The Government is backing new projects by Oscar and BAFTA winning companies to create new VR and AR experiences.
A fund of £4 million is to be made available to a consortia which includes the creators of Wallace & Gromit, developers Tiny Rebel Games, digital specialists Potato, creative agency Sugar Creative and the University of South Wales.
Together, they will build on successes of Academy Award-winning films including The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave by taking the characters into the future of storytelling.
A further project is a new virtual reality drama game based on BAFTA-award winning Peaky Blinders using Artificial Intelligence technology.
Launching in 2020, it will mean that for the first time, characters will respond according to the players’ gestures, movement, voice, sound and body language.
The project is being led by London-based immersive VR studio, Maze Theory.
“Immersive technology is changing the way in which we consume entertainment, and the Audience of the Future programme will demonstrate how we can take people closer to the action than ever before,” said Creative Industries Minister Margot James.
Through its modern Industrial Strategy, the government is investing £33 million to ensure the UK’s immersive technology industry cements its place as a world-leader in film, TV and game productions for the future, remaining at the cutting edge of the latest technologies and creating thousands of highly-skilled jobs.
Business Secretary Greg Clark added: “Success stories like award-winning Wallace & Gromit and BAFTA-winning Peaky Blinders are part of the reason why our creative industries are truly world-leading – attracting audiences both here in the UK and internationally and helping create a sector already worth some £100 billion to our economy.”