IEEE VR 2025: XR/AR/VR/MR Topics and focus of the 32nd IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces

Augmented and Mixed Reality: The key topics of the IEEE VR 2025

The IEEE VR 2025 , which will take place in Saint-Malo, France from March 8 to 12, 2025, presents itself as a leading international event in the field of virtual reality and 3D user interfaces. Ten years after the last French edition in Arles 2015, the conference returns to the historic city of Saint-Malo in Brittany, where it is organized in the Palais du Grand Large, a congress center directly by the sea. The conference covers a wide range of topics, from basic VR research to augmented reality to mixed reality applications, and in this issue it focuses on sustainability and artistic innovation.

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Thematic orientation and scientific focus

The IEEE VR 2025 is aimed at researchers, developers and practitioners from the entire spectrum of expanded reality (XR). The scientific contributions are divided into different categories that reflect the diversity of the research field. Methodological papers deal with progress in theories and methods of AR/VR/MR and 3D user interfaces, including ethical questions, theories about presence and human factors. Technical papers describe progress in algorithms or devices that are decisive for the development of AR/VR/MR and 3DUI, such as input devices, displays, user interaction or tracking. Application papers provide important insights into specific applications and their implementation.

The submission process for Papers follows a uniform evaluation procedure with various possible results: acceptance as an IEEE tvcg paper with presentation on the IEEE VR 2025, acceptance as IEEE VR 2025 conference paper with presentation, acceptance as IEEE VR 2025-poster or rejection. This process underlines the high scientific claim of the conference and the importance of high -quality research contributions.

Particularly noteworthy is the new focus on the topic of sustainability. The conference recognizes the importance of coping with urgent global challenges and would like to propose various initiatives and measures to tackle environmental problems and promote a more sustainable future. This orientation is also reflected in the 3DUI competition, which is under the motto “United for Planet Earth: Promoting Environmental Sustainability in Collaborative Virtual Environments”.

Artistic innovation and creative forms of expression

An innovative aspect of the IEEE VR 2025 is the introduction of a new track dedicated to artistic design. This track offers artists and students a unique platform to present works that expand and demonstrate the limits of traditional art forms, as immersive technologies can transform and reinterpret artistic forms of expression. This expansion of the conference program underlines the growing importance of the connection between technology and art in the area of ​​virtual reality.

The creative community of the IEEE VR is valued for its innovative strength, and the new artistic track complements the technical and scientific aspects of the conference with an important cultural dimension. This opens up new perspectives for interdisciplinary cooperation and expands the understanding of how immersive technologies can enrich our cultural and artistic life.

Workshops and special events

The IEEE VR 2025 offers a variety of workshops that deal with specific aspects of virtual reality and related technologies. These workshops will take place on March 8 and 9, the first two days of the conference, and offer the opportunity to deepen dealing with special topics.

One of the workshops is the Kelvar workshop (K-12+ Embodied Learning Through Virtual and Augmented Reality), which focuses on the use of XR technologies in the education sector. In view of the technological revolution in education K-12+ (primary, secondary and university formation), this workshop offers a platform for educators, developers and researchers who are interested in the development and use of XR technologies for future educational contexts. The workshop enables the participants to discuss various approaches for the design and integration of XR technologies, whereby the focus is on the challenges and potential for embodied learning in the classroom.

Another remarkable workshop is the VHCie (Virtual Humans and Crowds in Immersive Environments), which focuses on researching progress in the creation of credible virtual people and crowds in immersive virtual environments. The workshop deals with challenges such as the multimodal representation of interactions, the reactionability of virtual people at verbal and non -verbal communication level and the understanding of the individual and situational factors that influence social interactions in populated environments.

Other workshops include Anivae (animation in virtual and augmented environments), XR Health (XR Technologies for Healthcare, WellbeinG, and Medicine), Genai-XR (Generative Artificial Intelligence meets Extended Reality), Pergravar (Perception-Driven Graphics and Displays for VR and AR), LOCXR (Locomotion and Wayfinding in XR), VR-HSA (Virtual Reality for Human and Spatial Augmentation), XrMemory (Spatial Memory in XR), WSR (Seamless Reality) and SIC-XR (Social Interaction and Collaboration in Extended Reality). This wide range of workshops underlines the variety of research interests within the XR community and offers specialized forums for exchange on specific topics.

Tutorials and practical learning opportunities

In addition to the workshops, the IEEE VR 2025 also offers various tutorials that represent excellent educational opportunities on topics in this area for both beginners and for experienced researchers. The 90-minute or half-day tutorials can be introductory or advanced and deal with topics of interest in the extended reality communities (virtual, mixed or expanded) as well as for the 3D user interface community.

The suggestions for tutorials are assessed according to their relevance for the conference issues and the qualifications of the trainers. The proposed topics include 3D interaction, input devices, haptics, audio and other non-visual interfaces, systems and tool kits for VR/AR/MR, advanced display technology, immersive projection technology, multi-user and distributed VR/AR/MR, Serious Games, tracking and sensing, modeling and simulation, user studies and evaluation as well as immersion, presence, perception and cognition.

3DUI contest and innovative competitions

A highlight of the IEEE VR 2025 is the 16th annual 3DUI contest, which is open to anyone who is interested in 3D user interfaces (3DUIS) and virtual reality, from researchers to students to enthusiasts and experts. The purpose of the competition is to stimulate innovative and creative solutions for demanding 3DUI problems.

The topic of this year's competition is “United for Planet Earth: Promoting Environmental Sustainability in Collaborative Virtual Environment”. In view of the increasing importance of an ecologically friendly lifestyle, collaborative virtual environments offer a promising platform for encounters without the need for physical trips. In addition, a meeting in an immersive 3D room offers a variety of new ways to form, teach themselves, teach each other and research the complex relationships that influence today's and tomorrow's climate.

The participants are asked to propose a 3DUI project in which at least two collaborators can work together on an environmental problem. The submissions are assessed based on various criteria, including efficiency and user-friendliness of the user operations, complexity of collaborative interaction, newness of 3DUI design as well as fun and commitment.

Main program and scientific exchange

The main program of the IEEE VR 2025 extends from March 10th to 12th and includes a variety of events, including the opening and award ceremony, keynote lectures, paper sessions, poster presentations, research demos, an XR gallery, 3DUI contest demos and exhibitions as well as social events such as welcome reception and a gala dinner.

On Monday, March 10th, the program begins with the opening and award ceremony, followed by a keynote lecture, paper sessions and a poster and demo session that goes into a welcome reception. Tuesday, March 11, offers Lightning Keynotes, other paper sessions, poster and demo sessions as well as a gala dinner in the evening. The last day of the conference, Wednesday, March 12, includes another keynote lecture, paper sessions, a final poster and demo session as well as the final event.

This extensive program offers numerous options for scientific exchange and networking within the community. The participants can learn from leading experts, explore groundbreaking innovations and be part of a lively community that is dedicated to the design of the future immersive technologies.

Virtual reality in change: The key issues of the IEEE VR 2025

The IEEE VR 2025 in Saint-Malo promises to become an important event in the area of ​​virtual reality and 3D user interfaces. With its broad thematic spectrum, which ranges from technical and methodological aspects to applications to artistic forms of expression, the conference addresses a diverse audience. The special focus on sustainability and artistic innovation underline the relevance of virtual reality for current social challenges and cultural developments.

The choice of Saint-Malo as the venue is symbolic, since the city is known for its rich history of seafarers and its openness to the world, which perfectly embodies the spirit of the IEEE VR conference. It is a place that resonates deeply with the community, while it continues to research new scientific and technological challenges with an open approach.

The IEEE VR 2025 offers a unique opportunity for researchers, developers and practitioners to find out more about the latest developments in the field of virtual reality, to establish networks and to contribute to the further development of the field. With its comprehensive program of workshops, tutorials, competitions, paper sessions and social events, the conference creates a space for a variety of exchange and collaboration that has the potential to significantly influence the future of immersive technologies.

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Generative AI and Extended Reality

One of the most outstanding developments on the IEEE VR 2025 is the integration of generative artificial intelligence (Genai) in extended reality environments. This connection of two future -oriented technology fields opens up completely new possibilities for personalized and adaptive immersive experiences. The workshop “Generative Artificial Intelligence Meets Extended Reality” (Genai-XR) in particular is dedicated to this topic and examines the combined potential to revolutionize various sectors such as entertainment, art, education, factory work, healthcare and architecture.

A concrete example of this trend is Minevra, an innovative human-in-the-loop XR framework, which Genai integrates for the adaptive generation of 3D assets. This technology addresses a central challenge in immersive environments: the creation of personalized 3D assets, which is traditionally a manual and time-consuming process. In a user study, Genai-generated objects with assets from sketchfab were compared in immersive contexts, whereby the potential of Genai became clear to complement traditional libraries. This approach offers important design knowledge for human-centered XR environments and drives the efficient, personalized creation of 3D content.

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Progress in Avatar technology

Another significant focus of the conference is the next generation of Avatars. Recent progress in deep learning, implicit representations and physics -based character simulation have led to a breakthrough in avatar design, simulation, control and rendering. The workshop “Next Generation of Avatars” (NGA) deals with these developments and their effects on the user experience in virtual reality.

The computer vision now enables a detailed and precise recording of pose and shape with affordable systems (e.g. a single RGB camera) in real time and the establishment of controllable representations of specific users instead of anonymous virtual people. Advances in the image-based rendering, such as Nerf or Gaussian Splatting, offer new opportunities for controlling high-quality avatars and open up new questions about avatar control and their impact on human experience in the VR.

A particularly innovative application of this technology is demonstrated as part of a mixed reality panel at the conference. At this event, the participants carry VR headsets and are represented by virtual bodies that resemble their own appearance. In addition, a virtual agent of a well -known historical researcher is participated, which is based on a Large Language Model (LLM) and is also shown by an avatar. This special guest will observe the panel discussion and occasionally comment on GPT-based language generation.

Novel visualization and rendering techniques

Various innovative techniques are presented in the area of ​​visualization and rendering. A remarkable development is the use of Instant Neural Graphics Primitive (INGP) for real-time rendering dynamic 3D scenes. With this approach, a Radiance Field is trained for each individual frame. In order to achieve re -gaing rates that are suitable for interactive VR experiences, efficient methods for data storage and charging have been developed. This technology enables the reproduction of real-time open view videos on a conventional desktop PC and shows the research progress in dynamic radiance fields.

For the architectural visualization, two innovative approaches are presented that expand mixed reality (MR) with additional perspectives from physically inaccessible angles: the World-in-Miniature (WIM) solution and the Cross Reality (CR) solution. The WIM solution offers a reduced 3D replica of the virtual environment, while the CR solution enables users to switch to virtual reality and to teleport them to physically inaccessible point of view.

Educational technologies and training systems

Several innovative technologies are presented in the education sector that could revolutionize learning and teaching. An outstanding example is XRXL, an extended reality system to increase student engagement in large lectures. This system enables students to wear XR headsets to see 3D visualizations that are controlled by the lecturer. The lecturer can virtually withdraw the roof and walls of the classroom to enable large-scale visualizations that go beyond the physical limits of the classroom or transform the classroom into a 360-degree theater. In addition, the lecturer can divide the classroom into small groups of students and support individual groups if necessary. In a user study with 82 students, XRXL was tested with good results in the context of a trial lecture on neural networks.

Another remarkable example is VirtuelDent, a compact XR tooth cutting system for dental training. This system combines a 3D-printed tooth model with a sworn handpiece that is shown in a virtual environment.

The integration of XR technologies into education is also discussed in the Kelvar workshop (K-12+ Embodied Learning Through Virtual and Augmented Reality), which focuses on using XR technologies in the education sector. This workshop offers a platform for educators, developers and researchers who are interested in the development and use of XR technologies for future educational contexts.

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Multi -sensory technologies and haptic feedback

The expansion of the virtual reality by additional sensory dimensions is another important topic on the IEEE VR 2025. An innovative example is a thermal feedback system that is integrated into a VR headset and generates temperature sensations in the face of the user, while looking at snow-covered mountains and desert canyons. The results show that thermal feedback significantly impressed the presence dimensions of improved and specific components of reverence experiences, especially those that are related to physical sensations.

This development underlines the trend towards multi-sensory VR experiences that go beyond the purely visual and enable more extensive immersion in virtual worlds. Such technologies have the potential to significantly increase the emotional effect and realism of virtual experiences.

AI supported applications for mental health

Another significant innovation is the use of AI supported virtual people in the field of mental health. This technology addresses the lack of human specialists in mental health care and enables automated learning and practicing resilience skills by supporting a distressed virtual person using the established Resilience Plan Intervention (RPI).

In a study, one hundred participants went through a short training session in the RPI and then turned their newly acquired resilience strategies in simulated interactions with a pressed person who were carried out either through VR or traditional role play. The results showed significant improvements in reported resilience for both groups, accompanied by significant increases in the reported levels of cognitive flexibility, emotion regulation and help.

More realistic and interactive: virtual worlds in change

The IEEE VR 2025 in Saint-Malo presents an impressive variety of new technologies that have the potential to fundamentally change virtual reality and 3D user interfaces. From the integration of generative AVATAR technologies to innovative education systems and multisensory feedback mechanisms-the presented innovations show the continuous evolution of the field and its growing importance in various areas of application.

The trend towards combining AI and XR is particularly remarkable, which opens up completely new opportunities for personalized and adaptive immersive experiences. The progress in avatar technology and in the image-based rendering also promise more realistic and interactive virtual worlds. These developments underline the continued endeavors of the research community to make immersive technologies more accessible, more realistic and useful for a wide range of applications.

As the leading international event in this area, the IEEE VR 2025 offers a valuable insight into the future of virtual reality and related technologies, which will shape our way of interaction with digital content and with each other in the coming years.

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