists through three strands:
  • Explore
    • Grant amount: Up to £5,000
  • Experiment
    • Grant amount: Up to £20,000
  • Expand
    • Grant amount: Up to £50,000

Eligible Costs

• Project development: Planning, research and development, and execution of immersive arts projects.
•  Materials and equipment: Purchase or rental of materials, equipment, software licences and other technical tools.
•  Professional fees: Payment to artists, collaborators, technical support and other professionals involved in the project.
• Training fees: Formal or informal support or learning related to the project.
• Travel, accommodation and subsistence: For collaborations, research, residencies, attending relevant events, workshops or project-related activities.
• Marketing/ audience development: For Experiment and Expand strands only.
• Venue hire: Studios or spaces required for project development, rehearsals, events or exhibitions.
• Access and inclusion: Costs that support accessible, diverse and inclusive audience engagement and participation (eg sign language interpreters, captioning, creating accessible formats, etc).

Ineligible Costs

• Examples of ineligible costs:
  • capital expenditures
  • overheads/ general running costs not related to the project
  • debt repayment
  •  non-artistic activities
  • fundraising events
  • equipment not directly related to the project
  • formal education and tuition fees
  • projects in formal education settings (eg activity undertaken by students as part of their academic curriculum)
  • costs already covered by other income or funding
  • alcohol

Eligibility Criteria

• You are eligible to apply for an Immersive Arts grant if you:
  • are an individual artist, creative practitioner or creative technologist
  • are an arts-based organisation, small group or collective (10 people or fewer for Experiment and Explore, up to 50 people for Expand)
  • are based in the UK
  • are aged 18 or over
  • have a UK bank account in your own name.
• Eligible strands
  • Explore for:
    • artists with little or no experience in immersive arts
    • individuals, small creative collectives or organisations (of 10 people or fewer).
  • Experiment for:
    • artists who are ready to get their ideas off the ground and test their work out with an audience
    • individuals, small creative collectives or organisations (of 10 people or fewer).
  • Expand for:
    • artists with an immersive project in development
    • creative collectives and organisations (of 50 people or fewer).

For more information, visit Immersive Arts.