I recently had the privilege of speaking at XR Symposium 2025, hosted by XTIC, IIT Madras. My heartfelt thanks to Prof. Mani and his team for the kind invitation and to Thoughtworks for making all the arrangements seamless.

The event was nothing short of extraordinary – a world-class symposium showcasing groundbreaking advancements, with an exciting lineup of sessions led by industry pioneers and academics. The topics covered were diverse, thought-provoking, and visionary. In this article, I’m sharing some of my key takeaways from this incredible experience.

I also got opportunity to launch my book 📕 Jagjeevan: Living Larger than Life and sign few copies for these leaders at the event, sharing life lessons and inspirations from the life of my great grandfather that helps well in today’s fast-paced world.

🤝 Government, Academia, and the Global Community: Collaboration in Action

I witnessed firsthand the power of collaboration between government, academia, and the global community in advancing XR and immersive technologies responsibly.

The event opened with inspiring keynotes by Prof. Mani and Prof. Kaushik Mitra (IIT Madras), and Prof. Steve LaVelle (Founder of Oculus) (University of Oulu, Finland), offering perspectives on the future of immersive technologies.

It was insightful to hear Dr Obijiofor Aginam, Director at UNESCO, MGIEP on how technology can enable Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)—building empathy, critical thinking, and collaboration to support a more peaceful and inclusive future, especially in the Global South.

Last year, Dr. A. R. Rahman was recognized for the immersive film Le Musk, and hearing directly from filmmakers was truly eye-opening. It reshaped my understanding of immersion—how it has evolved from sound to cinema, from 3D to 4D, yet still remains incomplete. The future lies in moving beyond sensory immersion toward emotional immersion, where technology connects more deeply with human experience.

It was encouraging to learn about India’s contributions to global ITU standards, from Namrata Singh, Director (IoT),DoT-TEC, including recognition of my ITU work and the collaborative efforts of MIPS

These conversations echoed the vision I outlined in 📕 Exploring the Metaverse—that shaping the future of technology requires collective effort across governments, academia, industry, and individuals.

🥽 Big Brands Scaling Immersive Reality

Dr.Pawan Prasad from Samsung R&D Institute shared Samsung’s vision for immersive reality at scale, focused on delivering seamless, high-quality XR experiences to a broad audience. He showcased the Galaxy XR device , which brings together many capabilities seen in Apple Vision Pro, built on Google’s Android XR platform.

Dr.Prince Gupta from Meta presented advancements in AI-powered smart glasses, highlighting Project Aria Gen 2—designed for lightweight form factor, wider field of view, and real-time environmental interaction. The Aria research kit is open for applications here

From the ecosystem side, Dr. Ajit Gupte(Qualcomm) highlighted the hardware innovations enabling next-generation smart glasses, while Dr. Kaushik Dey(Ericsson) emphasized how network evolution is critical to unlocking advanced XR experiences.

Interestingly, these developments align closely with themes I explored in 📕 Exploring the Metaverse—the rise of the Android XR ecosystem, the convergence of AI and XR, and the foundational role of networks in scaling immersive technologies.

🥽 XR Services and Adoption: Panels and Practice

The event featured a wide range of demos and showcases from innovative startups, including Aatral, Merkel Haptics, and others—highlighting the growing maturity of XR services across domains.

Dr.Alpana Dubey (Accenture) shared compelling use cases at the intersection of XR, Generative AI, and Robotics, while Kathirvel Perumal(TCS) spoke about the application of XR in wellness and healthcare. These perspectives set the stage for a strong lineup of panel discussions:

1. XR Engine & Platforms Ramesh Anumukonda, Premanand Balachandran, Rabindra Sah,Hema Sathiamurthy (Samsung R&D), Aditya Sai Kumar, others discussed how XR platforms can be adapted for the Global South, highlighting both challenges and opportunities.

2. XR Use Cases Across Industries Dr. Ravali Gourishetti, Gouthaman KV (Dolby), Padma Priya (Merkel Haptics), Dr. Shakti Banerjee (MIT-ADT), Sameer Singh Choudhury (Infosys), and Padmashri Suresh (HCL) explored XR applications in education, healthcare, entertainment, and beyond.

3. AutoCAVE: XR for Automotive Prof. Palaniappan Ramu, Sathiyaseelan (Ashok Leyland), Keyur Bhalavat (Plutomen), Sundar Sri (Jaguar Land Rover), Kathirvel Perumal, and Arjun Dubey (NVIDIA) discussed AutoCAVE as a collaborative platform driving XR adoption in the automotive sector, with strong relevance for the Global South.

5. User Interaction & Experience Design Dr. Madhan Kumar (IIT Roorkee), Dr. Pawan Prasad (Samsung R&D), Anoop Kolar (Samsung R&D), Keyur Bhalavat (Plutomen), and I (Kuldeep Singh, Thoughtworks) discussed designing inclusive XR interactions—drawing parallels to building platforms at the scale of UPI, accessible to everyone. Designing for India sets a powerful benchmark for the Global South and beyond.

6. XR in Education Dr. Mohit Dubey, Archana Chaudhary (MGIEP), Anmol Srivastava (IIITD), Rahul Ray (FLAME), and Joseph HR Isaac (Ericsson) discussed XR’s role in education, skill development, and research, with a strong focus on accessibility and inclusion.

The sessions were packed with insights, complemented by excellent networking and inspiring conversations with fellow XR practitioners—making the event both memorable and deeply enriching.

📕 Book Signing — Jagjeevan: Living Larger than Life

Learning doesn’t stop with technology—it is a lifelong journey, just like the lessons life continues to teach us.

I was grateful for the opportunity to launch and sign copies of my book, 📕 Jagjeevan: Living Larger than Life , at the event, and to share timeless life lessons and inspirations drawn from the life of my great grandfather—values that remain deeply relevant in today’s fast-paced world.

Thank you to everyone who joined me and took the time to engage with the book. I hope it brings as much meaning and reflection to you as it did to me while writing it.

Video Recording of the Session:

Let’s continue to learn, share, and innovate as we collectively push the boundaries of reality.

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