South Korea earmarked KRW403 billion ($369.7 million) to accelerate development of the extended reality (XR) sector and encourage uptake of related technologies in key industry verticals, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said the funding for 2021 includes KRW44.6 billion to integrate XR, which covers VR and AR technologies, into the manufacturing, healthcare, construction, education, retail and defence sectors.

It will reportedly also allocate KRW22 billion to developing AR glasses for industrial and consumer markets, and collaborate with the private sector to establish a KRW40 billion XR investment fund.

LG Uplus invested heavily in XR content this year, creating more than 4,000 titles and episodes and signing up some 600,000 AR and VR subscribers by end-June.

In September, it set up a global alliance with mobile operators, content developers and Qualcomm to work on 5G material.

Yonhap News Agency reported the government’s funding plan is part of a KRW100 trillion project to revitalise the economy following the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.