LAEDC CEO Bill Allen talks about LA’s innovation strengths in a great feature in The Economist, describing why Los Angeles is such a magnet for innovation in Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and related innovation stemming from the region’s strengths in game development, digital media, and related technologies.  In both video and written format for the series Innovation Matters, The Economist explores some of the ways our region acts as a nexus of storytelling, animation, creative talent, and other enabling factors to pioneer AR and VR applications and experiences.

Game development is a big part of the region’s competencies in these fields, and in addition to the significant economic  impact of global leaders like Electronic Arts (the first commercial tenant in the original Playa Vista commercial complex nearly 20 years ago), as well as Activision Blizzard and Riot Games both with headquarters here, there continue to be dozens of smaller game design studios located throughout the region. As they now collectively move into the rapidly growing field of e-sports this presents another significant opportunity for growth in this industry.

See The Economist coverage at:  https://innovationmatters.economist.com/losangeles/technologys-new-role