National XR Day 2025

Opening by hosts Barry Fitzgerald & Gül Ackaova, and Erasmus University Rotterdam rector magnificus Jantine Schuit.

Every 5 years Gartner publishes a set of global scenarios. What will the world at large look like in 2040? It feels we are at a crossroads of what we want our society to look like, empowering individuals or focusing on shared experiences. But — more importantly — how can we achieve both?

A selection of XR demonstrations in the central demo area of the Theil building

Do you want to know how XR is going to help revolutionizing the future of transportation? Don't miss this session! You'll learn how Human Factors, social science, applied psychology, cognitive research, immersive systems, and XR development together drive research and education in human interaction within transport environments.

Transformation starts with resonance, resonance begins with a spark.
In this workshop, we’ll explore what makes immersive experiences emotionally impactful. Together we’ll explore the concept of transformative experiences, compare practical insights, and thereby gain new perspectives on designing XR of the future.

This study explores how personality and feedback influence eco-friendly decisions in immersive VR. By simulating online shopping, it aims to unlock personalized nudges that drive sustainable consumption. The findings offer a new approach to designing effective, tailored interventions that can shape real-world behavior and boost our efforts toward sustainability.

This session explores how immersive experiences can foster connectedness and belonging in an increasingly individualized digital era. We will share insights from our research, engage participants in a fun, interactive activity that embodies togetherness, and collaboratively brainstorm how to design XR applications that enhance collectivity.

What happens to our data and privacy if AI-powered XR glasses become everyday wear? What happens to our perception of ourselves and others if we can each customise and augment our reality —or be augmented by others?

Our panel of lawyers, policy researchers and industry practitioners will examine the data infrastructures of global-scale spatial computing and ask: who will own YOUR reality?

Do you recognise this problem? “I want to identify my students in my XR application, so I know who is doing what”. Over the past 2 years TU Delft has been evaluating various approaches to implementing user authentication in XR, what works best, any why. In this session, we will share our findings, as well as our plans to work together with SURF to make this easier for you.

This session presents a VR-based experiential learning workshop designed to teach psychology students about systemic and community-level barriers to mental health. Evaluation and exam results suggest that immersive learning enhances understanding and retention of health inequalities and may reduce disparities in student performance.

Simulation-based education in healthcare provides learners the opportunity to experience a replication of a healthcare event, and after the event have an opportunity to learn through facilitated reflection in a debrief. Commonly, simulation is used to help healthcare workers prepare for emergencies, but it can also be used, among many other uses, to test healthcare systems, improve patient safety, and help healthcare teams work better together.

Within Npuls we have the track MDM, we know an MDM is very important for getting content to the headset and we would like to share what we have learned a where we are in this project. We will discuss what the market is doing, what possible solutions are and what is next.

This study tested animal VR perspective-taking to promote pro-environmental behaviors. Participants experienced life as a deer facing environmental challenges. Our pilot (N=8) compared VR to narrative reading, measuring attitudes, behaviors, and donations. VR participants showed higher presence levels and increased donations to environmental protection.

In this presentation, I’ll take you inside the four cutting-edge Experimental Labs launched in 2025 under the DUTCH program. These labs test VR, AR, and other XR tools in real-world settings—bridging innovation and education to build a smarter, faster, and more hands-on way to train future healthcare professionals.

Dit onderzoek uitgevoerd i.s.m. studenten toont aan dat XR en volledig lichaamstracking via exergaming (combinatie van exercise & gaming) fysieke activiteit en een positieve houding t.o.v. sport kunnen bevorderen. In de Active Esports Arena (AEA) vonden deelnemers de technologie motiverend en gebruiksvriendelijk, wat wijst op potentieel voor een actievere levensstijl, vooral bij jongvolwassenen.

Organized by the SURF XR Developer Network this session provides visitors to National XR Day the possibility to try a variety of XR devices. We're currently aiming for:

• Varjo XR-4
• Lynx R-1
• Play For Dream MR
• Magic Leap 2
• Snap Spectacles (tentative)
• Pico 4 Ultra vs Quest 3 (tentative)

As a Civil Engineering lecturer, I developed a 3D VR multiplayer learning environment in Unreal Engine to teach fluid mechanics in Civil Engineering. Hosted on a server at Avans Hogeschool, it has been used in education for three years. I’ll discuss the original idea, development process, educational impact, challenges, and future plans.

Within Npuls, we are co-developing Simulearn: a supplier-independent XR platform for Dutch education in collaboration with DUTCH and SURF. Based on extensive co-creation, it tackles challenges like fragmented content, LMS integration, device management , and above all: enabling education professionals to start doing and experiment with XR right away.

XR-IT: a software and systems platform for high-fidelity collaboration in the Metaverse. New tools enabling inter-institutional virtual worlds, for education, research and immersive content creation. Preview a live action mocap animated film made simultaneously between studios in three EU countries using XR-IT.

In this workshop we will explore the technical challenges of building a large scale, Dutch urban virtual urban environment in Unity, which currently does not exist. We will discuss our approach to making development efficient through scalable modularity, building custom editor tools, populating the environment with virtual humans, and more.

How can we talk about serious topics of safety and ethics with XR tech in a fun way? Let’s Play "Polder Perspectives XR", a workshop game designed to explore ethical design and use with XR technologies. Team up as fictional XR companies, work alongside the XRSI Europe team and tackle real-world assignments. Learn through experience responsible XR and XR safety in a fun, collaborative session!

How do you keep immersive learning alive in times of budget cuts, GenAI FOMO, busy schedules and Big Tech monopolies? Learn how pioneering lecturers and support staff of Hogeschool Rotterdam come together in a professional learning community. Together they learn new skills, discuss their experiences and even create DIY XR learning interventions.

Vanuit de pilothub XR van Npuls hebben we een inspirerend toekomstbeeld voor XR in het vervolgonderwijs van 2032 geschreven. Dit hebben we gedaan door input op te halen bij Npuls, onderwijsinstellingen en andere partners en deze te verwerken in een korte beschrijving en visuals. De resultaten bespreken we graag met de XR-community en ook hoe we hier in gezamenlijkheid vervolg aan kunnen geven.

Virtual Reality biedt ongekende mogelijkheden, maar hoe zorg je ervoor dat VR het leren van jouw studenten daadwerkelijk verrijkt en versterk? Wat moet je vooral niet doen? Deze vragen worden steeds relevanter nu meer VR-content open gedeeld wordt. In deze paneldiscussie gaan ervaren onderwijsinnovators in gesprek over de impact, uitdagingen én grenzen van VR als didactisch leermiddel.

In 2024, a new project was launched in which MBO colleges Graafschap College collaborated with STO Arnhem and VRinSCHOOL. To address the challenges of the energy transition and increase the appeal of technical professions, the schools co-created new VR courses.

Managing XR Devices at scale is difficult, especially with all the changes in providers over the last year. Moreover, none of the existing solutions are build around community and sharing content. With the XRScaleKit Library and Launcher the TU Delft aims to change that. In this presentation, we will share progress updates on the various tools in the XRScaleKit.

Physical maps had a crucial role when planning human activities, we aim to bring this experience into the 21st century by projecting them in a shared space using MR headsets. We tap into a set of GIS data to visualize and interact with data from a variety of sea basins. Using virtual tools to explore how MR can be used for collaboration in the planning of marine environments.

Geen rooster, geen verschillende vakken of instructie-momenten maar twee weken lang samen met studenten en docenten van andere afdelingen op locatie werken aan een interactieve multi-sensorische installatie met als finale geen beoordeling maar een expositie.

Accurate three-dimensional (3-D) appreciation of cranial anatomy is essential yet difficult to achieve with conventional two-dimensional (2-D) imaging. Lumi, an AI-driven, cloud-based mixed-reality (MxR) platform that originated from and is studied in close cooperation with the UMC Utrecht, automatically converts DICOM data into patient-specific holograms that can be explored on a head-mounted display or 2-D screen. In this presentation we summarise the current bench-to-bedside evidence base to quantify Lumi’s effect on spatial insight, surgical planning and task performance.

We present and demonstrate the early phases of a virtually co-located collaboration between HKU Utrecht's Artistic XR Lab and Design Academy Eindhoven's Trans Realities Lab. We are exploring the potential for XR-mediated colocation to deliver new interdisciplinary models for educational art and design collaboration across geographic and institutional boundaries.

Since its initial release in 2023, gaussian splatting has fundamentally altered the way we can create photoreal 3D scenes for XR experiences. This workshop discusses its applications in an educational context. The evolving technical aspects of splat creation and workflows will be covered in depth, followed by a live demonstration that showcases an ongoing criminology project at Leiden University.

Do you want to innovate education programs in Healthcare and Social Work with XR, but have no idea where to start? Or would you like to learn from experiences from the implementation of XR at Saxion University of Applied Sciences? Then come to the presentation on ‘Implementation of XR in Healthcare and Social Work’!

(more details to follow)

Curious how to manage and share 3D content for XR in a visually attractive yet sustainable and interoperable way at an institution or university? Join us to explore a TU Delft proof of concept using Smithsonian Voyager, linked via API to the university repository. Models get DOIs, SSO, and work in web, Unity, or Unreal. Let’s discuss next steps—your input shapes the future!

How can university libraries offer VR headsets for wellbeing while safeguarding privacy and data security? This session provides a practical roadmap for responsibly implementing VR in public spaces, using the Maastricht University Library’s approach implementing privacy by default.

Note: this session will be in Dutch!

Discover how the Dutch Police Academy uses VR in education.

Barry & Gul

An act on technology and interaction