Virtual Arena

Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... The consumer VR sector seems to be in freefall, but the reality of commercial application of the wider XR landscape is blooming. This however seems not to be receiving similar levels of publicity with the “gravy train” of Meta promotion of VR being derailed. The new vibe is to denigrate all aspects of VR, rather than shine light on the success stories. To redress the balance, we at the Virtual Arena continue to chart the investment and development of XR across the commercial space, without any ambassadorial commitments. And following on from our coverage of the XR Educational space – we now turn to the application in simulation during International Training Technology Exhibition & Conference (ITEC) 2026 – Europe’s largest dedicated event for defence training and simulation technology. Taking place at London’s […]

Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... In this special feature we look at the developments in the educational and technology (EduTech) sector, while attending Europe’s largest teaching and training convention, and see the deployment of the latest VR headsets and classroom applications proving the strength of XR in this sector. The consumer VR sector has been fixated on the state of recent developments and a failure of the technology to grow at the rate some hoped and banked on. But the reality is that there are other aspects of the deployment of immersive tech into business that have seen growing success. Sadly, those sectors did not have access to the vast marketing and self-promotion budgets as allocated to some in the consumer VR arena. The Educational Reality The commercial application of VR into the educational scene is one […]

Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... In this second and final part of our specialist feature on the Immersive entertainment landscape, we look towards the deployment of AR, MR and SR technology. Defining the latest unencumbered immersive attractions and game systems, while charting the trends that are shaping the sector. Concluding this features’ look at the key applications, and those looking to rollout experiences and attractions based on both encumbered and unencumbered augmented technology creating a “Phygital” (physical element married to digital representation) playscape. We now move towards the projection and display applications gaining ground.   5. Immersive Shared Realities Looking beyond headset and head mounted AR and MR technology, and in defining XR applications in the location-based sector, we also need to include Projection Mapping (PM), that falls within the Shared Reality (SR) catchment. Shared, as in that […]

Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... In this first part of our specialist feature on the Immersive entertainment landscape, we look towards the deployment of AR, MR and SR technology. Defining the latest encumbered immersive attractions and game systems, while charting the trends that are shaping the sector. The consumer sector seems to be pivoting away from overt VR applications, while looking at an AR and MR future for immersive tech. As always, the LBE sector has been first to embrace this XR category. This feature will look at the key applications, and those looking to rollout experiences and attractions based on both encumbered and unencumbered augmented technology creating a “Phygital” (physical element married to digital representation) playscape. First, we need to understand the difference between AR and MR.  1. Defining XR Categories - Augmented Reality (AR) [Encumbered] […]

The traveling European leg of the mega IAAPA trade show (IAAPA-Europe-Expo) landed in Amsterdam at the end of September 2024 and offered a massive snapshot of the European industry landscape, and how the latest trends are being deployed in the attraction and amusement scene. The international trade association event attracting massive attendance from the European territory, as well as seeing North American and Asian visitation. With VR, AR and MR having been deployed into the amusement mix for this sector of commercial entertainment; and the novelty factor has now been superseded by the realities of which of these applications grabs audience interest and generates reliable revenue. Virtual Reality The virtual reality scene in the location-based entertainment (LBE) sector has evolved from the passive tethered VR experiences of Generation One and Two, and now represents most of the Room Scale – […]

In this latest column, we look at the emergence of immersive audience engagement, using both virtual and mixed reality technologies. Far beyond the limitations of consumer VR applications – the ability of interacting in groups offers a new dimension to immersion, and points towards a possible theater and exhibition-based future of XR. The need for physical engagement the special element that defines the new level of immersive experiences sweeping the international attraction, stage and exhibition scene. Shared VR The technology advantage of “Shared Reality” (SR) applications, offers the ability for groups and audiences to enjoy the experience together sharing the immersion and narrative. While the ‘Big Screen’ consumer VR experiences have proven one of the recuring popular consumer VR applications across platforms. The ability to enthral actual large audiences, beyond low quality disembodied heads, has enthralled audience members to the […]

In this latest column, we explore the new frontier for Immersive Edutainment – the mixture of an Immersive Galleries and Museum exhibits into an audience experience – along with the more general Immersive Adventure catering for large simultaneous group activities. The true engagement of high-end VR has been the ability to transport the user into a synthetic environment. Many observers have seen the explosion in edutainment being a kind of “Museum 2.0” – the only way the new generation of audiences can be drawn into experiencing the wonders of the world, classic art, and history, with their different attention spans. Transportation We have seen the initial immersive edutainment deployed in the form of “Virtual Field trips” placed into the school syllabus, with the likes of the ‘ClassVR’ platform from developer Avantis Education. A school-based VR platform that offers the ability to […]