Dear Colleague,

Welcome to the latest newsletter from XR Stories and XR Network+ at the University of York. In this edition:

• Find out about the XR Stories residency programme.
• Get up to speed on recent funding opportunities.
• Register for our online seminar about new R&D in AI and virtual production.
• Read about our work supporting The Yorkshire Museum.

The next XR chapter

On 31 March 2024, XR Stories completed as a funded AHRC project but is now continuing as a University of York-led initiative. From our office and immersive technology lab in The Guildhall, York, we deliver innovation support for regional creative and digital businesses and provide a connection point for the creative industries to our core university-led digital creativities research. Read about all that we have achieved to date in our final report and catch up on some of the new opportunities and support activities we're providing across both XR Stories and XR Network+ in this newsletter.

Residency programme

The XR Stories residency programme provides opportunities for creative businesses and researchers to work on projects using extended reality technology in a space outside of their usual environment, to incubate new ideas and carry out productive R&D.

Redefining content creation

Join our XR Network+ online seminar on 15 May to hear about a collaboration between the University of Portsmouth and visual effects facility, Dark Cosmos Creative, that is transforming the process of capturing photorealistic assets for the film production pipeline.

Ice-age motion capture

XR Stories has supported the creation of a new interactive exhibition for The Yorkshire Museum that gives visitors a glimpse into the lives of the people of the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) settlement at Star Carr in North Yorkshire. 

R&D funding roundup

This month's roundup includes funding for filmmakers in the North of England, grants for women leading deep tech startups and opportunities for ambitious early career researchers and innovators. There's also information on upcoming opportunities.

XR Network+ in Portsmouth 

On Wednesday 5 June, join XR Network+ partners at the University of Portsmouth Centre for Creative and Immersive XR (CCIXR) to hear about updates and opportunities from the project, share insights and foster new links. 

New VP test stage

A new LED wall in the XR Stories immersive technology lab at The Guildhall, York, provides a unique virtual production test stage for researchers, companies and creatives working in extended reality and virtual production. 

Call for research participants 

The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Caucus at Heriot-Watt University is seeking early-career researchers willing to share their experiences at the intersection of disability and ethnic minority in UK academia. The study aims to help underrepresented groups.

Investigating reality TV

Researchers at the University of Nottingham working on the ReCARE TV project are seeking participants who have worked in the production of reality TV and who are willing to be interviewed about their experiences of working practices and duties of care.

If you've got an update you'd like us to share, please email the team at enquiries@xrstories.co.uk.