The infrastructure shift immersive culture has been waiting for

IMPRES – positioning statement

Our cultures are preserved in what we create, such as paintings, films, architecture and books. We define ourselves by sharing what we experience and what we feel. Because we feel that to lose our culture is to lose part of ourselves.

Virtual Reality has been around for some time. We've labelled it as AR, XR, and presently as Immersive. You can't define it as a genre. Nor as a format. It is a genuinely unique medium. Spatial. Embodied. Alive in a way no screen has ever been.

Experiencing a work in this medium is closer to magic than to media. Sold-out shows at festivals and museums have proven what the industry has always known: the sense of wonder people experience in this medium is unlike anything else.

The problem

At the same time the medium that feels most like the future, is also the most fragile. Immersive works peak at premiere and their festival runs, then often silently disappear. Many immersive works have disappeared, and are bound to disappear, because they inevitably outlive the hardware and software they rely on. Works more than 18 to 24 months old have been lost, regardless of how much they were loved and praised. Lost no matter the culture they carry. Not archived. Not retired. Lost.

The long-term compatibility problem is preventing a sustainable ecosystem from emerging. Immersive works are not culturally temporary. But they are technically temporary. Immersive is the only major contemporary medium without an infrastructure layer. Film has distribution networks and archives. Music has royalty systems and catalogues.

The solution

While the cause has always been technical, the effect is industry-wide. No long-term compatibility means no long-term infrastructure. IMPRES developed technology that solves the technical problem, effectively unlocking the missing infrastructure layer. The layer that helps Immersive transition from 'experimental and fleeting', to 'durable and institutionally viable'. IMPRES gives Immersive what every other major medium already has: permanence.

With permanence, works can be circulated beyond their premiere season. Funded with confidence. Collected and programmed across institutions. Revisited by audiences who weren't there the first time. With permanence, creators gain a future.

What this means

Infrastructure shifts never look glamorous. But when they arrive, they redefine ecosystems.

Our cultures define us. Civilizations are preserved in forms such as paintings, films, architecture and books. With IMPRES we can confidently add Immersive to that list.