Immersive Challenge Fund

Overview

Media Cymru x CULTVR Immersive Challenge Fund is an opportunity for bold experimentation with immersive technologies. Designed to build capacity within the Welsh media sector and support the development of new experiences and content.

Up to £15,000 is available per project, to Welsh businesses and freelancers to Research and Develop (R&D) experiences with immersive and XR technologies.  

If successful, funded projects will use immersive approaches to test new creative and commercial possibilities – from concept development to business models.  

As Europe’s first immersive cross-disciplinary space, CULTVR’s lab offers 360º dome environments, XR performance infrastructure, and an established ecosystem for R&D across artistic and scientific disciplines. 

Projects will benefit from CULTVR’s infrastructure and expertise to develop their high-quality immersive outputs. 

Scope  

We recognise that immersive content is continually evolving. We’re particularly interested in funding projects that explore the relationship between storytelling, technology, and audience. 

Applicants should explain how they will use immersive approaches to explore new creative and commercial possibilities, from concept development and sustainable business models to identifying the most effective mediums and technologies for creating shared immersive experiences.   

What do we mean by shared immersive experience?  

A shared immersive experience is one where multiple people take part in the same immersive environment simultaneously, this might be physically, virtually, or both, and their presence or interaction may shape the experience itself. 

Successful projects might take many forms and draw on different tools and technologies, such as fulldome, VR, AR, mixed reality, projection mapping, haptics, interactive design, data visualisations, GenAI or spatial soundscapes.  

We welcome other approaches that push the boundaries of shared immersive experiences.   

Key Dates  

• 1 December 2025: Applications open    
• 8 December 2026: Fund overview and networking event at CULTVR  
• 20 January 2026: Applications close at noon: please note, applications will not be accepted after this time    
• 6 February 2026: Applicants notified (applicants should note that it can take up to 5 weeks for contracts to be issued)    
• 15 April 2026: R&D projects begin   
• 17-July 2026: R&D projects end and final presentations   

Eligibility  

With all our activity, we are keen to reach the widest audience possible to ensure we hear the best ideas. We recognise that too often R&D investment circulates around networks which are not representative of our wider community in its social and cultural diversity. 

Eligibility criteria:     

• Your company or practice is based in Wales    
• You have a clearly articulated R&D idea    
• You are in the Welsh media industry, or your idea directly benefits the Welsh media industry  
• You can dedicate time and effort to complete an R&D project between April 2026 and July 2026  
• We will only accept and fund one application per/company/organisation as a project lead   

Immersive Challenge Fund Q&A session  

If you’d like to know more about our Immersive Challenge Fund with CULTVR and the types of projects we’re interested in funding, we’ll be hosting an informational event from 2 pm on Monday 8 December 2025 at CULTVR.  Find out more and book your place on Eventbrite.

 What is Research and Development (R&D)  

Research and Development (R&D) activities are defined as creative and systematic work undertaken to address challenges and to create new or improved products, services, processes or experiences. 

In a media context, this could mean exploring, experimenting with or testing new technology such as extended reality, artificial intelligence or virtual production. It could also mean exploring radical, fairer and more planet-friendly ways of working. It could involve testing new methods of producing, distributing and experiencing content, or new ways of reaching audiences and being more sensitive to their needs and demands. 

The kind of R&D projects we are looking for are: 

• Novel: they will be based on original concepts and hypotheses, not obvious ones. 
• Creative: they will take experimental approaches and generate new findings. 
• Uncertain: they will begin with a degree of uncertainty about the final outcomes. 
• Systematic: they will be based on a planned and budgeted approach. 
• Transferable: they will generate results that can be reproduced to gain wider benefits. 

Accessibility  

If you have any specific requirements that would make the application more accessible to you (such as advice, scribing or reading support) or would like to discuss this application in an alternative format (video or audio formats, audio narration, large font, plain text, or alternative language) please email media.cymru@cardiff.ac.uk or phone 02922 511 434. 

Got any questions?  

If you have any questions, please contact: media.cymru@cardiff.ac.uk