GuestXR Final Event showcases three years of Innovation in AI-driven social XR technologies
On 28 November, the GuestXR consortium gathered in Brussels at the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia to the EU for the project’s Final Event, marking the culmination of three years of research into how immersive technologies and artificial intelligence can enhance social dynamics, collaboration, and inclusion within virtual environments.
The hybrid event brought together researchers, developers, and industry stakeholders to explore the project’s key outcomes and their potential impact on the future of XR-mediated interaction.
Addressing societal challenges through immersive technologies has been at the core of GuestXR’s mission. Throughout the day, leading experts presented the project’s major advancements in the integration of AI, neuroscience, social psychology, and multisensory haptics devices to support more inclusive, engaging, and meaningful virtual group experiences.
These developments aim to transform how people meet, collaborate, and resolve conflicts in virtual and augmented reality settings.
The programme opened with an overview of the project’s objectives and methodology, followed by a session on technological breakthroughs featuring presentations on the AI architecture behind the Guest agent, neuroscience-based behavioural insights, and novel haptic and auditory feedback mechanisms designed to improve social presence and interaction in XR.
The programme opened with an overview of the project’s objectives and methodology, followed by a session on technological breakthroughs featuring presentations on the AI architecture behind the Guest agent, neuroscience-based behavioural insights, and novel haptic and auditory feedback mechanisms designed to improve social presence and interaction in XR.
A dedicated session on real-world use cases showcased how GuestXR technologies have been applied to promote inclusion for hearing-impaired participants, recreate historical protest scenarios for research purposes, foster climate change awareness, and support conflict-resolution processes through immersive simulation. These examples highlighted the versatility and social relevance of the solutions developed by the consortium.
One of the central moments of the event was a live demonstration of The Guest, the project’s AI-driven virtual agent, moderating a panel discussion inside an immersive VR environment. The agent is designed to equalise participation, maintain a constructive tone, and guide groups through complex discussions—illustrating the potential of AI-mediated facilitation in digital meetings.
The afternoon featured a comprehensive demos showcase, where attendees experienced first-hand the XR scenarios, haptic prototypes, and interactive systems developed within GuestXR, followed by opportunities for networking and knowledge exchange.
