1 Report Updated: 04/11/2020

Immersive Technologies Skillnet is a subsidised learning network for businesses of all sizes in the Irish immersive technologies sector. Objective: To expand the immersive technology capability of Irish businesses through subsidised learning programmes.

Immersive Technologies

Skills Gap R e p o r t 2 0 2 0

Image Courtesy of Gerd Altman / Pixabay

October 2020

Document Properties

Document Role Name Position

Report Author

Susan Talbot

Network Manager Immersive Technologies Skillnet

Any comments and questions can be directed to the author:

Susan Talbot Immersive Technologies Skillnet Email: manager@immersivetechnologiesskillnet.ie Telephone: +353 (0)87 7104057

Table of Contents

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................................ 4

Background .......................................................................................................................................................... 4

Approach and Output ........................................................................................................................................... 5

Primary Areas of Expertise ........................................................................................................................................... 6

Skills Gaps ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7

COVID related issues that have negatively impacted the sector ................................................................................. 9

COVID related issues that have positively impacted the sector ................................................................................ 10

Ideas on Government Policy to Support the Immersive Technology Sector ............................................................. 11

Ideas on Initiatives to Support the Immersive Technology Sector ............................................................................. 12

Launch Event Suggestions ......................................................................................................................................... 14

Current Training or Skills Development Needs .......................................................................................................... 15

Numbers of Employees as of Oct 2020 ...................................................................................................................... 16

Markets ........................................................................................................................................................................ 17

Next Steps ................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Executive Summary

Background

Immersive Technology, broken down to include Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), Haptics (transmission of information by touch) and Holograms (collectively known as XR), is transforming the way individuals participate in events, design, manufacturing, diagnostics, training, and learning. This metaverse of high sensory impact is:

• a ‘marketing juggernaut’1 which lends itself to ‘story-living’ not just ‘story-telling’,

• the future of our office2 and,

• remote collaboration between experts and technicians provides faster and more effective

process completion time.

As well as the above, gaming technology such as Unreal Engine, combined with other advanced technology

in processing and LEDs, has proved its cinematic value and has jump-started a new era of film & television

real-time production tools that sees the convergence of the ‘live action’ and ‘gaming’ worlds that allows ‘in

camera’ real-time effects. While time allocated to pre-production is extended, post-production &

VFX/compositing & rendering times are shortened or redundant with up front virtual scouting, pre-

visualisation, tech-visualisation, and AR action overlays.

Industry spending on AR and VR is outstripping the consumer market and may add €1.5 trillion to the

global economy by 20303 as companies and brands strive to:

• connect with their workforce and their customers on a more emotional and experiential level,

• improve processes and,

• reduce costs.

Immersive Technologies Skillnet was formed to both confirm and address the growth of the Immersive Technologies sector in Ireland with a goal to assist SMEs in advancing:

• competitiveness

• productivity

• innovation

by identifying skills gaps, both technical and non-technical, and providing bespoke and subsidised training and skills development solutions through the;

• Training Networks Programme, offering 30% - 60% grant funding

• Future Skills Programme - facilitating collaboration between business & higher education

institutions and offering up to 80% in grant funding

• Skills Connect Programme - designed for people not in employment and funded 100%

1 Forbes | https://www.forbes.com/sites/solrogers/2018/11/02/marketers-and-brands-need-vr-heres-six-reasons-why/#41a7bdf01395 2 Wall Street Journal | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sziU6-NKiMQ&feature=youtu.be 3 PwC | https://www.pwc.co.uk/issues/intelligent-digital/virtual-reality-vr-augmented-reality-ar.html

Immersive Technologies Skillnet is promoted by Dublin Business Innovation Centre (DBIC).

The Network Manager role was filled on September 1st, 2020

Membership of the network is open to private businesses based in the Republic of Ireland.

This document is a primary research compilation of the current situation in immersive

technologies in Ireland as of October 12th, 2020.

Contributions were made by companies and individuals across several immersive disciplines

including, but not limited to, AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), MR (Mixed Reality),

Virtual Production, UX (User Experience), UI (User Interface), Gaming, AI (Artificial Intelligence)

and Education.

Approach and Output

The Skills Gap Analysis was compiled over the period commencing mid-September 2020 and

closing October 12th, 2020.

In most cases, direct introductions were made by Gareth Lee of Animation Skillnet, Animation

Ireland and Screenskills Ireland and hour-long interviews were conducted with participants.

All answers were manually collated in Survey Monkey by the report author.

# of companies contacted # of respondents # of survey participants at close

35 31

21

100% 88% 60%

As part of the survey, 10 questions were asked. The following pages are a detailed report of

answers.

Question 1 What do you consider to be your primary area of expertise?

• 29% of companies identified as being primarily VR, with 17% identifying as primarily AR.

• Of the companies that identified as being VR/AR, 23% of these identified as gaming companies with

the remaining identifying as 3D Modelling (medical), Volumetrics and a combination of VR/AR.

• 23% of companies, while using immersive technologies, identified as being industry training.

• No companies identified as being solely MR.

• 17% of companies identified as VFX/Animation post-production.

• 10% of respondents were government agencies while the remaining respondents were interactive

shopping, independent XR content producers and immersive events.

Question 2 Do you know of any training that is not provided or skills development gaps that are adversely affecting the immersive tech and related sectors in Ireland?

Immersive Technologies Skills Gaps 2020

20 companies responded with the following:

• Lack of Network Engineers (multiplayer)

• Lack of senior Technical Artists for gaming and senior Concept Artists for Unreal

• Game engine training in Unreal & Unity – The storytelling aspect / not just tech

• Unreal Engine expertise (High-End) Asset pipeline specialist

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Skills Gaps

• Management skills (creative team management) People who are good at creating an immersive world Advanced highly skilled animators in 3D & Maya.

• Finding creatives is easy but the bridge between technical & creative is difficult Roku developers

• UX/UI in AR/VR Accessibility

• Accessibility training in AR/VR space (i.e. how do we combat colour blindness in a user) 3D artists with medical knowledge Anything that pushes gaming technologists to the next level in Ireland.

• Lack of Gameplay Engineers C++ Devs Unreal Devs

• UX/UI in AR/VR Intersection of Arts & Tech

• Crossover of Creative + Dev. Cinematography for VR sets in Unreal Engine

• General shortage of people in UX/UI in AR/VR Shortage of people who have a broad knowledge in immersive tech & Change Management, helping companies implement new technologies.

• Lack of C ++ Developers,

• Mobile app developers with AR/Unity experience, Unreal Developers, UX/UI for AR/VR, Computer Vision engineers.

• Realtime 'On-Set' pre-vis tech Universal shortage of immersive tech talent pool Python targeted training for transition students who do not want to attend college.

• UX/UI for AR/VR Product Management for the gaming industry

• Developers with C++ Unity/Unreal Engine and those with mixed skills aptitudes.

• Creative Development UX/UI For VR Networking Devs (Multi-user)

• Nascent industry – not a deep talent pool of freelancer editors proficient in Unreal Engine as industry moving to a hybrid of real-time/UE

• Not enough 'Creative/Developers' that can easily traverse the gap between coding and design. There is currently a division between designers & developers.

Question 3 Do you know of any COVID related issues that have negatively impacted the sector?

20 companies responded on the negative impacts of COVID.

Of these, 25% felt no negative impact from COVID. The remaining cited the following:

• Production pipeline disruption which will have a negative impact next year.

• Experiential hardware demos difficult and in some cases impossible.

• Event Networking. Not the same online.

• Lack of face to face creative brainstorming is having an impact.

• Productivity drop off initially which has impacted investment runway.

• Creative connectivity.

• Time management.

• Educational funding next year will be sparse

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HardwareDemos

TimeManagement

PipelineDisruption

CreativeConnectivity

ProductivityDrop Off

Ed. Funding2021

No EventNetworking

No Impact

Negative Impacts of COVID

Negative Impacts of COVID

Question 4 Do you know of any COVID related issues that have positively impacted the sector?

20 responded to the question of positive impacts because of COVID with the following:

• Bump in game sales with captive audiences / industry growth.

• People looking to fill schedule slots with non - live action programming resulting in temporary upturn.

• COVID opened door to US market

• Internal Processes forced to improve.

• Improved communications

• Improved Focus

• Accelerated immersive adoption

• COVID has positively impacted growth as demand for at home/interactive shopping increased.

• Students are finishing courses quicker because of lockdown.

• Employees have found their voices on zoom. Talent that was not previously discovered by employers has surfaced. People shine!

• In general, the immersive industry translates well to remote working. Team has grown more resilient.

• Less distraction so everyone has caught up.

• Has been good for business insofar as anyone who was on the edge regarding using AR/VR has now jumped as COVID has highlighted issues around business continuity like audits, tours, remote assistance.

• There is a clear necessity for immersive technologies across industry and education. People are now willing to test new things.

• Immersive tech has not really been affected as the content is internally driven and if anything, people are now embracing a more technical environment.

• It has opened the sector. It is a pity VR/AR was not further along but perhaps now people are paying more attention to it.

• The accelerated dive into tech solutions has made the general population more tech aware and tech savvy.

• Highlighted the need to shift to digital. Blended learning already taking place and AR could become ubiquitous as mobile devices are widely used across all socio-economic situations.

Key Takeaways:

1) In general, industry (end users) is seeing the value of AR/VR adoption at an accelerated pace.

2) Gaming Industry growth due to captive audience and easy industry transition to remote work.

Question 5 Do you have any thoughts on how the Immersive Technologies and related sectors might be supported at a government and policy level in Ireland?

21 companies responded.

• 50% stated that the extension of section 481 to include immersive and gaming would promote a

significant growth in the industry.

• Others responded that trade bodies like UKIE and Immersive UK have promoted large growth in

the industry in the UK. Similar policies here would be invaluable.

As of the conclusion of this report, Budget 2021 (October 13th) announced Tax Credits will be extended to the

Gaming sector beginning 2022, but less detail is available as to whether this will be an extension of Section 481

or some other instrument.

Section 481 Extension

50%Trade Body similar to UKIE

4%

No Thoughts36%

National Fund5%

Supports similar to Immerse UK

5%

Section 481 Extension

Trade Body similar to UKIE

No Thoughts

National Fund

Supports similar to Immerse UK

Question 6 Are there any initiatives you would like to see in place to support the sector?

21 Companies Responded. Below are their detailed replies:

• Anything that involves gaming development

• Prototype funding Aid with consul certification process

• More educational supports Screen Ireland and BAI funding to include immersive projects. Any initiative to grow the talent pool

• Infrastructure/Processes for working on large scale public art. Further trainee programmes Workshops, Training and Network Events

• Interest free government loans to help combat lost runway due to COVID for companies who recently took investment

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Initiative Wish List

Prototype Funding

Certification Process Aid

Educational Supports

Public Art Funding

Trainee Programmes

Workshops & Events

Gov. Loans / Funding like H2020

Skillnet & Lookalike Initiatives

End User Workshops

Grant funded POC's

Industry Partnering (ie Apple)

• Skillnet and initiatives like it.

• Education. Sector needs to know possibilities to use tools to innovate - so meetings/webinars.

• More upskilling and training mentors in the industry

• Feels like there is a tipping point coming and would like to see the gaming community supported more but no ideas how.

• Initiatives that promote co-operation within the sector as culturally we do not do that well. - VR workshops for potential end users who do not know what VR can do for their company. More educational material incorporating VR/AR

• Agree that there is a firm place for Skillnet in this sector especially with the future expansion of Production Campuses in Greystones & Grangecastle and the possibility of companies like Netflix utilising those spaces to fulfil their % EU production requirements as a European Broadcaster.

• A joint effort involving IADT and industry to do a POC for Virtual Production (LED screens etc.)

• Education! Love to see an initiative that informs and educates businesses on how they could adopt the use of AR/VR into their workflow.

• Continued funding like DTIF & H2020 with more transparency around why companies are chosen, and others are not.

• 1) Secondary School Career Guidance Initiative - there is no material available for this sector 2) 'Targeted' learning apprenticeships

• Deeper level of collaboration with colleges (Many do not have the equipment that companies do).

• Growth Industry - opportunity to promote Ireland. Subsidised travel to events abroad. Subsidised ‘Best Practice’ International Speakers Initiative partnering with Apple for AR dev. Business Foundation Courses for Creatives Apprenticeships - but straight out of school / not college.

• Anything that gives the sector a deeper talent pool to draw from.

• An initiative that introduced the post primary educational sector to AR in the form of teacher training. Multi-discipline initiatives to encourage ‘Creative’ + ‘Computing’ crossover skills. Initiatives to enhance 3D learning.

Question 7 Any input you would have about a launch event for the new Immersive Technologies Skillnet that would aim to showcase the sector in a positive way?

18 companies responded with ideas for a launch event. Here’s what they said….

Question 8 Does your company have any training or skills development needs now?

20 Companies Responded to this question:

• Remote Team Management

• Unreal Engine & A definitive guide to language and terms

• HR Interview Techniques

• More aid for gaming events

• UX/UI for AR

• Business courses for gaming Industry

• Interested in courses / webinars etc. on anything about 'How To Speed Up Your Workflow'

• 'Looking Better, Quicker' - Deep Fake

• Looking to break into AR

• Unreal Engine

• C++ Developers when budget available

Future Needs Only50%

4%4%

4%

4%

9%

4%

9%

4%

4%4%

Current Training Needs

Future Needs Only

Remote Team Management

Unreal Engine Definitive Language

HR / Remote I/V Techniques

Help with gaming event

UX/UI for AR/VR

Business of Gaming

Workflow Processes

Deep Fake

C++

Unreal Engine

Question 9 Number of Employees?

The majority of companies who responded to the survey had between 10 – 30 employees with one

having a global reach of over 1000. ‘Other’ in this instance refers to freelance.

Question 10 What is your largest market?

50% of those companies that could answer other than ‘global’ cited Ireland as their primary market with

US following at 37% and UK at 16%.

Next Steps

Feedback from the survey prioritised the establishment of a Steering Committee to reflect on

and address the skills gaps that arose, followed by a network launch event.

Initiatives: This report gives a first high-level view as to proposed initiatives the immersive

technologies industry would like to see. Educational supports to help develop the future talent

pool and pipeline came out on top.

Skills Gaps: Immersive Technologies Skillnet has identified training programmes in ‘Realtime

FX’ as being a priority, followed closely by ‘Creative/Development’ crossover and UX/UI in the

AR/VR space.

If you wish to comment on this report as an industry professional, training centre or educational

institute, please contact:

Susan Talbot Immersive Technologies Skillnet Email: manager@immersivetechnologiesskillnet.ie Telephone: +353 (0)87 7104057