Spatial computing hardware has never been more exciting. Google committed to shipping five Android XR devices in 2026, including Project Aura with Xreal – a split-compute glasses system boasting a 70-degree field of view. Meta’s Quest 3S has outsold every other standalone headset combined by nine to one, with an attach rate of 3.8 paid apps per device. Samsung picked up a CES Innovation Award for the Galaxy XR. The extended reality market is valued at $10.6 billion and projected to hit $59 billion by 2031. By any hardware metric, the industry is thriving.

But hardware metrics tell only part of the story. Beneath the product announcements lies a growing tension between what spatial computing could achieve for the public good and the economic and political conditions needed to make that happen.

The Institutions That Need XR Most Are Being Defunded

In February, the National Gallery in London, one of the world’s great public collections, announced staff cuts and reduced programming to address a projected £8.2 million deficit. Rising operational costs, reduced footfall since the pandemic, and a 16% real-terms decline in DCMS grant-in-aid since 2021-22 have left the institution struggling.

The National Gallery is not an isolated case. A National Audit Office report found that 53% of DCMS-funded museums reported a worse financial position in August 2025 than three years prior. Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts closed entirely after Creative Scotland withdrew funding. The Museums Association has warned that the sector’s funding crisis is sparking renewed debate about whether free entry to national museums (a principle that has defined UK cultural policy for two decades) can survive.

These are precisely the institutions where immersive technology has the greatest potential. Imagine every school in the country being able to walk through the National Gallery’s collection in spatial detail. Imagine care home residents revisiting places they can no longer travel to. Imagine communities hundreds of miles from London accessing world-class cultural experiences through a headset that costs less than a family rail ticket to the capital.

This is not speculative. At Visualise, we have spent 15 years building immersive experiences for cultural institutions including the BFI and the Philharmonia Orchestra. We know the technology works. The question is whether the institutions that would commission and deliver this content can survive long enough to use it.

Not All Hardware Companies Are Looking Away

It would be unfair to paint the entire XR industry with the same brush. HTC, through its VIVE Arts programme, has been actively supporting galleries and artists for years – partnering with institutions including the Tate, the Louvre, and the Royal Academy to create immersive cultural experiences that bring collections to new audiences. It is a model that demonstrates commercial XR companies can invest meaningfully in cultural and public good.

We need to see more of this across the industry. When hardware manufacturers invest directly in the content and institutions that give their devices purpose beyond entertainment, they help close the access gap rather than widen it.

The Rules Are Being Rewritten – Not in Your Favour

While public institutions face funding pressures, the regulatory environment meant to protect citizens from corporate overreach is being weakened – and the UK is not immune.

The European Commission’s Digital Omnibus proposal would redefine personal data to give technology companies easier access for AI training, weaken individuals’ ability to access their own data, and allow high-risk AI systems to avoid regulation through grandfathering clauses. We’re no longer in the EU, but precedents set there shape what happens here.

And the more immediate concern is what’s happening in Westminster. During Labour’s first six months, ministers met tech industry executives and lobbyists an average of six times a week. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle met tech firms 28 times – 70% more than his predecessor – and offered to “advocate” for Amazon at the competition regulator while it was actively investigating the company. That investigation was later dropped. Google’s AI chief was invited to “sense check” Labour’s AI policy just weeks after the election. The previous CMA chair was replaced by Amazon’s former UK boss. Foxglove, the tech justice NGO, described Kyle as “the honourable member for Silicon Valley.”

These are not abstract policy questions for the XR industry. Spatial computing devices collect extraordinarily intimate data – room geometry, eye tracking, hand movements, physiological responses. The companies building the headsets are the same ones enjoying this access to government. Meta spent €10 million lobbying Brussels last year and $26 million in Washington. Apple spent €7 million and $10 million respectively. The digital industry spends €151 million annually lobbying the EU alone, up 33% in two years. In the UK, there is no equivalent transparency register – we don’t even know what they spend to influence our own government. That should concern anyone who believes this technology can serve the public interest.

What This Means for Brands and Creators

For brands considering immersive experiences, the access gap creates both a risk and an opportunity.

The risk is building on platforms whose governance is moving away from user protection. Investing heavily in a walled-garden XR ecosystem that may face regulatory backlash, or public trust erosion, is a strategic vulnerability.

The opportunity is differentiation through genuine public value. Brands that partner with cultural institutions, fund accessible immersive content, or build on open platforms are not just making ethical choices, they are positioning themselves on the right side of a debate that will define the next decade of spatial computing.

The XR market is projected at $59 billion by 2031. The question is not whether the market will grow, but who it will grow for. If the institutions, regulations, and funding structures that could make spatial computing genuinely democratic continue to erode, we will end up with extraordinary technology serving an extraordinarily narrow audience.

See It in Action

We have been making immersive experiences that bridge this gap for over a decade – from cultural institutions to global brands. Explore our work.

If you are exploring how immersive technology can create genuine public value, for your brand, your institution, or your audience – we would love to talk. Get in touch.