For the Extended Reality landscape to be successful, industry leaders must ensure that the technology they create is effective, efficient, and accessible. Every year, new technology emerges in the world of AR and VR to enhance the experiences that teams can have in different realities. However, the only way to ensure that we’re moving in the right direction, and eliminating unnecessary issues, is with careful research and analysis.
The XR Inclusion survey is a new report designed to measure the core imbalances and problems of the XR industry. According to XRI, the purpose of the survey is to identify problems, so that the XR community can work together to make improvements over time. The volunteer-led initiative should help to provide people from all backgrounds with insights into how XR technology is evolving, and which directions we need to move in.
Exploring the Opportunities of XR
The XRI survey is collating data from around the world and creating startup kits to help companies reduce issues like inequity and discrimination in the current landscape. The survey and startup kit aims to help XRI measure the problems that already exist in the extended reality environment, so that we can all make a community effort towards improvement.
To deliver the survey and startup kit, XRI is partnering with CEO of Rework Work, Stacey Gordon, and Fisher Phillips CEO, Kristen Nesbit. Together with global members of XRI, including lawyers, D&I experts, XR professionals, and researchers, this group has developed a comprehensive resource.
The XR startup kit offers templates, checklists, and training focused on vital business areas like hiring, job descriptions, unconscious bias, safe channels of communication, codes of conduct, and more. While the kit is excellent for supporting new businesses in their journey into XR, the free anonymous survey ensures that every company can contribute to a clearer view of where the ecosystem is today.
Visibility into the XR Environment
Startups in the XR environment need to be careful to ensure that they’re taking inclusion, equality, and diversity seriously. The XRI team believe that taking an active approach to creating inclusive company cultures from the start can help to reduce barriers to progress and help business performance to flourish.
The data available from the XRI survey will be stored within the SurveyMonkey platform, and the finished list of compiled results will be completely available to the public. According to a founding member of XRI, Taylor Freedom, the insights available through the startup kit and the details obtained from the survey are invaluable to creators in the XR landscape.
When details of the full survey results are available, they could become a foundational resource for companies to use as they step into the new world of XR development. Just like transformational technology, it’s essential that everyone can benefit from the amazing experiences that extended reality has to offer.
