France created the 8th art with virtual reality. To avoid giving up this $15 billion market, Fabien Barati (CEO of Excurio) calls on tech and culture to unite to build a sovereign industry.
While the spotlights of the Cannes Film Festival have just gone out on the Croisette, another revolution has taken place in the heart of the Film Market. Seeing Cannes XR and the Immersive Competition officially recognize virtual reality works during this edition, I felt immense pride for our sector. It is no longer a simple technological curiosity on the sidelines of the red carpet, but the definitive recognition of a new global narrative language.
I am deeply convinced: virtual reality is a true 8th art. Where cinema frames the space to direct the gaze, our job consists of placing the spectator at the center of the work. By offering the public the opportunity to wander freely in large physical spaces, this immersive format (Location-Based VR) offers its own spatial grammar and a unique capacity to arouse empathy. It is a discipline in its own right that completely redefines our relationship with storytelling.
A sovereign and structured French ecosystem
On this global playing field, France is already the creative and technological leader of a booming market, estimated at more than $15 billion by 2034. I see it every day in our studios: our ecosystem is remarkably structured. It relies on recognized schools (like the Gobelins), internationally recognized companies and prestigious cultural partnerships (like the immersive projects with the National Museum of Natural History or the Orsay Museum).
Our challenge is therefore no longer to be the first, nor to have invented this free movement format, nor even to have demonstrated its viability through showcase works which have brilliantly opened the way. No, we are now embarking on a more ambitious project: creating a global network capable of giving this medium its critical size. The real shift we are experiencing is no longer technological, it is economic and cultural. Large format immersion will only become a sustainable media through an open infrastructure where works circulate, meet their audience and create the conditions for a sustainable market.
However, our advance is not a definitive achievement. Technological history is full of examples where creative invention failed to transform into industrial sovereignty. Let’s look at the example of video games: the excellence of our “French Touch” is praised everywhere, but it sometimes struggles to retain its talents and intellectual properties in the face of foreign strike power. To avoid reliving this leak of value with virtual reality, the State initiated the movement with France 2030. The public authorities must now present this success as a real national pride on the diplomatic scene.
Cultivate our “cultural exception” in new spaces
To keep this emerging network alive, we need broadcasting venues. Just as the pioneers of cinema had to invent their cinemas, we need daring exhibitors. They are today taking an active part in the invention of this market by building augmented cultural scenes and immersive theaters.
In these immersive spaces of excellence, our mission is to bring the French cultural exception to life. This virtuous model is essential to our network: the great popular and spectacular adventures, capable of generating solid income, must finance more specialized works of authorship based on History, Science or Art. This is the very essence of a living media.
The moment of audacity and collective responsibility
The State having played its role as catalyst, it is now up to all of us to set in motion an ambitious dynamic:
- Private equity and venture capital have a historic opportunity to seize. The market is validated, driven by exceptional global growth of nearly 30% per year, and the technological standards are set. By joining us today, private investors will transform our know-how into a global export industry.
- Cultural institutions and museums hold the other key to this deployment. By integrating these technologies, they have the opportunity to become daring co-producers, capable of promoting our heritage well beyond their walls.
We hold all the cards. Let’s not let this unique opportunity pass you by. It is up to us (creators, investors and cultural actors) to join forces to make France not only the cradle of this 8th art, but above all the industrial power of reference which will dictate its standards to the whole world.
