Addressing the lack of diversity in the immersive sector requires systemic change. The industry is faced with a growing need to address its existing attitudes, talent pipeline, production processes, training and content. For the XR industry to be successful, widespread adoption and inclusivity of content is paramount to stability and growth. If, as an industry, we are consistently creating exclusionary work, we risk creating an even wider chasm in the digital divide.
The XR sector has evolved at an unprecedented pace, with growing traction in the wake of the pandemic as virtual became the new normal. XR became a playground for innovation, but as an emergent sector, that exponential growth came paired with a growing awareness that we were leaving audiences behind. XR technologies do not yet have the same accountability as digital media. There are no legal accessibility guidelines, little privacy or safety governance, and given the high price point of headsets and other devices, virtual spaces are still extremely inaccessible for the majority of audiences. This issue is compounded by the fact that XR products, platforms and systems are predominantly developed by able-bodied, privileged, heteronormative, white men. This has created a perpetual cycle of disadvantage.
In this article, I’m going to be exploring a few key areas where the XR industry can play a decisive role in addressing some of the most pressing issues.
We must firstly look at improving the inclusivity of content. It’s vital to take responsibility for accessibility from the onset of a project and not leave access needs as an afterthought. Adopting agile development principles, bringing in early and frequent user testing, involving those from marginalised groups and bringing in access consultants can be a useful way of ensuring accessibility is considered throughout a project. We need to foster an open and collaborative approach with other organisations in the XR sector and universities researching accessibility to disseminate learnings and share knowledge on accessibility solutions. The XR Access Initiative’s website offers useful resources for accessibility guidelines, but there is still a pressing need for more centralised governance on immersive content, providing the same accountability as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C standards).
Another important task for us as an industry is to bring in more critical levels of evaluation to XR content.
There is currently no general database for immersive work, collating reviews, ratings and accessibility information to promote debate on the work produced. Having more of a platform for discussion on XR work would encourage increased creative and technical criticality that would be valuable for increased visibility of work, and would foster a more collective XR community.
From the onset of projects, several measures are also available to track the inclusivity of a project. These range from the Bechdel Test, a simple framework which addresses female representation in film, to the BFI Diversity Standards, which provides a vital framework for businesses to assess their existing EDI commitments. Under these standards, businesses are required to demonstrate commitment to inclusion in at least two of the main outlined areas: a) on-screen representation, themes and narratives, b) creative leadership and project team, c) industry access and opportunities, and d) audience development. The responsibility for representation doesn’t just fall to the industry itself, but also to organisations and funders in addressing the way we evaluate and score funding applications.
Looking beyond functionality and criticality, the overarching challenge in addressing diversity issues is addressing talent pipelines and access. Existing power structures have a huge impact on the development of diverse talent. According to the latest PEC (Policy and Evidence Centre) report on the creative industries, 52% of the creative industries workforce in the UK were from high socio-economic backgrounds, compared to 38% across all industries in 2020 (PEC 2021). The report finds that “class-based inequalities are inextricably linked with gender, racial, disability and spatial disparities”, and earlier research by the PEC has shown how these factors interact to compound disadvantage. Specifically looking at the immersive sector, in 2018, quantitative research by King’s College London and the University of Brighton, highlighted in the Liminia Immersive report ‘A Vision for Women and Virtual Reality’ found that only ‘14% of UK VR companies (registered on Companies House) had any women directors’.
If the creation of XR technologies and content is in the hands of more privileged segments of society, how do we make sure we are not producing monocultural work that limits the impact and reach of XR content? I sat down with BRiGHTBLACK, a company working at the intersection of immersive, live experience and video game technologies and champions of diversity, to discuss how the industry should approach addressing systemic EDI issues.
XR Stories – a creative R&D partnership between The BFI, Screen Yorkshire and The University of York – has worked with BRiGHTBLACK on two training development programmes, centred around diversity funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The Storylab project in 2021, in partnership with Bradford XR FilmMakers, which provided support to early-career creative talent to deliver immersive stories, was the first of these. In November 2022, this was followed by the Immersive Accelerator programme, a free eight-week training programme open exclusively to women, people of marginalised genders and the LGBTQ+ community from the Leeds City Region. The programme was aimed at applicants across a range of disciplines and backgrounds and provided entry level understanding of XR technologies, development training in games engine technologies, design frameworks and creative development. Myra Appanah, Co-Director at BRiGHTBLACK outlined just how impactful training accelerator programmes are to providing vital access. “We live in a country and world which has increasingly allowed the talents of women and other marginalised people to be locked away and squandered by lack of access. Immersive Accelerator opens a doorway to that lost talent, and by bringing it out into the open, enriches not only the lives of those people and the communities they reach but the cultural sector as a whole”.
Simon Wilkinson, co-director at BRiGHTBLACK, has been at the forefront of XR for over a decade. He recounts that in the early days, there was a “wave of progressive theatre makers, predominantly women, making experimental VR work with very low budgets”. But as the technology progressed, and the financial potential of the technology was beginning to be exploited, that creativity became diluted, as the focus shifted more towards the technology and less towards that immersive storytelling potential. A key issue with XR content currently, in his view, is the lack of innovative content. “VR is lacking that interactivity hook, to encourage playability. Despite using VR as a medium, a lot of the experiences are still quite linear”. Distribution issues are also preventing content from getting onto headset platforms, so the progressive and more experimental work fails to reach mass audiences.
So how do we shift the balance back to storytelling being at the heart of XR content, and how do we ensure that the stories we’re telling are inclusive? The key to addressing this is fostering an environment in which creatives aren’t being forced to compromise on their ideas; instead, they’re listened to and valued. One important way businesses can improve access and promote diverse voices is through pioneering creative initiatives that provide collaboration opportunities. The industry has a huge role to play in providing a platform to emerging talent. Historically, the majority of large contracts have gone to prestigious and well-established immersive studios, presenting a real challenge for small start-ups to break through, specifically those outside of London. XR Stories has established the ‘Managed Innovation’ programme to address this issue, working with leading broadcasters and media companies to put together innovation briefs responding to a business need, or centred around IP. Working on agile three-month innovation challenges facilitated by XR Stories, the several compelling concept prototypes have emerged as a result of the programme. The opportunity to collaborate with industry-leading clients has been hugely beneficial in helping SMEs to propel their business development.
Providing a platform for diverse voices is only part of the challenge, however. We still need to address systemic talent pipeline issues. Myra explains that, having come from a successful career in advertising, she was drawn to the creative freedom of XR as a medium. She recounts that it was a daunting prospect setting up BRiGHTBLACK, as given the R&D nature of experimental XR work, there is still a heavy dependance on funding. Alarmingly, the percentage of funding that goes to women-led businesses is still critically low. The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship set up in 2019 and led by CEO Alison Rose at Natwest demonstrated that despite the emergence of talented female-owned businesses, funding is still a key stumbling block: “Funding remains the number one barrier facing female entrepreneurs at every stage of their business journey”. This is further illustrated by Treasury-commissioned research in 2019, which found that for every £1 of venture capital investment, only 1p goes to female entrepreneurs.
As a course leader on the XR Stories Immersive Accelerator programme, Myra highlights the importance training and mentorship has in being able to support early-stage creatives breaking into the XR space: “We need allyship and business mentoring to support diverse talent into starting their own business as opposed to having to climb up the ladder at creative studios”, and for those already working in the sector, we need a clear career progression framework to “address the lack of women in management decision making roles”. The need for a tidal shift in attitudes and perceptions is highlighted by the fact that, while the majority of companies in the XR industry are conscious of diversity issues, there is a lack of a clear internal EDI strategy of how they can address this within their own organisation. There needs to be a holistic approach to diversity and inclusivity that seeks to foster collective responsibility as an organisation. This could range from providing staff EDI training, internal upskill training opportunities and internships programmes to participating in industry mentoring programmes. Fortunately, there are a growing number of training providers and mentoring charities. A great example is XR Inclusion, a global volunteer-based initiative led by a diverse and global group of XR professionals.
At XR Stories and our partner project SIGN (The Screen Industries Growth Network) we have focused on making the region the UK’s centre for digital creativity and a model for diverse and inclusive activity.
Diversity and inclusion has been a core tenet of our work. During 2022, we piloted a range of programmes to promote diversity in the XR industry in Yorkshire. SIGN funded a successful free-pilot programme of EDI training to businesses, run by IVE, a creative leadership organisation that seeks to inspire young, diverse and talented people from some of the most disadvantaged communities. The training provided a vital framework of understanding for employees and management, and for most taking part, it marked their first time receiving any form of EDI training as a business. We have also run a successful programme of industry internship placements for students and graduates, bridging the gap between academia and industry. Through our funding, we’ve been able to offer over 90 internship opportunities in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Feedback from both participants and from employers has been hugely positive, and we have seen a number of success stories, including permanent roles, as well as freelancing roles with participants taking advantage of the networks that have been established and developed over the course of the projects to access further work.
Financial barriers are another key blocker preventing those from lower socio-economic backgrounds breaking into the industry. While game engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine are free to download and come with a number of free assets, the associated hardware and devices needed all come with a high price tag, which is cost prohibitive for a lot of start ups. The cutting-edge XR Stories lab, based in York, offers a variety of XR equipment that is free to hire for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in the Leeds City Region. SIGN’s bursary programme has also supported individuals to access training and employment opportunities, particularly for those from underrepresented groups. With a £60k fund, we have to date granted support to approximately 80 individuals, enabling them to pay for training and development courses, accommodation, equipment, driving lessons, childcare and travel. Offering an EDI-focused internship programme, fostering a supportive training environment and providing mentorship opportunities is key to businesses supporting the development of new talent and upskilling employees, and also helps improve talent retention.
Looking at the issue holistically is key. Occasionally, it can feel like the enormity of the challenges the sector faces is overwhelming. But, as an industry, if we look at our collective responsibility, and the potential power of individual proactive steps to address EDI challenges, that ripple effect will build momentum and pace. As Alexander Porter, CEO of MOD Tech Labs, states: “There’s a vital importance to foster symbiosis between inclusion and technology. Tech can only be its best if we work to increase representation, true access and equality”.