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.

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.

Watch the full presentation…

Kevin Doherty is the User Experience & Immersive Technologist at the Digital Twin Centre, Belfast where the goal is to increase adoption of digital twins and explore their integration with immersive technology. At PRISM ‘25 he cited the following Immersive Tech Examples:

• Design Phase: Rapid prototyping with real-world data (e.g., Siemens NX, World Builder).

• Training Scenarios: Flight simulators (Varjo XR), sustainable forestry training.

• Contextualised Data: In-situ dashboards and control interfaces.

• “What If” Analysis: Simulating scenarios for optimisation.

• Storytelling: Using immersive tech to communicate complex processes.

Sue McGuire is Senior Strategic Partnership Manager at Digital Catapult and Barry Kennedy is CEO at Irish Manufacturing Research (a member of Eirmersive). At PRISM ‘25 they joined Mark Sage, Executive Director at the Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance, for a panel discussion to explore how XR (Extended Reality – VR/AR/MR) is solving operational challenges in Manufacturing, the gaps holding back adoption, and what the future might look like.

Shared Insights:
- COVID accelerated XR adoption, but momentum slowed post-pandemic.
- Change management is as important as technology—engage end users early.
- XR success depends on solving real business problems, not just showcasing tech.
- Expect more accessible tools, better ergonomics, and integration with enterprise

Watch the full discussion…

Andrew O’Mullane is Senior Executive Engineer for Active Travel at South Dublin County Council where he’s also Programme Manager for Active Travel Infrastructure Projects. At PRISM ‘25 he spoke about the Council’s use of Virtual Reality to Enhance Public Engagement in Civil Projects.

Challenges
- Planning Process:
--- Complex and often met with public apprehension.
--- Requires public consultation under Part 8 of Planning and Development Regulations.
- Communication Issues:
--- Traditional drawings are hard for non-technical stakeholders to interpret.
--- Councillors struggle to explain plans to constituents.

Learn why Virtual Reality provided the innovative solution…

John Cassidy is Area Manager Training Services at Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board. At PRISM ‘25 he spoke about "Enhancing Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) Skills through [VR] Simulation".

The Training Challenges outlined by John were:

- Traditional approach: integrated learning (practical + theory) and experiential learning are essential for apprentices.

- Physical training requires:
--- Access to specific building structures (e.g., cavity walls, stone walls, block builds).
--- Significant resources and time.
--- All trainees must attend the training centre.
- Difficult to replicate real-world conditions repeatedly.

The Solution was Virtual Reality (VR)…

At PRISM ‘25, Dr. Aoife Morrin, Associate Professor in Analytical Chemistry at DCU, spoke about the how they’re using VR for Chemistry Education with the Immersive Chem Lab Project (which is a collaboration with Eirmersive member Fourth Reality). The following is a summary of the presentation which can been watched in full below.

VR USE CASE:
Prepare students before physical labs:
— Familiarise with instruments and software.
— Increase efficiency and confidence.
— Enable deeper, inquiry-based learning during actual lab sessions.
VR environment replicates real lab setup & allows:
— Interaction with instruments as in real life.
— Performing sample analysis and generating real-time data.
— Visualising internal mechanics of instruments.

At PRISM ‘25 Nadine Seward delivered a presentation on the application of Virtual Reality to training in the construction industry. Nadine is a start-up founder (currently on the UCC IGNITE Entrepreneurship Programme) who worked with Clancy Construction for 7 months during her Industrial Placement with SETU Waterford, where she gained experience in areas such as Piling, Pre-cast, and Health & Safety.

In an ongoing study with major Irish construction companies Nadine reports:

• 93% of participants want to use VR again.

• 90% believe VR improves safety training and site safety.

• Positive feedback from both company directors and ground workers.

Eirmersive member VMA (Virtual Museum of Art), and LSAD (Limerick School of Art & Design) hosted an inspiring ART & TECH Day, where Daithí Magner and Jacinta Moore presented a range of creative technologies and demonstrated how these tools can support and expand artistic practice.

It was a valuable opportunity for students and creatives to explore the possibilities at the intersection of art and technology. And to critically question the role of technology in creativity.

Virtual Museum of Art, is a tech start up based in the Midwest of Ireland, educating creativity through Virtual Reality while facilitating platforms for Irish artists to showcase art on a global scale

Michael Guerin, CEO at Imvizar has announced that it is working with Snap, Dublin City Council and Smart Dublin to launch the first Spectacles experience in Ireland.

‘The Light We Bring’ is a unique immersive and interactive augmented reality experience as part of Dublin City Council Dublin Winter Lights in Merrion Square. Snap Inc., known for Snapchat, have been leading the way in augmented reality experiences and more recently hardware with their Spectacles AR glasses.

“They are a really accessible and fun device and we delighted to showcase them from today in Dublin”, said Michael, “Definitely recommend coming down and giving them a go!”

Well done to Imvizar on another first for outdoor immersive experiences in Ireland (and for the coverage in the Business Post).

Mary Walsh O’Shea is an Adult Education Officer at Waterford and Wexford Education Training Board. At PRISM ‘25 she spoke about the development and implementation of immersive virtual reality (VR) content for healthcare courses, plus findings from a learner case study.

Why VR Was Introduced:

• Learners highlighted the need for realistic environments during skills demonstrations (hospital room vs. mannequin on a table).

VR offered:

• Equality of access (headsets easier to distribute than physical hospital rooms).

• Cost-effectiveness compared to equipping multiple centres.

Click through to read more about the Development Process and to see the full presentation.

Head Of Talent & People Operations at National Broadband Ireland, John Mulreid, spoke about 'Transforming Talent Development with VR' at PRISM '25.

In a case study he focused on a day in the life of a field engineer in National Broadband Ireland. "We've just launched this and we intend to deploy this to um multiple sites and on the project. There's over 2,000 employees and over 1,700 of them are actually contractors. So, we intend to use this with our subcontractors and teach them best-in-class um field engineering technique."

John also covered how you can:

• Accelerate learning with VR

• Enhance learner confidence and increase transfer of learning

• Improve learner engagement and…

Watch the full presentation here:

The Transform Gov digital government podcast is part of the Ireland eGovernment awards and published in partnership ship with Accenture. Host Maeve Kneafsey spoke with Gavin Duffy, Founder and CEO of RealSim (a member of Eirmersive), about one of the most practical digital innovations Ireland can adopt today — immersive 3D digital twins for planning and infrastructure.

“From Jersey’s digital-first planning process to Fingal’s Balbriggan regeneration, 3D VR twins are demonstrating how accurate, accessible modelling can:

• Reduce planning delays

• Improve public consultation and decision-making

• Strengthen funding applications

• Support faster, better housing delivery

Watch the full interview…

At PRISM, Michael Connolly spoke about 'Augmented Reality for Industry', and how WebAR enables immediate deployment of industrial training, medical assistance, and collaborative work experiences while eliminating platform gatekeepers.

Michael is an Animation and Game Development Lecturer at Dundalk Institute of Technology. His presentation also looked how WebAR removes barriers to adoption of AR in industry. "What we liked about it was that you just go to the website and it works. There's no download times and it functions just like a web app... we do find is that people will use it straight away."

Michael also underlined the low-cost AR benefits versus expensive headsets, and how it can be used as a tool for guided maintenance, ""How much was the Apple Vision… two grand? Three grand? And this is €10."

Watch the full presentation here:

At PRISM '25 Iris Kerssebeeck, from MSLETB XRHub Sligo, spoke about the new Immersive Technology Apprenticeship, "created by industry for industry", with "first apprentices in 2026". In her slides she highlighted the following details:

• Earn while you learn: A 2-year immersive technology apprenticeship where the apprentice gains hands-on experience while earning a salary.

• Industry-designed programme: Created by industry, for industry, with modules specifically developed by leading immersive technology experts.

• Blended learning approach: Combines primarily on-the-job training with scheduled off-the-job sessions to build both technical, practical and transversal skills.

• Supports: Every apprentice is supported by an industry mentor and provided with a full Tech Pack from MSLETB.

Watch Iris's full presentation…

Irish manufacturing group Decotek Automotive develops exterior trim components for the global automotive industry, including Volvo, Aston Martin and Porsche. At PRISM, Continuous Improvement Manager Mauricio A. Contadini spoke about using XR as a Tool to Improve Multi-Site Team Collaboration.

”So the XR Digi Project started because we have two sites. We have experts on these two sites. We have specialists on these both sites. But how to share this knowledge? Because during the development of a car a project we need to share this knowledge. We need to facilitate the problem shooting because if we have a problem during the project, during the production or even a challenge for our customers, we need to share the information and easily find the solution.”

Decotek is a client of Eirmersive member Irish Manufacturing Research. You can watch the full presentation below.

For KUKA Robotics Ireland, Mixed Reality takes robot operation to the next level of ease of use. That’s according to Managing Director Brian Cooney, who highlighted its use in creating virtual zones for human safety around robot cells, when he spoke at PRISM.

"We can build all these virtual safety zones around it. And then we can export that into the mixed reality and we can take it on our handheld devices and walk around the shop floor where we're going to be putting this robot cell. In this case, it's a virtual robot cell until we get the approvals on it, but we can check out all the various different safety elements around that."

Then, referring specifically to KUKA’s use of Virtual Reality Brian said, “If you're walking around the factory in the real world you can see where all the problems exist. If you've already designed it digitally and you can export to VR, you can now walk around your factory before it gets delivered”

Watch the full recording of Brian's excellent presentation below.

Exciting update from Eirmersive member Monster Theory. Founder Daniel Staines has just shared a look at their new multi-user Mixed Reality platform, built to make MR experiences more accessible and stable for real-world deployment. They’ve opened a pilot scheme for selected collaborators, with live demos now booking in Sligo and sessions planned for Dublin and London.

In his announcement, Daniel explained:

“Monster Theory is a new immersive studio based at the ATU Innovation Centre in Sligo. Over the past while, we’ve been quietly delivering XR, projection mapping, and interactive installations for a range of clients, while building our internal pipeline and testing new tools.

Lately, we’ve been focused on Mixed Reality, developing a multi-user, location-based platform that makes deploying MR projects easier for teams working outside of game development.

Multi-user mixed reality is an incredible way to explore ideas, but it’s still pretty complex to deploy, and all the platforms we tested couldn’t guarantee the stability we need for live events.”

“How do you do that when you don’t have a physical terminal to walk into? … And that’s where VR came into the picture.”

At PRISM '25 Bilal Shahid, Project Officer at daa International spoke about 'Using VR for Operational Readiness at Airports'. “We have a five-star rating with over 400 participants across different countries with our VR training module."

In fact, their VR Integration programme, implemented at Red Sea International Airport, recently won the Aviation Business Middle East Safety Enhancement Project of the Year Award. 👏

Bilal specialises in Airport Operations Advisory & Consulting. daa International is a client of Eirmersive member RealSim Ltd.

“We’re proud to be one of the first companies in Saudi Arabia, in the Middle East, and one of the first in the Middle East overall to incorporate VR into airport operations.”

You can watch the full presentation here:

“If we want to compete on a global basis, we need to make sure our manufacturing and industrial processes are as effective as possible".

That’s according to Mark Sage who explained 'Why Enterprise AR Matters' during his keynote address at PRISM. Mark is Executive Director at the AR for Enterprise Alliance and delivered no-nonsense nuggets in his presentation.

“It’s about reducing time, minimising errors, and lowering costs. These are things we need to be doing now. People think this technology is about innovation and the future,... it’s happening now.”

As Mark pointed out, small savings combined make a big saving. Not that all saving are small !

“Lockheed Martin made a 99% improvement on getting satellites into the sky using AR.”

“Newport News Shipbuilding went from 36 hours to 90 minutes—a 96% saving.”

Watch the full presentation…

"I was the first one to put eye tracking in VR,... But then there was also an ethical issue that I stumbled on".

So said Timmy Ghiurau (ex-Volvo Cars Innovation Leader) while delivering a remarkable keynote address at Eirmersive’s PRISM event, in a presentation was full of technical insights but gained extra heft with the thoughtful consideration of ethical issues. Innovation isn’t just about what we can build, it’s about what we should build.

In a talk that went on to cover topics of Creativity, Vision and Scale Ghiurau shared, ”One of my best lessons is that you need a box to think outside the box, and for me, automotive was a pretty big box, especially Volvo.”

“Imagine the scale of what automotive can do. If I can save human lives, if I can put technology like eye tracking or other amazing tech that can improve safety and improve human life, that will change the world.”