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.
• 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.
• SpaceSynth: A spatial instrument suite for live performance, led by the University of York.

Photo by Danny Bacchus at the Bridge Studio, UWE.

Published on 26 March 2026