nerosa.nl

XR event for early-career academics

Beyond Domains – XR Research of the Future

The event took place on September 18, 2025 at the Akoesticum in Ede. See below for the list of speakers, and this post for a summary of the event.

Buitenkant gebouw in Toronto, Canada

Extended Reality (XR) is an emerging technology that is expected to permeate society and drive scientific discoveries across a range of disciplines. We invite early-career academics (e.g., PhD candidates, EngD. candidates, postdocs, and assistant professors) from any field currently using or interested in using XR technologies in their research to a national scientific meeting. Our goal is to create a platform that connects the Dutch XR community, fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, and supports the next generation of XR researchers. For researchers, this event will provide a platform to learn from their peers, gaining insights into the latest XR technologies and methodologies. This knowledge transfer can enhance their research capabilities and open up new avenues for exploration. This event will focus on state-of-the-art methodologies, implementations, common challenges and scalable solutions. This event is financially supported by the NWO grant for Scientific Meetings and Consultations.

Presentations and posters

Present your XR research (idea) within your field

Demos

Present a demonstration of your work (we will provide space and a second screen)

Panel

Interdisciplinarity in XR research

Costs

Free of charge

Tentative program (updated Sept. 10)

  • 9.30-10.15 Walk-in
  • 10.15-10.30 Introduction by Alexander Klippel and Nina Rosa
  • 10.30-11.00 “Cultuurshot” with Saskiarts
  • 11.00-12.00 Keynote Nynke van der Laan
  • 12.00-12.30 Short presentations (5, 5+1 min each) – Fundamentals and Feelings (moderator: Ifigeneia Mavridou)
    • Willemijn Enkhuizen (TU Delft) – Taking a materials experience perspective to inspire tangible XR interactions
    • Layla Farmahani Farahani (WUR) – Brief Virtual-Reality Forest Exposure Lowers Stress and Sharpens Executive Function
    • Robin Coops (Coops&Co) – The Saga of Sage – Multiplayer experiences in VR
    • Nicola Franciulli (TU Delft)- Designing for the Mandated User: Bridging Value Gaps in XR Adoption through Human-Centred Design
    • Kasper de Vries (VU) – The Effect of Rest Frames on Cybersickness
  • 12.30-13.30 Lunch, Demos and Posters
    • Demo by Yuval Tshuva (TU Delft) – Amsterdam Metro Station: Understanding Public Space Design
    • Demo by Annika Korte and Denise O’Meara (Ruhr University Bochum) – Differences in using monitor-based and VR-based applications for cognitive mapping
    • Demo by Katrin Reichert (Ruhr University Bochum)- Using physiological measurement to investigate fear in virtual geographical spaces
    • Demo by Orkun Tekeli (WUR)- Various WANDER XR projects
    • Poster by Xuemei Zhou (TU Delft) – Point Cloud Visual Saliency: Task-free vs. Task-dependent
    • Poster by Komala Mazerant (Rotterdam UAS)- Mind Perception of Avatars: A Focus Group Study
    • Poster by Cara Oster (Ruhr University Bochum) – Application of XR in cartographic research
    • Poster by David de Jong-Bambagioni (Trinity College Dublin Engineering) – Harnessing Spatial Computing Sensor Data for Early Detection of Cognitive Impairment
    • Poster by Abhinav Azad (TU Delft) – Differences of XR in pedestrian behaviour studies
  • 13.30-14.00 Short presentations (5, 5+1 min each) – Fundamentals and Feelings (moderator: Ifigeneia Mavridou)
    • Isabel Florence Franke (TU Delft) – Seeds of Tomorrow – How Virtual Trees Grow Better Behavior
    • Wilbert Tabone (TU Delft) – Embodied sampling: An augmented reality investigation of visual attention
    • Thomas Bruhn (WUR) – Onboarding in Collaborative XR for Stakeholder Engagement
    • Abidah Nurul Yunisya (TU Delft) – Photorealistic VR Wayfinding Environments Using Gaussian Splatting
    • Ibrahim Humdi (Maastricht University) – Avatar Relevance and Customization in Immersive vs. Non-Immersive Environments: Effects on Enjoyment and Task Performance
  • 14.00-14.15 Coffee Break, Demos and Posters (see above)
  • 14.15-15.15 Panel on the need for interdisciplinarity in XR (moderator: Priska Breves)
  • 15.15-16.15 Short presentations (10, 5+1 min each) – Applications (moderator: Yan Feng)
    • Jiayan Zhao (WUR) – Recognizing Food Neophobia Through Consumer Behavior in Virtual Reality
    • Danial Hayati (Erasmus University Rotterdam) – The influence of augmented reality on product returns in online retailing
    • Stefan van der Spek (TU Delft) – Role of VR in Urban Design education and practice
    • Elyan Aarts (UvA) – Virtualy Reality as a Risk Assessment Tool in Forensic Psychiatry
    • Esther Kok (WUR) – The Dutch Virtual Dietician: A roadmap toward food literacy in the Dutch population
    • Liang He (WUR) – Interactive 3D Geological Modeling and Visualization Using HoloLens 2: Applications in Urban Planning and Management
    • Yuyao Lu (UvA) – The Power of Seeing Less: Diminished Reality for Supporting Consumer Choice
    • Ifigeneia Mavridou (Tilburg University) – TBD
    • Charlotte Croucher (TU Delft) – MATE-AV: A VR-based training environment to teach occupants’ how to adopt a comfort-oriented postural control in a vehicle
    • Boyu Xu (UU) – Informing the Design of a Neuroscience Experiment by Exploring Indirect Relations via a Specific Intermediate Topic
  • 16.15-16.30 Closing presentation by Zeph van Berlo
  • 16.30-17.30 Drinks, Demos and Posters (see above)

Keynote: Nynke van der Laan

Toerist maakt foto van een gebouw

Keynote Title: Immersive technologies for healthy food choices

Summary: Encouraging healthy eating has been proven to be challenging. Features specific to immersive technologies (e.g., a first-person’s perspective and naturalistic movements in virtual reality), map well onto concepts from behavioral change theories, thereby providing opportunities for the development of novel interventions for healthy eating. This presentation will feature recent research projects on the potential of virtual reality to measure and (potentially) change food purchasing behaviors.

Biography: Dr.Ir. Nynke van der Laan (Associate Professor, Tilburg University) investigates the (neuro)psychological mechanisms through which persuasive communication, in conjunction with new media, can change health behavior. She is research coordinator at the Department of Communication, board member of the Association for Research on Psychology and Health and her work is supported by several national and local funding sources.

Organizers