Two of the most valuable conversations I had at SXSW London happened on consecutive days, and together they painted an interesting picture of where the immersive sector is heading.

I was delighted to join a panel moderated by Mathieu Demaré alongside Michael Barngrover (XR4Europe), Heleen Rouw (CIIIC) and Nigel McAlpine (Digital Catapult) exploring a challenge many of us are wrestling with across Europe: how do we bridge the gap between immersive innovation and real-world adoption?

The conversation focused on the "missing middle" between research, prototypes and scalable deployment. We discussed digital sovereignty, cross-border collaboration, ecosystem development and the role immersive technologies can play across sectors from culture and education to manufacturing, health and digital twins. As Eirmersive deepen our engagement with manufacturing SMEs on the PRISM programme, it was great to share some early findings to support the conversation…

Congratulations to Animotive which has been named one of the UK’s 10 most innovative media tech companies in BusinessCloud ’s MediaTech 50 for 2026.

Commenting on the ranking, Philip Morrow, Executive Chair and Co-Founder at Animotive said, “Making the top 10, judged by an expert panel and a public vote, means a lot. We’re bringing real-time performance and AI-assisted workflows to animation, education and virtual production, and we’re just getting started.”

In other Animotive news, the team travelled to Munich for a Virtual Production workshop, hosted with XR HUB Bavaria, in cooperation with Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (HFF München). The session, "Bringing Virtual Production into the Classroom," was built for lecturers, academics and students exploring how to introduce VP into their teaching.

Eirmersive is delighted to announce Beyond Realities, our FREE 8 day virtual production training programme at IADT, Dún Laoghaire this June! 🎬

A hands-on virtual production training programme for creative and technical companies who want to get to grips with one of the most exciting formats in screen production today.

Over 8 days you will work as part of a team to take an unscripted television format from concept to camera, rotating through real VP roles and finishing with a full showcase shoot.

The course aims to help participants:

Understand → Build → Operate → Solve Problems → Deliver.

Dr Jeremiah Ambrose, Head of Department for Film and Media at Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology said,..

EDGE26 demonstrated exactly why the creative industries need spaces where technology, storytelling, design and enterprise collide. Huge credit to Niamh Costello and the team at CREW for creating a platform that felt genuinely ambitious, commercially focused and deeply connected to the future of Ireland’s creative economy.

Our CEO Camille Donegan said, "For Eirmersive, it was incredibly valuable to see our members* exhibiting alongside leaders from across film, games, immersive technology and digital innovation. Events like EDGE don’t just showcase talent, they create real opportunities for collaboration, visibility, investment conversations and new market connections. The energy in Galway showed that Ireland’s creative technology ecosystem is maturing fast, and immersive technology is now a core part of that conversation."

On 21 May 2026, Ireland’s creative and technology communities will come together in Galway for EDGE26 – Ireland’s Creative Economy Summit. Hosted at the Dexcom Stadium, the event brings founders, studios, investors, policymakers, and researchers into one space to explore how creativity, technology, and enterprise are converging to shape the future economy.

For Eirmersive, EDGE26 represents more than just a date in the calendar — it’s a moment to highlight the strength, diversity, and ambition of Ireland’s immersive technology community.

We’re proud to see Eirmersive CEO Camille Donegan included among the EDGE26 speaker line-up, alongside leading voices from across the creative and technology sectors.

Camille will contribute to the “Sectoral Spotlights” session, where insights from across the digital creative industries, including immersive technology, will be shared.

On Friday 8th May at Digital Catapult Digital Twin Centre in Belfast, we were delighted to bring the PRISM Showcase Event to life, marking a key milestone in supporting Manufacturing SMEs to explore and adopt immersive, digital twin and AI technologies.

Led by Eirmersive, PRISM is about more than innovation, it’s about practical application, collaboration, and real-world impact. The showcase highlighted how XR, digital twins, and AI-driven tools are already beginning to transform workflows, products, and experiences across the island.

A huge thank you to our programme partners for their expertise, collaboration, and ongoing commitment: Digital Catapult, Queen's University Belfast, Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) and to our funders for making this initiative possible: InterTradeIreland.

Lough Ree Access For All has launched a new Virtual Reality experience designed to make the heritage of Inchcleraun Island accessible to everyone. The initiative was officially unveiled in Lanesboro with Minister Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran and representatives from the Department of Public Expenditure in attendance.

Building on the charity’s mission to provide inclusive, wheelchair-accessible boat trips on Lough Ree, the new Inchcleraun VR Project allows visitors who cannot physically disembark onto the island to explore its monastic ruins through a 10‑minute immersive Virtual Reality tour. Using VR headsets, visitors can engage with the ancient stories of St Diarmaid and Queen Maeve and gain a deeper connection to the island’s rich history.

The experience was designed and delivered by Eirmersive member Emagine, who worked closely with the Lough Ree Access For All team to create a fully portable, waterproof XR solution…

In this episode of Case Study Corner, we spoke with Eirmersive member Janet Beck, CEO at GLASSEYE, about The Intelligence Garden — a large-scale immersive experience commissioned for Outernet London, one of the most ambitious digital public spaces in the world.

Outernet’s Now Building is a free, open-access cultural venue located off Tottenham Court Road, featuring a four-storey, 23,000 square foot, 16K LED environment with wraparound walls and ceiling. With approximately 85,000 visitors each week, it offers a unique platform for immersive storytelling at architectural scale.

Building on the success of GLASSEYE’s earlier Outernet commission, The Summer Palace — voted the UK’s number one attraction in its launch year — The Intelligence Garden explores the evolution of intelligence across biological, human and digital systems.

Watch the full interview here…

Last Thursday’s XR Hub launch in Strandhill marks an exciting step forward for immersive technology in Ireland. Not only does it create a new centre for innovation in the North West, it will also serve as the home of the immersive technologies apprenticeship being delivered with Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education and Training Board - a vital pathway for developing the next generation of talent. In the meantime the Level 5 Immersive Technology training there is building capacity and train the trainer capabilities across Ireland.

It has been our pleasure at Eirmersive to support the development of the apprenticeship, by helping to strengthen the connection between education and industry, to ensure the programme is informed by real sector needs and emerging practice.

In Strandhill Eirmersive members were out in force. Paul O'Brien & Celine Hayden from Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board brought their VR Healthcare demo.

Recently I got to experience Outernet London - 'an immersive entertainment district bringing together breath-taking arts, culture and music experiences for all the family.'

And the thing that really hit me (you’ll see it in the video) is the scale. The screens aren’t “big” - they’re architectural. You’re not watching content, you’re inside it.

People are just walking in from the Tube station and suddenly they’re surrounded by these beatuiful stories and interactive experiences, no headset, no setup, no booking! - just straight into an immersive experience. Interesting shift and an interesting business model. Outernet seed fund artistic content funded by the massive marketing led billboards on the outside of the building.

We talk a lot about XR in terms of devices and demos, but this is different - this is shared, public, accessible, cultural experience at city scale.

Watch the video…

What a day in the west for Immersive Futures! 🌊

Last week, Eirmersive brought the Immersive Futures Workshop Series to Belmullet Civic Centre and the room was something special.

On Thursday 16th April, we were joined by one of the most a fantastic group made up of educators, marketers, filmmakers, events professionals, people already working in the immersive sector and complete newcomers who had never encountered this technology before. From students to seasoned practitioners, everyone was in the room, asking questions and getting stuck in! 🙌

💡 Highlights from the day included:

- Demos of Animotive and Lureo by Imvizar, both of which landed brilliantly with the group and sparked a lot of discussion about real-world applications.

Manufacturing companies across Ireland recently joined us online for the PRISM: Practical, Funded Innovation Support for Manufacturing SMEs – Programme Introduction webinar (watch the recording in full below). The session brought together manufacturers, technology providers and programme partners to explore how practical innovation support can help address real operational challenges on the factory floor.

If you didn’t attend live, here’s the key takeaway: PRISM isn’t about experimenting with shiny technology, it’s about solving real problems, with support, funding and expert guidance.

MSLETB XRHub Sligo is enrolling for the QQI Level 5 course in Immersive Technologies, Micro Qualification – Train the Trainer, Teaching with VR.

This programme gives instructors the skills, language, and hands-on experience needed to safely and effectively deliver VR learning in the classrooms.

What you will learn

• Clear understanding of VR, AR, and MR terminology
• How to set up, operate, and troubleshoot VR headsets
• Safe-use, hygiene, accessibility, and learner-comfort
guidelines
• How immersive tools are being used in education & skills development
• How to structure and supervise meaningful VR/AR learning activities…

Janet Beck, CEO at GLASSEYE, capped off a high-profile start to 2026 by speaking on the panel “Real-World Immersion at Scale: The Future of Spatial” at SXSW, the world renowned festival of innovation, technology, and culture. GLASSEYE is an award-winning creative technology studio based in Kilkenny, specialising in the production of immersive experiences at architectural scale. Working across large-format LED environments, XR and interactive media, the agency is known internationally for combining technical innovation with strong creative vision and narrative depth, creating experiences that are both memorable and meaningful.

At SXSW Janet shared how GLASSEYE designed 'The Intelligence Garden' at Outernet London (see below), along with some of the new experiences they currently have in production, and her thoughts on the future of spatial design.

Eirmersive was delighted to welcome ATU as a new member recently. We’ve been hugely impressed by the coordinated approach they have to embedding the use of Immersive Technologies across the university, as underlined in a news update from John Hough, Educational Technology Specialist, Immersive Learning.

By John Hough

Immersive Learning at Atlantic Technological University: Building Momentum Across Disciplines

The ATU Teaching and Learning Centre has been working to establish an immersive learning initiative across the university. This began with the purchase of 20 Meta Quest 3 headsets and a charging cart, located in the Dublin road campus library, creating a shared pool of devices that lecturers can use to pilot immersive learning activities with their students.

Across Europe, cities are rethinking how they plan, communicate, and deliver major infrastructure projects. Galway is now part of that conversation.

At a Galway City Council meeting, councillors highlighted the potential of 3D and virtual reality technologies to transform how large public projects are presented, reviewed, and understood by decision‑makers and the public alike. The proposal focuses on using immersive visualisation to explore infrastructure schemes before they reach construction, helping to surface issues earlier and support more informed choices during planning and consultation stages. Rather than relying solely on static drawings, photo montages, or written planning documents, fully 3D and VR‑based models can allow stakeholders to experience projects at a human scale.

The Irish Independent reported that,…

It was great to be in Luxembourg this week at the Immersive Pavilion Luxembourg as part of the Luxembourg City Film Festival.

I had the pleasure of representing the Irish XR ecosystem alongside Jo Mangan of The Performance Corporation (an Eirmersive member) and Conn Holohan of the Centre for Creative Technologies at University of Galway on the Focus on Ireland: The Irish XR Ecosystem panel discussion. It was a great opportunity to share the energy and collaboration shaping immersive work across Ireland.

A highlight was meeting Jean McDonald Ireland’s Ambassador to Luxembourg and discussing the strength of Ireland’s creative technology sector and the opportunity for deeper international collaboration.

The pavilion featured a fantastic selection of immersive works including:

What an inspiring day at the Immersive Futures Workshop in Dundalk🚀

On Thursday, 26 February, creatives, technologists and storytellers came together at Creative Spark, Dundalk for a full-day deep dive into the future of AI, VR, AR, Mixed Reality and Virtual Production.

The event, part of Eirmersive’s ongoing Immersive Futures series and supported by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland offered hands-on learning, expert insights and practical tools to help shape creative workflows across screen, gaming, animation, theatre and beyond.

💡 Highlights from the day included:

Immersive sessions exploring tools like Animotive, Lureo, Volograms, DeepMotion, LUMA AI and AI-powered 2D-to-3D asset creation, giving participants a window into how these technologies can be integrated into real creative pipelines.

Watch the video below for a taste of the atmosphere at the workshop.

Imvizar has announced that Lureo is now free for all creators.

“We believe spatial storytelling is one of the most powerful new mediums of communication. It blends narrative, place, emotion and interaction. It turns environments into experiences. It allows stories to be explored, not just watched.

Until now, building AR experiences has largely been limited to developers and technical teams. But we believe that this medium should be accessible.

Spatial storytelling should belong to creators. Filmmakers. Agencies. Educators. Brands. Anyone with an idea worth experiencing.

Lureo exists to make authoring immersive AR experiences accessible to everyone. No financial barriers. No technical barriers.

You can now sign up and start building for free.

If a creator builds a commercial project, the commercial entity involved will pay the licence fee. Full details are available on our website.”

XR Ireland’s SimexBuilder platform has been welcomed on the Scaleway Start-up programme starting March 1st.

They are booking their first pan-EU pilot projects between Austria and Cyprus for Disaster Response Simulation Exercises on their v0.2 of the platform with an aim to get a public V1.0 out by 2028 Q2.

In other news from XR Ireland, Guillaume Auvray will be speaking at Laval Virtual on the application of Digital Twin data modelling technologies for their Industry and Defence track, more specifically on resilience and disaster risk reduction as they also strengthen ties with Northern Ireland's Belfast Digital Twin Centre.

Additionally, XR Ireland has been welcomed as the first Irish SME on the Virtual World Association.

Watch the presentation of the engineering demo below…