Final event
Can AI improve VR meetings?
Lessons learnt from the GuestXR project
Rue de la Loi, 227, 3ième
Addressing societal challenges through immersive technologies is a key priority for Europe’s innovation landscape. Over the past four years, the GuestXR project has developed innovative extended reality (XR) solutions for social good that integrate artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and advanced sensory technologies tailored to enhance social inclusion, deepen historical understanding, promote climate change awareness, and support conflict resolution, all while prioritising user-centered design and ethical considerations. These advancements aimed at transforming virtual and augmented reality meetings, and how they can foster empathy, collaboration, and sustainable impact across diverse communities.
During the GuestXR Final Event, leading researchers will present the most significant innovations, developments, and outcomes achieved within the project, showcasing their transformative potential for digital meetings. The event will feature use cases, including solutions for hearing-impaired inclusion, immersive historical protest scenarios, climate change education, and conflict resolution interventions, alongside with demonstrations of AI-driven virtual agents and haptic interfaces. The event will conclude with a dynamic panel discussion with experts from academia and industry, exploring the challenges, lessons learnt, and future prospects for advancing the use of AI in VR/AR.
November 28th, 2025
9:30 - 16:00 CET
HYBRID EVENT
Delegation of the Government of Catalonia to the EU
Rue de la Loi, 227, 3ième
Online streaming
Conference materials
Video recording
Presentations
Conference topics:
- AI-mediated group behaviour in XR
- Neuroscience and electrophysiology in virtual environments
- Haptic and auditory feedback for enhanced XR interaction
- Social inclusion for hearing-impaired individuals in XR
- Immersive VR to study historical protests
- Climate change awareness and decision-making in XR
- Conflict resolution training using AI-driven VR scenarios
- Ethical and social implications of AI in the metaverse
- Demonstrations of XR use cases developed within the GuestXR project
Targeted to:
- Researchers in AI, XR, social sciences, and neuroscience
- XR and VR/AR developers and designers
- Policymakers and EU project stakeholders
- Accessibility and inclusion advocates
- Academics and students in immersive technology fields
- Industry professionals exploring XR solutions
- Digital ethics and human-computer interaction experts
- NGOs and educators interested in XR for societal good
Event agenda
9.00 – 9.30 CET | Registration for on-site attendees
9.30 – 10.00 CET | OPENING PLENARY: Welcome and GuestXR overview
9.30 – 9.40 | Welcome
Jessica Norbert, GuestXR Coordinator, European Project Manager, Eurecat
9.40 – 10.00 GuestXR project general overview
Mel Slater, GuestXR Technical Coordinator, Investigator and Co-director of the Event Lab, University of Barcelona
10.00 – 11.00 CET | Advancements in GuestXR technology
Chair: Mel Slater, GuestXR Technical Coordinator, Investigator and Co-director of the Event Lab, University of Barcelona
10.00 – 10.15 | The AI behind the Guest
Doron Friedman, Professor and Head of the Advanced Reality Lab, Reichman University
10.15 – 10.35 | Neuroscience and social psychology studies
Beatrice de Gelder, Professor and Director of the Brain and Emotion Laboratory, Maastricht University
10.35 – 10.50 | Haptic and auditory feedback to support social interactions in XR
Anatole Lecuyer, Inria Research Director, Inria centre at Rennes University
10.50 – 11.00 | Q&A
11.00 – 11.30 CET | Coffee break
11.30 – 12.40 CET | Real-world impact: GuestXR use cases
Chair: Jessica Norbert, GuestXR Coordinator, European Project Manager, Eurecat
11.30 – 11.45 | Promoting hearing-impaired individuals’ inclusion in VR/AR
Adi Snir, Post doc senior researcher, BCT Institute, Reichman University
Umut Sayin, Researcher at the Multimedia Technologies Unit, Eurecat
11.45 – 12.00 | VR scenarios to study historical protests
Ana Luisa Sánchez Laws, Professor, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway
12.00 – 12.15 | Climate change responsibility and resource management in XR
Karolina Ziembowicz, Assistant Professor, University of Warsaw
12.15 – 12.30 | Virtual Reality aiding in conflict resolution
Esen K. Tutüncü, PhD student, Event Lab, University of Barcelona
12.30 – 12.40 Q&A
12.40 – 13.30 CET | Panel discussion with The Guest: challenges, lessons and future directions
Chair: LLM agent
Participated by:
- Mel Slater, GuestXR Technical Coordinator, Investigator and Co-director of the Event Lab,University of Barcelona
- Anatole Lecuyer, Inria Research Director, Inria centre at Rennes University
- Doron Friedman, Professor and Head of the Advanced Reality Lab, Reichman University
- Beatrice de Gelder, Professor and Director of the Brain and Emotion Laboratory, Maastricht University
- Darian Meacham, Associate Professor, Maastricht University
- Andrzej Nowak, Professor, University of Warsaw
- Umut Sayin, Researcher at the Multimedia Technologies Unit, Eurecat
13.30 – 14.30 CET | Networking lunch
14.30 – 16.00 CET | Demos showcase
- VR scenarios to study historical protests
- Climate change responsability and resource management in XR
- Social support in VR
- Audio augmented by haptics
- Haptic feedback to mitigate the bystander effect in VR
About GuestXR
GuestXR is an EU-Funded Horizon 2020 project aimed at developing an immersive virtual social space anchored in extended reality based on examining individual and group behaviour by drawing on existing theoretical models from the neuroscience and social psychology standpoint. The GuestXR solution features a machine learning agent designed to unlock interactions between participants and help them achieve their goals, whilst helping users address conflicts in virtual environments.
Started in January 2022 and lasting four years, the project has boosted a socially interactive multisensory platform system that uses extended, virtual and augmented reality, as the medium to bring people together for immersive, synchronous face-to-face interaction with positive social outcomes.
