Keynote Speakers

Sven Nõmm

Tallinn University of Technology

Prof. Sven Nõmm received his Ph.D. jointly from École Centrale de Nantes, Université de Nantes, and Tallinn University of Technology. His current research interests focus on AI-based analysis of human motor functions, with applications supporting the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive disorders. He also applies AI methods in areas such as cybersecurity and remote sensing. On the theoretical side, he is particularly interested in the mathematical foundations of explainable AI.
Since May 2024, he has been the head of the TalTech-AI competence center. He has authored and co-authored more than one hundred papers published in top-tier journals and conference proceedings.

Charlotte Triebus and Christian Geiger

Duesseldorf University of Applied Sciences

"Creating aesthetic experiences with all senses and the whole body" - digital technologies such as XR and AI are democratizing creative processes in many different domains. The performing arts, such as dance and theatre, are particularly exciting fields of application for digital technologies because they address multiple senses and the whole body at the same time. We provide an overview of selected works on immersive theatre, contemporary dance and technology, as well as the necessary interdisciplinary collaboration between XR experts and new media artists. Based on our projects "Theatre of Extended Reality", "Movement, Digital Intelligence and Interactive Audience" (MODINA) and our own artistic works, we show current developments at the interface of XR, new media art and human-technology interaction and discuss the necessary prerequisites for innovative aesthetic and artistic practice.

Charlotte and Chris are researching at the intersection of humans, technology, art and design in the MIREVI team (Mixed Reality and Visualization) at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences. Charlotte is a performance artist, designer, choreographer, and dancer and leads various projects of the MIREVI team as an artistic-scientific collaborator. Her artistic works and performances have been shown in numerous museums and festival halls as well as at international exhibitions and move in the field of tension between contemporary art and interactive, digital technologies. Chris leads the MIREVI team and has been working in the field of Mixed Reality, Digital Media and immersive Human-Technology Interaction for more than 25 years. He has initiated and led numerous research and development projects on a national and international level. He is particularly fascinated by the design and implementation of new, useful, and sustainable XR experiences.

Jesús Gimeno Sancho

University of Valencia

A growing intersection between healthcare and extended reality (XR) has emerged in recent years, largely driven by advances in medical imaging and robotic surgery. These fields generate complex visual data and interactive needs that open a wide research space for visualization, simulation, and immersive technologies. This keynote explores how computer graphics and XR methods are moving from research labs into clinical contexts such as surgical planning, training, and operating rooms, highlighting the opportunities and challenges of applying graphics and interaction technologies to real healthcare environments. The talk is grounded in the experience and recent projects of our research group at the intersection of computer graphics, XR, and the healthcare sector.

Dr. Jesús Gimeno Sancho is Professor of Computer Graphics at the University of Valencia and Director of the ARTEC Research Group at the Institute of Robotics and ICT (IRTIC). His research focuses on computer graphics, extended reality (XR), and real-time simulation, with experience in their application to healthcare, including surgical planning, medical imaging visualisation, and XR-based clinical training. He has authored more than 80 scientific publications and has collaborated on multiple national and European research projects with industry, hospitals, and international partners.

Davide Borra

NoReal Interactive, Italy

The talk explores the current technological wave of services and solutions based on human simulacra capable of sustaining dialogue with users, focusing on both the technicalities and the methods necessary to foster empathy.

A selection of projects in the fields of Digital Heritage, Health & Care, and Social/Adv will be examined to highlight potential applications.

Finally, the session will address possible future scenarios and the inevitable ethical principles related to the title of the talk. Are we ready to be virtual?

Davide Borra (Architect, PhD) is a 3D, VR, and AR expert with over twenty-five years of experience in the field. He is the founder and CEO of No Real Interactive (www.noreal.it), an innovative company through which he designs and creates cross-platform immersive experiences for Digital Heritage, industrial simulation, health & care, and interactive art. His most recent innovations involve the development of real-time 3D conversational avatars and mobile AR web-apps, which he integrates into phygital user experiences for museums and archaeological parks. In the academic field, he has served as a contract professor at the Polytechnics of Turin and Milan, and NABA. He also directed the Digital Department at IAAD, where he currently teaches Immersive Environment. Furthermore, he was a founder and the second President of MIMOS (Italian Movement for Modeling and Simulation).