PRISM Video: XR Rapid Prototyping powers AI by Design

Thierry Jourquin is CEO at XRintelligence and a board member at both XR4Europe and Stereopsia Europe. He’s on a mission to accelerate XR technology adoption in Belgium through strategic pillars aligned with EU directives (S3). At PRISM ‘25 he spoke about XR Rapid Prototyping and how it powers AI by Design. In other words, XR and AI are no longer separate but projects now combine XR and AI. The following is a summary of that presentation which you can watch in full below.

Core Themes

1. XR and Digital Twin Applications

   • Projects include:

     • Digital twins for aerospace (Tales), Duracell, food manufacturing (Air Product), Brussels rail station, and airports.

   • Approach: Deliver digital copies to customers instead of physical machines.

2. Ecosystem Building

   • Importance of collaboration between universities, research centres, big companies, and start-ups.

   • Similar to initiatives in Ireland and England—bringing the ecosystem together is key.

3. Rapid Prototyping

   • Why it matters:

     • Engages customers early.

     • Reduces gap between idea and tangible solution.

     • Helps organisations clarify needs.

   • Challenge: Adoption time is slower than technology development—requires a pedagogical, step-by-step approach.

4. Integration of XR and AI

   • No longer separate—projects now combine XR and AI.

   • AI enables predictive modelling and synthetic data generation using immersive content.

5. Adoption Scale

   • Framework to assess company maturity in XR adoption (similar to a pain scale).

   • Many companies have 3D assets but lack awareness of how to use them.

6. Market Insights

   • Conversion from interest to actual contracts is slow (6–18 months).

   • Success depends on respecting organisational velocity and change management.

Vision and Methodology

• Technology Convergence: XR, AI, and game engines for industrial and construction use.

• Future Devices: Content development should anticipate future hardware (e.g., Apple Vision Pro).

• Analogy: Companies often cling to old paradigms (e.g., “electric candles”) instead of embracing transformative solutions.

• Netflix Approach: Sell innovation in stages—pilot first, then scale.

Examples and Use Cases

• ATS Insurance: Unreal Engine used to visualise new office for 3,000 employees—improved change management and later evolved into fire simulation and IoT integration.

• Toyota: VR used for UX design, reducing iteration cycles.

• University Project: Rapid XR prototyping for robotics in two days.

• Data Science Integration: XR accelerates predictive modelling and virtual commissioning.

Key Takeaways

• Rapid prototyping is the best way to engage companies and start innovation journeys.

• XR + AI is now inseparable for future projects. “XR crates the world - AI gives it meaning”

• Adoption requires time, education, and incremental steps.

• Content creation is more critical than hardware—devices will evolve, but immersive content remains central.