New XR Network+ projects increase the scope of innovative XR work delivered through UK university facilities

XR Network+ has awarded XR Labs funding to seven research and development projects to develop extended reality (XR) prototypes using UK university facilities. 

Comprising inter-university and academic-industry collaborations, the projects span diverse applications of Virtual Production and convergent media technologies including audio, fashion, healthcare and performance.

Find out about the collaborations:

• Mixed Reality embodiment as therapeutic interventions for chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain: Leveraging body illusions in therapeutic encounters, led by Arts University Bournemouth
• Draping the Digital: Historic Fashion for XR Performance, led by Bath Spa University
• Exploring Immersive Real-Time Approaches in Procedural Texture Creation for Digital Fabrics, led by University of the Arts London Fashion Textiles and Technology Institute
• Virtual cameras and physical stages, led by Norwich University of the Arts (project profile to follow).
• Cross-format Audio for Virtual Environments (CAVE), led by the University of Edinburgh
• XR-Sync (Extended Reality Stage Synchronization), led by the University of Greenwich
• Biometric Bodies Breathe: Exploring Heart Rate Synchrony and Embodied Feedback Loops Using Real-Time Data Capture in Immersive XR Virtual Production, led by the University of the West of England.

Photo by Danny Bacchus at the Bridge Studio, UWE.

Published on 26 March 2026