According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Radio and Television Administration, and the General Administration of Sport have jointly issued the Action Plan for the Integrated Development of Virtual Reality and Industrial Applications (2022-2026) (the Action Plan). The Action Plan has drawn wide attention from the market with its development goals, five major tasks and seven safeguards by 2026.

Virtual reality is an important frontier direction of the new generation of information technology and a major prospective field of digital economy. After years of development, China's virtual reality industry has initially constructed an ecological system based on technological innovation, and is entering a strategic window period with product upgrading and integration application as the main line.

Development Goals

According to the Action Plan, by 2026, China will achieve key breakthroughs in 3D and virtual-real integration of immersive audio-visual technologies. The new generation of humanized virtual reality terminal products will be continuously enriched, the industrial ecology will be further improved, and the large-scale application of virtual reality will be realized in important economic and social industries, forming a number of backbone enterprises and industrial clusters with strong international competitiveness, and creating an industrial development pattern in which technology, products, services and applications will prosper together.

 Innovation capacity will be significantly enhanced. A systematic innovation system featuring multi-technology integration and efficient collaboration between enterprises, universities and research will take shape. Major breakthroughs will be made in core and key technologies such as near-eye display, rendering processing, perceptual interaction, network transmission, content production, compressed coding, and security and trust. A virtual reality standard system will be developed and a manufacturing innovation center will be established.

 The audio-visual virtual reality production experimental area for radio, television and Internet and the digital production experimental area for virtual reality enabling stage art will be built. Industrial ecology will continue to improve. The overall scale of China's VR industry (including related hardware, software, applications, etc.) will exceed 350 billion Yuan, the sales volume of VR terminals will exceed 25 million units, 100 backbone enterprises with strong innovation ability and industry influence will be cultivated, and 10 cluster areas with regional influence will be created to lead the development of VR ecology. Ten industrial public service platforms will be built. The results of integrated application will be highlighted. 

Breakthroughs will be made in key application areas of virtual reality, 10 types of virtual audio-visual production application demonstrations will be carried out, 10 cities and parks will be built to lead the "virtual reality+" integration application, and at least 20 feature application scenarios and 100 pioneering cases of integration application will be formed.

 Make "Virtual reality +" better

According to the Action Plan, we will promote the integration and innovation of key technologies, improve the endogenous capability of "virtual reality+" in key areas such as near-eye display, rendering processing and perception interaction, and strengthen the deep integration of virtual reality with next-generation information technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence and digital twinning. We will support the research and development of application technologies with commercial potential for specific scenarios and upstream and downstream collaboration of the industrial chain.

 In the field of virtual reality + industrial production, the Action Plan points out that we will support the application and promotion of virtual reality technology in key links of the product life cycle such as design, manufacturing, operation and maintenance, and training. We will support industrial enterprises and industrial parks to use virtual reality technology to optimize production management, energy conservation and emission reduction, improve quality, increase efficiency and reduce cost, build new remote operation and maintenance solutions that integrate the virtual and real, and accelerate the digital and intelligent transformation of industrial enterprises. 

In the field of virtual reality + cultural tourism, we will promote the development of virtual reality digital experience products in cultural pavilions, tourist venues and characteristic blocks, and carry out innovative applications of virtual reality such as pre-tour preview, virtual-real integrated navigation, tour guide, art exhibition and restoration of cultural relics and historic sites.

 In the field of virtual reality + education and training, the Action Plan proposes that we will build a batch of virtual reality classrooms, teaching and research rooms, laboratories and virtual simulation training bases in primary and secondary schools, higher education and vocational schools, and develop a batch of virtual reality digital courses based on the teaching syllabus. We will serve the national major strategy, promote "Virtual Simulation Experiment Teaching 2.0", support the construction of a number of key virtual simulation experiment training projects, and accelerate the training of personnel in short supply. 

In the field of virtual reality + sports and health, we will create digital, intelligent and immersive sports solutions combining online and offline, build a new form of public fitness, and promote the application of virtual reality in medical education, clinical diagnosis and treatment, rehabilitation nursing, addiction withdrawal, psychological counseling, caring visitation, surgical navigation and other scenes.

 In the field of virtual reality + business creativity, it is clear in the Action Plan that we will develop a new model of business activity experience with synchronous online and offline interaction and organic integration, and create new business scenes and new businesses. 

In the field of virtual reality + intelligent city, we will explore the integrated application of virtual reality in urban governance, form visual urban management solutions, and create efficient and convenient personalized intelligent life information services that integrate virtual reality for transportation, catering, shopping, entertainment, leisure and other scenes.

The relevant contents of the Action Plan are interpreted as follows:

I. Compilation Background

Virtual reality (including augmented reality and mixed reality) is an important frontier of the new generation of information technology and a major forward-looking area of the digital economy, which will profoundly change the way people work and live. 

After years of development, virtual reality industry has initially built an ecological system based on technological innovation, and is entering a strategic window period with product upgrading and integrated application as the main line. 

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the development of the virtual reality industry. The 14^th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Outline of 2035 Vision Goals of the People's Republic of China listed "virtual reality and augmented reality" as key industries of the digital economy, and proposed that digital transformation should drive the transformation of the mode of production, way of life and way of governance, generate new industries, new forms and models of business, and strengthen new engines of economic development.

 In the face of the new situation and new missions, and in order to implement the requirements of the 14^th Five-Year Plan, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Radio and Television Administration and the General Administration of Sport jointly formulated and issued the Action Plan on the basis of in-depth investigation and extensive solicitations.

II. General Requirements

The Action Plan is guided by Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implements the spirit of the 20^th CPC National Congress, and bases itself on the new stage of development, fully, accurately and comprehensively implements the new development concept. It builds a new development pattern, conforms to the new round of technological industrial revolution and the development trend of digital economy, takes high-quality development as the theme, supply-side structural reform as the main line, makes breakthroughs in virtual reality core hardware and software to improve the toughness of the industrial chain, and builds a new situation of ecological development with application integration and innovation of virtual reality industry. 

It promotes the new consumption of cultural economy with the new business form of virtual reality, provides strong support for the construction of a strong manufacturing country, a strong network country, a strong culture country and a digital China, and constantly meets people's needs for a better life. The Action Plan sets out development goals by 2026.According to the Action Plan, by 2026, China will achieve key breakthroughs in 3D and virtual-real integration of immersive audio-visual technologies. The new generation of humanized virtual reality terminal products will be continuously enriched, the industrial ecology will be further improved, and the large-scale application of virtual reality will be realized in important economic and social industries, forming a number of backbone enterprises and industrial clusters with strong international competitiveness, and creating an industrial development pattern in which technology, products, services and applications will prosper together.

III. Key Tasks

The Action Plan sets out five key tasks. 

Task 1: Promote integrated innovation in key technologies. We will enhance the endogenous and enabling capabilities of "virtual reality +", accelerate technological breakthroughs in key segments such as near-eye display, rendering processing, perceptual interaction, network transmission, content production, compressed coding, security and trust, and strengthen deep integration with 5G, artificial intelligence and other next-generation information technologies. 

Task 2: Improve the supply capacity of the whole industrial chain. To meet the needs of mass consumption and industry, we will comprehensively improve the industrial supply capacity of key virtual reality devices, terminal peripherals, business operation platforms, content production tools, and dedicated information infrastructure, and improve the comfort, ease of use and security of terminal products. 

Task 3: Accelerate the implementation of multi-industry and multi-scenario applications. Facing the development goal of large-scale and specialized integrated application, we will deepen the organic integration of virtual reality and industry in industrial production, cultural tourism, integrated media, education and training, sports and health, business creativity, performing arts and entertainment, safety emergency, disability assistance, smart city and other fields. 

Task 4: Strengthen the construction of industrial public service platform. Facing the common needs of the industry, relying on the advantageous resources of the industry, we will focus on the construction of common application technology support platform, immersive content integrated development platform, integrated application incubation and cultivation platform, and continue to optimize the development support environment of the virtual reality industry. 

Task 5: Build the integrated application standard system. We will strengthen the top-level design of standards, build a comprehensive standard system for VR covering the whole industrial chain, accelerate the formulation and promotion of key standards such as health and comfort, content production processes, and promote research on VR application standards.

IV. Special Projects

The Action Plan proposes three major projects. First, it is the key technology integration and innovation project. It puts forward the specific development direction of near-eye display technology, rendering processing technology, perceptual interaction technology, network transmission technology, content production technology, compression coding technology, and security and trust technology. Second, it is the supply improvement project of the whole industrial chain. It proposes specific development directions of key devices, terminal peripherals, business operation platforms, content production tools, and dedicated information infrastructure. The third is the multi-scene application integration and promotion project. It gives priority to the industrial areas with high scale and maturity potential (including VR/AR industrial empowerment, VR/AR immersive tourism experience, VR/AR mass fitness, VR/AR online studio and VR/AR smart business district).

V. Safeguard Measures

In order to promote the smooth implementation of the objectives and key tasks, the Action Plan has put forward seven aspects of safeguard measures. 

First, we will strengthen overall coordination. We will formulate departmental work implementation plans on an annual basis, promote the implementation of key tasks on schedule year by year, strengthen the linkage between ministries and provinces, and guide local governments with industrial bases to introduce industrial plans and supporting policies.

 Second, we will improve the environment for development. We will guide all sectors of the industry to strengthen coordination, set up public service platforms, promote the effective supply of industrial funds, promote the integrated development of large, small and medium-sized enterprises, foster specialized and innovative enterprises, and strengthen the protection of personal and public information resources.

 Third, we will deepen technological research and development. We will encourage more investment in R&D, support enterprises, universities, research institutes, standards organizations and industry alliances in forming multiple innovation carriers and support R&D achievements to accelerate their maturity through iteration of key products and industrial applications. 

Fourth, we will carry out pilot applications. We will organize application trials in key application areas, hold a soliciting event for VR convergence application cases, and encourage telecom operators and Internet companies to participate in building content development centers and application experience exhibition centers. 

Fifth, we will build industrial clusters. We will carry out the construction of pilot cities and parks for virtual reality integration application, cultivate key enterprises, support industrial agglomeration development and build a virtual reality manufacturing innovation center in combination with the construction of national demonstration bases for new industrialization industries. 

Sixth, we will strengthen support for human resources. We will support institutions of higher learning in strengthening the development of relevant disciplines and specialties, encourage industry-university-research cooperation, cultivate versatile personnel, improve the growth environment for entrepreneurs, and cultivate a team of high-level leading personnel. 

Seventh, we will promote exchanges and cooperation. We will give full play to the role of alliances, associations and other industry organizations, promote excellent application cases to "enter the park" and "enter the enterprise", expand the channels of international exchange and cooperation in the field of virtual reality, and accelerate the pace of international market development.

Source: Website of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology