The rapidly growing fields of virtual reality and augmented reality are revolutionizing a wide range of areas such as entertainment, cinema, marketing, training, education, maintenance and remote work. XR, which stands for “Extended Reality”, is an umbrella term encompassing immersive technologies like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR), which blend real and virtual environments. By using visual data acquisition that is either accessed locally or shared and transferred over a network and to the human senses, XR devices create customized experiences by means of enabling real-time responses in a virtual stimulus.
With interactive kiosks powered by sensors and immersive experience, movie studios today have found a great way of using XR to promote their films. Universal Studios for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom provided augmented reality effects for exclusive in-store and in-home experiences featuring many of the film’s remarkable dinosaurs. In India, bollywood films like ‘Super 30’ and ‘Sanju’, the 2012 Telugu-language fantasy action film ‘Eega’, globally popular ‘Bahubaali’, ‘RRR’ have all employed this disruptive technology to capture the audience’s hearts and engage their minds like never before!
Indian filmmaker Poulomi Basu’s ‘Maya: The Birth of a Superhero’ was one of the eight projects at Cannes Film Festival’s new Immersive Competition category in 2024. Higher education institutions ranging from community colleges and vocational schools to R1 research institutions are experimenting with XR technologies in various capacities. IIT Madras researchers have developed an AR / VR-based enabled learning for secondary schools in rural areas of the country. As per a report by Accenture, VR-trained surgeons make 40 percent fewer mistakes than surgeons who are conventionally trained.
AR/VR technologies offer significant potential for improving accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities, with applications ranging from AR sign language translation to VR empathy tools and more. XR can also transform virtual meetings by creating immersive environments where participants can interact with 3D models, share presentations, and brainstorm ideas as if they were in the same room. XR has the ability to be used for joint effort in the workplace, training, educational purposes, therapeutic treatments, and data exploration and analysis.
The global and Indian XR markets are experiencing rapid growth. As per reports, India’s AVGC-XR sector is set to become $26-bn industry by 2030 with 34% CAGR. India’s Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming & Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) sector is all set for a quantum leap in the next five to six years. XR technologies could unlock an estimated $1.5 trillion in value for the global economy by 2030, underlining an annual growth rate well above 30%, as per World Economic Forum.
While there were 170 XR startups in 2018, the number has crossed 300 in 2025, says Tracxn Report industry estimates. The XR field encompasses a range of job roles and specializations. Some common XR job profiles include Software developers who build AR/VR/MR applications, XR Hardware Engineers, 3D Artists and Designers, Researchers and Computer Vision Engineers, Product Managers and UX Specialists, Content Creators and Trainers amongst others.
In a significant step toward making India a global hub for AVGC, the Union Cabinet in November 2024 approved the establishment of a National Centre of Excellence (NCoE) for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) in Mumbai. With an estimate to generate 5,00,000 jobs, the NCoE is modeled after premier institutions like IITs and IIMs. The center will provide world-class infrastructure, state-of-the-art technology and specialized skills to build a strong talent pool
Thus India is experiencing an immersive revolution! The recently concluded XR Creator Hackathon was a nationwide initiative driving innovation in Extended Reality technologies, organized by Wavelaps, XDG, and Bharat XR in association with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, brought together creative minds from across India to shape the future of immersive technologies. The XR Hackathon is one amongst the 32 diverse and dynamic challenges that form the Create in India Challenge (CIC) Season-1, launched as part of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) set to take place at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai from 1st to 4th May, 2025.
The winners of the Create in India challenges will be felicitated with ‘WAVES Creator Awards’ in a grand ceremony at Mumbai. These challenges have made a powerful entry into the creative landscape, igniting a wave of innovation and engagement across India and beyond, emerging as a premier platform for creative talent on a global scale. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi recently stated that WAVES will encourage Indian artists to create content and make it global, while also inviting artists from around the world to collaborate in India
The XR Hackathon started with more than 2,200 participants from all parts of the country. The finalists were closely reviewed by a distinguished jury, ensuring that the selected projects meet the highest standards of technical execution, user experience, and real-world impact. Each of these experts represents a different domain, ensuring a well-rounded assessment of the most promising XR projects in India. The five winners of the hackathon from each of its respective themes, namely, healthcare, immersive tourism, e-commerce, education, and media & media and entertainment were announced on 9th April, 2025.
The XR Hackathon winners, along with the finalists of other challenges, over 750 in number, will get a unique opportunity to showcase the outcome and output of their individual challenge, their talent and skills, apart from networking opportunities with business leaders from their respective sector including pitching sessions, and learn from global stalwarts through masterclasses, panel discussions, conferences etc.
The true success of this initiative will be measured not just by the winners but by how these projects transition into real-world applications. With futuristic initiatives like the XR Creator Hackathon, India is not just participating in the global XR race, it is setting the foundation for immersive innovation on its own terms. The XR Creator hackathon and the WAVE Summit has given a stage to thousands of young XR enthusiasts, who received support and mentorship which are much needed to innovate.
More than 30% of the finalists of the hackathon come from tier 2 and 3 cities, a testament to the growing XR sphere! With the XR Creator Hackathon, we are revolutionizing the Indian XR industry. The solutions emerging from this platform will shape how we interact with the world, across industries, across realities.
(Co-authored by Ashutosh Kumar, Founder & CEO, WAVELAPS and Sriyanka Chatterjee, Media & Communication Officer, PIB
