
MEDIA PACK
Immersive Futures Lab @ SXSW 2023
12-14 March 2023
IMMERSIVE FUTURES LAB @ SXSW 2023 (12 – 14 March)
Introducing the Immersive Futures Lab @ SXSW 2023, a showcase of UK creative research and development innovation, on an international stage.
In March the Creative Economy Team is heading to Austin, Texas, taking the Immersive Futures Lab to SXSW. The Lab will showcase early-stage prototypes of world-leading immersive experiences from games, healthcare, heritage, ground-breaking uses of audio with projects from Creative Informatics, InGAME and XR Stories.
The Lab is part of a wider programme of UK activities at SXSW, supported by partners including Innovate UK, the Arts Council, Design Council and the Department for Business and Trade.
Programme Overview
Sunday 12 March
❏ 16.00 – 18.00 | BEYOND Conference Drinks & Immersive Futures Lab Preview
❏ 16:00 – 18.00 | Preview: Let’s Play @ The Immersive Futures Lab
Monday 13 March
❏ 09.00 – 11.00 | Creative Catalyst Networking + Pop Up Showcase Breakfast
❏ 10.00 – 16.30 | Let’s Play @ The Immersive Futures Lab
❏ 11:30 – 12:30 | Game Tech is Transforming the World!
❏ 13:00 – 14:00 | Play-in-Music: Audio Innovation Through Play
❏ 14:30 – 15:30 | Making XR for All: Creative R&D for Public Spaces
❏ 16:00 – 17:00 | Engine Room: Creative Economies Powering Innovation Around the World
Tuesday 14 March
❏ 10.00 – 16.30 | Let’s Play @ The Immersive Futures Lab
❏ 10.00 – 11.00 | Culture and Content in the Metaverse
❏ 11.30 – 12.30 | Building Worlds: Audio and AR Journeys
❏ 13.00 – 14:00 | Virtual Production Beyond the Hype
❏ 14.30 – 15:30 | Game Tech is Transforming the World!
❏ 16:00 – 18:00 | UK Immersive Takeover @ Cedar Street Courtyard
SPEAKERS
The Immersive Futures Lab @ SXSW programme features a line up of inspirational speakers, all sharing their experience and insights into the boundary-breaking projects they have delivered.
》View all the full list of speakers





PROJECTS SHOWCASING
Let’s Play @ the Immersive Futures Lab
Get playful at the Immersive Futures Lab and experience the cutting-edge of creativity and innovation. This showcase includes live demos and prototypes with representatives from the UK’s Creative Informatics, XR Stories and InGAME. Discover the ground-breaking potential of creative technology and be part of the live research and development process with some of the UK’s most exciting start-ups.
The demos run alongside the SXSW XR Conference track on Mon 13th and Tue 14th March at the Fairmont Austin Hotel. Come and visit us.
Black Goblin
Black Goblin is an audio research and technology company on a quest to transform the way creators work with sound. Currently, Black Goblin is developing its first software product, an all-inclusive collaboration platform that allows content creators to design sound alongside audio professionals, fast-tracking the workflow and supporting teams from preproduction to release.
Steppenwolf
In partnership with WarnerMedia and XR Stories, Charisma took a film studio-quality asset and brought it into Unreal Engine, and combined it with the Charisma ocnversational engine. In the resulting experience, audiences really speak to DC Super villain Steppenwolf, talking to him in natural language. Will you choose to join Steppenwolf on his mission? It’s up to you what you say, and how you respond! Charisma makes this all possible in real-time.
Historiscope
Historiscope, an Augmented Reality enabled viewing scope developed for Heritage Sites to enhance their visitor experience, increase footfall and increase income streams. Inspired by a tourist telescope’s design, it fuses authentic history with AR technology. Building relevant scenarios from the past, rather than a closer view of the historical location.
Ray Interactive
Ray interactive is a specialist design studio, leveraging deep skills and know-how in creative-tech to help clientele deliver more engaging experiences for their audiences. They love to work on immersive experiences, procedural motion graphics, and progressive web applications.
Nesta Playbox
Nesta Playbox harnesses the potential of AI, big data, digital twins, game design and the metaverse to create an immersive policy playground where policy designers and decision-makers can prototype, simulate and test radical responses to the UK obesity crisis.
SmARtview
SmARtview is a unique R&D collaboration bringing together dairy farmers, vets, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, and video game design techniques to enhance a farmer’s knowledge of their cows and a vet’s expertise to deliver instant, individual data retrieval for faster and more accurate cow-side decision-making.
Monoliths
Monoliths combines the soundscapes of real locations in the north with the stories of three northern women. Audiences experience three artistically rendered environments based on real outdoor locations. Monologues are delivered using spatially recorded voices. Their stories and origins are tied to the landscape where they come from and have grown up.
The Neon Pack
Protopian Tales makes use of immersive technologies to promote a unique form of storytelling for new and emerging audiences. Each story takes place in a near future where extended-reality (XR) technology has become ubiquitous to human existence, enhancing and affecting our everyday lives in both subtle and major ways.
The Tell-Tale Rooms
The Tell-Tale Rooms is an interactive 360 VR piece that leads us on a journey into artist Eden Kötting’s fantastical world. Blending immersive animation, archive and live-action it celebrates the wonders of the human condition and opens the fusty doors of perception into a world of virtual reality.
BeatBlocks
Playable Tech’s first app release is BeatBlocks: an iOS app that enables you to build music in real-time with bricks such as Lego. Get hands-on with music and build your beat with BeatBlocks at this year’s SXSW.
PROMOTIONAL ASSETS
The Immersive Futures Lab @ SXSW 2023 promotional assets are available for download below (via this dropbox folder), with more assets added as updates on the latest news and announcements are confirmed.

Immersive Futures Lab Logo
The IFL logo must be used on all visual communications regarding IFL @ SXSW 2023. Logo files for IFL and all our SXSW partners are available for download via the link below.

Social Media
Access social media cards for IFL speakers, projects and partners. Remember to tag #IFLSXSW when you share!

Project Images
A selection of images that represent each project featuring at IFL @ SXSW 2023 are available for use in promotional comms.

CET on Twitter
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CET on Facebook
For news and stories from IFL @ SXSW 2023 》

CET on LinkedIn
Sharing news from across the programme 》


IFL website
Full info on the schedule, projects and speakers appearing at the Immersive Futures Lab is available at:
EXAMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES
🥳 In case you haven't already heard, we are heading to @sxsw in March w/ the Immersive Futures Lab feat. cutting edge projects from @CreateInf, @ingameio & @XR_Stories ....
— Creative Economy Team (@CreativeET) February 7, 2023
See you there? ✈️
▶️ Read more about it in our latest newsletter: https://t.co/RTaVFi5Q3M#IFLSXSW pic.twitter.com/gbroEs14LO
💡 Discover SmARtview, part of the Immersive Futures Lab @ SXSW 2023 👇
— Creative Economy Team (@CreativeET) February 28, 2023
SmARtview is a unique R&D collaboration bringing together farmers, vets, AI, AR, & video game design, to enhance a farmer’s knowledge of their cows.
▶️ More https://t.co/6zeh5A9MHE@ingameio @PKTSizedHands pic.twitter.com/eJJGsGKTmx
💡 Discover Historiscope, part of the Immersive Futures Lab @ SXSW 2023 👇
— Creative Economy Team (@CreativeET) February 23, 2023
Historiscope is an AR enabled viewing scope developed for Heritage Sites to enhance their visitor experience.
Read more: https://t.co/nXIN3N4KeZ#IFLSXSW @CreateInf @sensecityco pic.twitter.com/tGZEgv9hzu
💡 Discover Monoliths, part of the Immersive Futures Lab @ SXSW 2023 👇
— Creative Economy Team (@CreativeET) March 1, 2023
Monoliths combines soundscapes of real locations with the stories of three northern women, exploring voice, spatial audio & place in #VR.
▶️ More info: https://t.co/1fRpgawpWR@XR_Stories @pilot_theatre pic.twitter.com/clRolHkr4B
💡 Discover Steppenwolf, part of the Immersive Futures Lab @ SXSW 2023 👇
— Creative Economy Team (@CreativeET) March 2, 2023
In partnership w/ @WarnerMedia & @XR_Stories, @AiCharisma took a film studio-quality asset & brought it into Unreal Engine so audiences can speak directly to Steppenwolf!
▶️ Info: https://t.co/mwWi0GMQfE pic.twitter.com/3COCl4tGBz
✈️ We are jetting off to Austin later this week to take the Immersive Futures Lab to SXSW!
— Creative Economy Team (@CreativeET) March 6, 2023
Keep your eyes peeled for incoming updates on talks, mixers and demos at the festival - and don't forget to sign up below for all things #IFLSXSW 😎
Sign up: https://t.co/9Kao44iEC4 pic.twitter.com/VVuOiXF5QM
👉 Play-in-Music: Audio Innovation Through Play
— Creative Economy Team (@CreativeET) March 8, 2023
Join this session at #IFLSXSW: How can we make the world a more creative & playful place using sound innovation?
More Info: https://t.co/A8FwPVR6cR
Add to #SXSW schedule: https://t.co/26D1zP2ztx@CreateInf @RayInteractive pic.twitter.com/VNOFVRlSPY
👉 Making XR for All: Join us for this session @ #IFLSXSW
— Creative Economy Team (@CreativeET) March 8, 2023
What are the challenges & benefits of producing XR projects for public spaces?
W/ @nikkistearman, @poojakatara1, @Rob_Eagle_ & others.
Info: https://t.co/9cOhfkst0c
Add to schedule: https://t.co/fuczS58Gea@XR_Stories pic.twitter.com/ronluMmAUU
👉 Join @CreateInf at #IFLSXSW for a discussion of how the UK Gov’s investment in R&D for the creative industries is bringing extraordinary economic benefit & opportunity.
— Creative Economy Team (@CreativeET) March 9, 2023
W/ Victoria Murray, @xrjohn2, @kwangchow, & Courtney Bates
Info: https://t.co/ttui0QxJrv pic.twitter.com/lfWEtofuVV
About the Immersive Futures Lab @ SXSW 2023
The summary description below can be used in promotional channels and any press releases:
Immersive Futures Lab at SXSW 2023 showcases early-stage prototypes of world-leading immersive experiences from games, healthcare, heritage, ground-breaking uses of audio with projects from Creative Informatics, InGAME and XR Stories.
The Lab is part of a wider programme of UK activities at SXSW, coordinated by partners including Innovate UK, the Arts Council, Design Council and the Department for Business and Trade.
Creative Informatics
Creative Informatics are presenting Ray Interactive, Playable Technology, Black Goblin, and SENSEcity as part the Immersive Future Lab at SXSW 2023. Creative Informatics has worked closely with these creative businesses providing funding, mentoring, support and advice and we can’t wait to bring them to the stage to showcase their exciting innovations with sound, audio and data.
InGAME
InGAME are part of the IFL delegation at SXSW. They will be showcasing two projects: Nesta Playbox, an immersive policy playground where policy designers and decision-makers can prototype, simulate and test radical responses to the UK obesity crisis; and SmARtview, a unique R&D collaboration bringing together dairy farmers, vets, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, and video game design techniques.
XR Stories
XR Stories are also participating in the Immersive Futures Lab at SXSW, showcasing their eXtended Reality experiences arising from partnerships with businesses in the North of England. The XR Stories team will also be sharing new research and exploring the innovations, issues and future impact of immersive technologies via a series of short talks and panel events.
About SXSW
SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture. An essential destination for global professionals, the annual March event features sessions, music and comedy showcases, film screenings, exhibitions, professional development and a variety of networking opportunities. SXSW proves that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together. SXSW 2023 will take place March 10 – 19, 2023. For more information, please visit sxsw.com. To register for the event, please visit sxsw.com/attend.
SXSW 2023 TICKETS
The Immersive Futures Lab @ SXSW 2023 programme is available to all SXSW ticket holders. This year’s SXSW offers a hybrid event with an online component including live streamed content. Register here to attend online or in person – with conference sessions, film and music festival, world-class exhibitions, networking, awards ceremonies, and much more.

IFL @ SXSW Updates from CET
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Media contact
All promomtional support very much appreciated. For any specific requirements or queries, please contact team@creativeeconomy.team. Thank you.
Managed and produced by CET
For the 5th year, the Immersive Futures Lab @ SXSW programme is produced, managed and delivered by the Creative Economy Team, working closely alongside partners and stakeholders.
Proven expertise in end-to-end event and conference production – from curating the programme, arranging logistics, and getting the word out to bring the audience in. For more information on all services visit creativeeconomy.team.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS
Follow the official Immersive Futures Lab @ SXSW 2023 hashtag #IFLSXSW on Twitter and across all social media channels to join the conversation! Plus, the Creative Economy Team will be posting all the latest news and updates from IFL @ SXSW – you can find their social handles below…