The 2022 World Virtual Reality Innovation Conference opened on Sept 22 in Qingdao, Shandong province, as part of the city's efforts to fuel the digital economy, which is key to achieving economic recovery and promoting sustainable development.

The 2022 World Virtual Reality Innovation Conference opens on Sept 22 in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"Developing virtual reality and leveraging digital economy" was the theme of this year's event and the conference aims to integrate industrial advantageous resources, boost the virtual reality sector in Qingdao as well as enhance local research and development strength with global competitiveness.

Nearly 300 representatives from the government departments, enterprises, research institutes, investment institutions and media outlets attended the event via both online and offline channels.

Industry experts and renowned scientists were invited to share their insights on the metaverse, leading technologies in the virtual reality industry, and typical application scenarios.

Virtual reality industrial plans at provincial, municipal and district levels as well as supportive policies and measures have been released at the conference.

A visitor experiences immersive VR watching at the event. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Several policies supporting the development of Qingdao Virtual Reality Industrial Park were also released at the event. The policies cover park construction, enterprise cultivation, project attraction, technology innovation, platform building, talent gathering, industry exchanges and other areas, which aim to provide an all-round guarantee for enterprises and projects from incubation to expansion.

Since 2017, the conference has been held four times in Qingdao. As one of the most professional and authoritative international industry events in the global virtual reality industry, it has become a new name card of Qingdao, according to local officials.

VR devices in a wide range of segments are exhibited. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]