SUMMARY
Since 2023, the JeDI association has published an annual White Paper taking stock of the gathering of immersive experience players and a state of the art of the cultural and creative industries (CCI) sector. JeDI was created following the first Journées de l'immersif, held in April 2023. Its mission is to support players in the immersive experience sector through sharing, collaboration and innovation.
For the 2025 edition, the White Paper takes stock of the immersive industry in full consolidation, exploring the crucial balance between " sense & senses ". Discover the main key points and the link to the full report to better understand the sector and leverage best practices in the face of ethical, ecological and societal challenges.
Key words : Aura Invalides, Archives départementales de Loire-Atlantique, Bordeaux, cathedrals, CC Westfield Carré Sénart, Château de Blois, Collège des Bernardins, Dead Man's Corner Museum, Domus Aurea de Rome, ecoresponsibility, ethics, AI, La Maison du Tourisme d'Arras Pays d'Artois, La Villette, L'Atelier des Lumières, low-tech, Marseille, hybrid models, Moesgaard Museum (Denmark), Nantes, Orsay, Outernet (London), Paris Event Center, Phi Centre (Canada), affective polarization, REMARKABLE (ROX), economic sustainability, transformation, Le Théâtre antique d'Orange
Illustration: JeDI ©
Key points of the report
1. Definition of immersion
Immersion is defined by a single word: "transformation". A successful experience must have a clear intention (a common thread) and involve the participant as a co-author. The aim is to help us feel, understand and re-imagine the world by appealing to all our senses.
2. State of the industry
The immersive industry has reached a phase of maturity and consolidation, anchoring itself in multiple sectors (tourism, education, healthcare) and going beyond mere technological fads.
Economic sustainability is a major issue. The models are mostly hybrid, combining :
- Public subsidies (35% of typical studio revenues in 2024),
- Ticket sales (20% B2C),
- Services for brands and institutions (25% B2B).
To structure and sustain the industry, a public-private partnership is deemed essential.
3. Responsibility and impact
The industry places a strong emphasis onethics and responsibility, as the power to move people requires the creation of transformative experiences within a thoughtful, controlled framework. Growing priorities include inclusion, accessibility andeco-responsibility (technological sobriety, reduction of carbon footprint).
The REMARKABLE method is the standardized tool used to measure the impact of experiences, balancing traditional data (revenue, attendance) with emotional, sensory and transformational criteria. The most impactful creations are those that pursue a genuine artistic, philosophical, political or emotional purpose - in other words, that have a strong intention.
4. Integrating societal issues
Immersive design is a powerful tool for tackling contemporary challenges:
Creators are encouraged to imagine desirable future worlds that respect planetary limits, in the face of ecological crises.
The antidote to affective polarization (opposition based on identities, "us versus them") is to live an experience together , the 3 criteria of which are: being together, feeling or doing together, and talking together. The aim is to bring together individuals who do not belong to the same groups.
In places of learning (museums, aquariums, etc.), immersive learning enables us to move from received knowledge to experienced knowledge, turning emotion into a pedagogical strategy and technology into an amplifier of meaning. In this way, we can aim to educate without boring.
