Access Support

Help to make sure everyone can take part, including things like travel, interpreters, or quiet spaces.

Awardee

A person or group that has been given funding or support.

Check-in

A short meeting to see how things are going, and discuss any relevant actions or next steps.

Cohort

A group of artists, collectives, or companies selected to take part in the same round of the Immersive Arts programme.

Eligibility

The specifics or details about who can apply for an opportunity or funding.

Expression of Interest (EOI)

A shorter form before a full application.

Kick-off Meeting

A meeting at the start of a project to include introductions and talk about what will happen next.

Mentoring

One-to-one support or professional development from someone with more experience.

Reflection/ Reflective Practice

A way of looking back on what you’ve done to learn and improve future work. Often part of artist or project development.

Reviewing Panel

A group of people who review and score applications.

Showcase

A public or private event to share a project that is either still in progress or finished.

Strand

A section, or type of opportunity, within the programme. In this programme we offer three different funding strands (eg Explore, Experiment, Expand).

Creative Vision

The main idea, or artistic plan, for how you want something to look and feel.

Cross-Disciplinary

Bringing together different art forms or areas of expertise, rather than a single artform, ie dance and digital tech or music and gaming.

De-Rig

Taking down and packing away equipment after an event.

Immersive Prototype

A working version, or iteration, of an interactive or digital idea before it is finished.

Iterate/ Iteration

Making changes and improvements over time.

Neurodivergent Informed Design

Designing work to support different ways people think and process the world around them so that they feel included, safe and supported. For example options for volume control, avoiding raid transitions or overly busy visuals.

Prototyping

A flexible, test-and-learn approach where the aim is not to finish something, but to explore what’s possible, test an idea or process.

Tech Setup/ Technical Setup

The equipment, hardware and/or software needed for a project to run.

Storyboard

A visual plan that shows what happens in a project, step by step, using pictures or short descriptions.

User Centred Design

A way of designing that focuses on people who will use or take part in your experience. It means involving them with your project early on, testing ideas with them and making changes based on their feedback.

360 Degree Video

Utilisation of immersive video technology to create engaging and interactive storytelling experiences, allowing users to look around and explore a scene in every direction.

Ambisonics

A type of sound that comes from all directions. It makes the audio feel more natural and immersive.

Augmented Reality (AR)

Initiatives that overlay digital content (usually visual or audio) onto the physical world through devices like smartphones, tablets or AR glasses, enhancing the user’s perception of their environment.

Binaural Sound

Projects that utilise a stereo sound technique that gives audiences a sense of space and distance.

Capture (Volumetric/ Photogrammetry/ Motion)

Ways to record real people, objects or places for digital use:

• Volumetric capture records someone in 3D.
• Photogrammetry involves taking many photos and stitching them together to build a 3D model of surfaces.
• Volumetric Video shows people or places in 3D, that can be viewed from different angles in VR or AR.

Extended Reality (XR)

A collective term that encompasses VR, AR, and MR, referring to all physical and virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology and wearables.

Exciters

Small devices that turn surfaces into speakers to create vibration based sound.

Haptics and Sensory Feedback

Incorporating tactile feedback and other sensory technologies to enhance the immersive experience, making the digital interactions feel more real and engaging.

Lidar

A tool that scans space, measures distances from a fixed point, using light in the form of a laser to make a 3D map.

Mixed Reality (MR)

Developments that blend real and virtual worlds to produce new environments where physical and digital objects coexist and interact in real-time, often using headsets with ‘pass through’ capabilities.

Motion capture (also known as MoCap)

Tracks how someone moves to animate a digital character.

Quadraphonic/ 5.1 Sound

Sound systems with multiple speakers around the room to create a surround effect.

Responsive Environments

Installations that use technology such as movement, audio, touch or depth sensing to acknowledge and respond to the presence of the audience in creative and imaginative ways.

Spatial Audio

Projects that use 3D audio effects to place sound in 360 degrees around a listener. Sound that changes depending on where you are or where you’re looking.

Spatial Computing

Projects that use spatial mapping and perception technologies to create interactive experiences in the physical space, enabling intuitive interactions between the user and digital content.

Sensor

A device that picks up movement, sound, or touch to trigger a response.

Virtual Reality (VR)

Projects that create digital environments, allowing users to interact within a computer generated world using devices such as VR headsets and motion controllers.

Accessible Format

Information shared in a way that makes it easier to understand for a wider range of people (eg large print, captions, or BSL interpretation).

Access Rider

A document that outlines what an artist(s) or team member(s) requires to take part fully in a project or event (for example, regular breaks, formats, sensory needs).

Easy Read

A format using simple words, sentences and pictures to help people who are learning disabled/ who have learning disabilities understand information more easily.

Social Model of Disability

Developed by Disabled people, the Social Model of Disability describes people as being disabled by barriers in society, not by our impairment or difference.

Sensory Experience

Something you can feel through sound, touch, smell, or movement.

Trauma-Informed Practice

An approach that considers the emotional impact of the work on participants or audiences who may have experienced trauma.

Trigger Warnings/ Content Notes

Advance notice about themes that could be distressing or overwhelming, so people can make informed choices about taking part.

Agency (for a user)

The ability to choose or control what happens next in a story or experience.

Co Creation

Making something together with others (often with the audiences or communities who will benefit from the finished outcome).

Facilitator

A person who guides, or supports, others to take part in a session or activity.

Interactive

Art that responds to the audience or invites them to take part. For example, the audience might touch, speak or move or make choices that affect what happens.

Intervention

An action taken during an event, or experience, to guide or change what is happening.

User Journey

The path someone takes through a digital, or physical, experience.

User Experience (UX)

How it feels for someone to take part in your project, including how easy, enjoyable, and accessible it is.

Budget Lines

The different parts of a budget that show how money will be used.

Cash Flow

Planning for how, and when, money will be earned (income) and get spent (expenditure) in a business, or for a project.

Contingency

Extra time, or money, set aside for unexpected things, and in case something goes wrong.

Deliverables

The key things you agree to share or complete by the end of your funded project, like a presentation, prototype or report.

In Kind Support

Help, or support, where money is not exchanged (eg space for making or performing, equipment, or time being given for free).

Match Funding

Money or resources that need to be raised by the applicant to ‘match’ the contribution from the funder.

Reporting/ Final Report

A short summary of what happened during your project. Often includes your outcomes, learning, and a budget breakdown.

Scope (of work)

Distinguishing between what is included in the project or task and what isn’t.

Access Consultant

A person who helps make sure access needs are understood, planned for, and supported across a project.

Creative Technologist

Someone who mixes creative ideas with technology.

They build interactive parts of the project and make sure the technology works properly.

Executive Producer

A senior person who supports the project.

They help with funding, give advice, and connect the team with useful contacts.

Experience Designer (also known as UX Designer)

Someone who plans how people move through the experience.

They think about space, timing, and how the journey feels for the audience.

Immersive Director

This person leads the creative parts of the project.

They decide how the audience will experience the story using sound, visuals, and technology.

Interaction Designer

This person plans what happens when someone presses a button, moves, or speaks.

They design how the experience reacts to those actions.

Producer

Someone who helps plan and run a creative project.

They make sure everything happens on time and within budget. They support the team and stay in touch with partners, or other collaborators.

XR Technician/ Operator

A person who sets up and runs the immersive equipment.

They make sure headsets, sensors, and software work properly.

Avatar

A digital character that represents a person in a virtual space.

It might be used for audience members or performers.

Development Lab

A short programme to help artists try out early ideas.

It includes workshops, mentoring, and time to test out new concepts. This could also be known as an innovation lab or residency.

Environment Mapping/ Lighting Design

Creating light and space in digital worlds.

Good lighting helps the experience feel real and believable.

Game Engine

Software used to design, build, and run digital interactive experiences, such as Unity or Unreal Engine.

Installation

An artwork that people can walk into or interact with.

It might use projections, sound, VR, or touchable objects in a gallery or public space.

Latency

The delay between what someone does and what happens in the experience.

Lower latency is better, especially in VR.

Locative Media

Digital experiences that change based on your location. Often used in AR or place based stories.

Middleware

Software that helps different tools or systems work together. It connects things like game engines to headsets or sensors.

Mixed Modalities

Using different media in one project. For example: VR with live performance, sound, and video.

Onboarding (Audience)

Helping the audience get ready for the experience. This might include giving safety instructions, showing controls, or setting the scene.

Pipeline

The step by step plan for making an immersive project. It includes things like design, coding, sound, testing, and installation.

Presence

The feeling of really being inside the experience. A strong sense of presence helps people feel more involved.

Real Time

When something happens instantly, without delay. In immersive art, this might mean sound or visuals that respond immediately to a person’s movement or action.

Render/ Rendering

Making the final version of a digital scene. This can happen in real time (like in VR – Virtual Reality) or in advance (like in 360° video).

Tech Rider

A list of the equipment needed to run the experience. This might include things like headsets, sound systems, or internet access. You usually give one of these to a venue before they agree to show your work.

Trigger/ Event Based Interaction

Something that happens when a person takes an action. For example, walking into a space might trigger sound or light.

User Testing/ Audience Testing/ Soft Launch/ Playtesting

Letting a small audience try the project before it fully launches. It helps find problems and improve the experience.

Worldbuilding

Creating the (imagined) world for your experience. This includes how it looks, sounds, and what the rules of the world are.