SIFF XR | Empower Offline Immersive Entertainment with Technology, to Explore New Business Formats for Culture, Business, and Tourism

On June 19 at the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival, SIFF XR held a seminar on “Empower Offline Immersive Entertainment with Technology, to Explore New Business Formats for Culture, Business, and Tourism”. The seminar was packed with valuable insights, sparking high interest within the industry and attracting full attendance. Wu Lixiang, founder of Entertainment Capital, served as the host, joined by Zhang Hang, Senior Vice President of iQIYI, Agnès Garaudel, President and Producer of GEDEON Experience from France, Ye Xinyu, Executive Director of HTC VIVE Arts, and Tang Yicheng, CEO of Shengshi Wanhe Cultural Media Co., Ltd., and founder of Boxin Universe. They gathered at Push Art Center at Puxi Financial Square to explore how technology empowers the offline film and television entertainment ecosystem.

XR boosts transformation of culture, business, and tourism formats,

while industry pioneers discuss the path of innovation together

“Technological innovation brings two main benefits: it infuses more uniqueness into content experiences and enhances operational efficiency in business.” Zhang Hang used projects like iQIYI’s FENG QI LUOYANG as examples, highlighting the platform’s exploration and practice in VR immersive theaters, expressing a vision to tell compelling Chinese stories through Chinese IPs.

Ms. Agnès Garaudel also shared her innovative practices and insights in XR projects, emphasizing that narrative is crucial in immersive experiences. Using immersive technology, audiences can “see” historical and cultural scenes that are otherwise inaccessible, thereby deepening their understanding of history and civilization.

Ms. Ye Xinyu believes that the artistic form of VR should vary to encompass multiple formats beyond VR alone, allowing artists to exhibit their work through diverse and multi-dimensional mediums.

 “The exploration of immersive technology plays a positive role in the digital transformation of the current cultural and tourism industry.” Tang Yicheng believes that XR technology brings audiences new entertainment experiences and helps address various challenges faced by the cultural, commercial, and travel industries in their development.

Focus on the prospects of offline entertainment consumption,

roundtable talk on new trends in XR cross-industry collaboration

Technological innovation not only infuses uniqueness into content experiences  but also enhances operational efficiency in business. The consensus among participants is that iterative technological advancements have diversified and personalized the development trends of the offline film and television entertainment industry. Industry professionals are facing multiple challenges in content creation, operations, and other aspects.

Ye Xinyu speculates that perhaps in another five to eight years, the industry will experience a second wave of explosive growth. Agnès Garaudel hopes to combine France’s strengths in content innovation with advanced scene application technologies from Chinese companies to produce even higher-quality works.

With the successful conclusion of the seminar, the industrial activities of this year’s SIFF XR have also come to an end. SIFF XR will continue its operation, welcoming audiences, practitioners, and researchers to experience and witness how XR technology empowers offline immersive film and television entertainment.