Sponsors (2)
The bill aims to accelerate U.S. leadership in immersive technologies through federal coordination, definitions, and expert guidance—boosting competitiveness and consumer protections—while increasing taxpayer costs and risking centralized, incumbent-favoring policies, administrative complexity, and potential delays or security trade-offs.
Tech workers, researchers, and U.S. companies gain increased federal support, guidance, and prioritization for immersive tech R&D, commercialization, and workforce development, improving competitiveness and creating job opportunities.
Developers and tech companies receive clearer statutory definitions for AR/MR/VR and related guidance, reducing regulatory uncertainty for bringing products to market and for grant/procurement use.
Federal agencies and policymakers get coordinated oversight, a designated advisor, and an expert panel to guide safe deployment, standards, cybersecurity, and interagency collaboration for immersive tech.
Taxpayers will likely bear increased federal costs from creating/staffing an advisor, funding an expert panel, and conducting a multi-year study, plus potential follow-on spending if recommendations are adopted.
Smaller firms, startups, and competing research areas risk being disadvantaged as prioritization and recommendations could favor established companies and incumbents, raising barriers to entry and concentrating benefits.
Centralizing advisory authority and relying on panels and lengthy studies may slow innovation and near-term action if recommendations become prescriptive or consensus-building delays implementation.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Creates a principal advisor and an advisory panel to study AR/VR/MR, recommend standards and policy, and report to Congress within two years.
Introduced March 25, 2025 by Marsha Blackburn · Last progress March 25, 2025
Creates a new federal focal point for augmented, virtual, and mixed reality by authorizing a principal advisor on immersive technology at the Department of Commerce and an Immersive Technology Advisory Panel. The panel must study the industry’s economic and security effects, recommend actions on standards, investment, cybersecurity, privacy/ethics, and international cooperation, and deliver a public report to Congress within two years.