For companies and creatives

The XR Stories immersive research and development lab is the hub for creative technology innovation in York and North Yorkshire.

Located in York city centre, the state-of-the-art facility provides a unique space for businesses to develop and deliver commercial projects.

The facilities hire provision also extends to costing hire of the lab into project submissions to funding providers and programmes including Innovate UK and Arts Council England (ACE). From April 2026, digital arts will be recognised as an artform across all ACE funding programmes. 

The lab facility features a flexible virtual production test stage and a suite of cutting edge equipment and technology spanning performance capture, spatial audio, virtual reality, and game development. Facilitative support from the XR Stories Creative Technician is included as part of the hire package. 

The hire service sits alongside XR Stories’ support programmes including creative innovation sessions, creative R&D residencies and creative technology skills training, that provide access to equipment and expertise to scope creative/immersive projects, undertake research and development activities, or to develop new skills.

Download a copy the XR Stories facilities hire brochure for information about all lab equipment and specifications.

If you are interested in hiring the lab, please submit a lab hire enquiry form and a member of the XR Stories team will be in touch to discuss your request and share information about lab hire rates.

3D lab model

The XR Stories Creative Research and Development (R&D) Residency Programme is open to artists, creatives, technologists, businesses and freelancers in York and North Yorkshire.

The programme provides an opportunity for successful applicants to become residents in the XR Stories immersive technology lab, using our facilities and state-of-the-art technology to incubate new ideas and carry out productive research and development on their extended reality (XR) project, outside of their usual environment.

With support from the XR Stories team, residents will have up to five days worth of focused R&D time to make demonstrable progress in their project.

Visit our Creative R&D residency programme page to find out more and apply before 25 June 2026.

At XR Stories, we believe that the best immersive and extended reality (XR) projects start with a spark of an idea and the right conversation. But we also know that moving from “what if” to “how to” can be the hardest part of the creative process.

That’s why we’re launching our new Creative Innovation Sessions.

We are opening the doors of our York-based studio (otherwise known as the XR Stories immersive technology R&D lab) to the creative community.

Whether you’re a business owner, a freelancer, an artist, or an individual or team within a Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME), we’re offering you a protected two-hour ideation and scoping workshop with our expert team.

Find out more about our creative innovation sessions and get in touch to book a slot.

XR Stories supports internships to enable University of York students to gain valuable experience working in industry, backed by support from the XR Stories team. 

We work with the University of York’s York Internship programme to facilitate connections between companies and students, providing R&D expertise and facilities support to augment creative projects. 

The York Internship programme offers students a paid placement of up to 12 weeks to work on a creative project with an industry partner. 

If you are interested in how an intern could be useful to your business, or if you would like to fund an intern, please get in touch at [email protected].