Mel Slater is a Distinguished Investigator at the University of Barcelona in the Institute of Neurosciences, and co-Director of the Event Lab (Experimental Virtual Environments for Neuroscience and Technology). He was previously Professor of Virtual Environments at University College London in the Department of Computer Science. He has been involved in research in virtual reality since the early 1990s, and has been first supervisor of 41 PhDs in graphics and virtual reality since 1989. He held a European Research Council Advanced Grant TRAVERSE 2009-2015 and has a second Advanced Grant MoTIVE 2018-2023. He is a Research Award Winner of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2021, and was elected to the IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Academy in 2022. He is Field Editor of Frontiers in Virtual Reality, and Chief Editor of the Human Behaviour in Virtual Reality section. His publications can be seen on http://publicationslist.org/melslater.

Mavi Sanchez-Vives, MD, PhD in Neurosciences, has been an ICREA Research Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Research August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS-Hospital Clínic) since 2008, where she leads the Systems Neuroscience group. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Biophysics Laboratory of Rockefeller University and the Neurobiology Laboratory at Yale University (USA). Her main interests in neuroscience include the generation of brain rhythmic activity, brain states, neurotechnology, and neuromodulation. She was a partner in the Graphene Flagship, where her team worked on new brain interfaces. In the Human Brain Project, she was a member of the Science and Infrastructure Board and led a work package titled “Networks Underlying Cognition and Consciousness.” She has recently been awarded an ERC Synergy project, NEMESIS, on the mechanisms and repair of brain lesions, and leads a European Innovation Council project called META BRAIN, investigating the use of different nanotechnologies for precision brain stimulation. Since 2004, Dr. Sanchez-Vives has also used virtual reality, initially for sensory perception research and to explore VR from a neuroscientific perspective. She has been a pioneer in researching “embodiment” in virtual bodies and its various applications, especially in medicine and psychology. Her team has demonstrated that pain can be modulated through transformations of the virtual body and that virtual embodiment can be a powerful tool for movement rehabilitation. She currently leads the project “XR-PAIN: eXtended Reality-Assisted Therapy for Chronic Pain,” funded by the European Media and Immersion Lab. She has led the use of virtual reality for the rehabilitation of violent behaviors in intimate partner violence, an approach now being used in rehabilitation programs in prisons in Catalonia. Dr. Sanchez-Vives is also one of the co-founders of Kiin, a company that uses virtual reality for immersive training to develop soft skills and enhance collaboration and well-being in organizations. Since 2024 she is a member of the Academia Europaea.

Nick Peres is the Director of Digital Innovation and Transformation at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and a national NHS England Advisor for XR Technologies. An innovator and researcher in digital healthcare, Nick brings a diverse background spanning broadcast media, the creative industry, and for the last 15 years, the NHS. He has been instrumental in developing cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) healthcare solutions and completed a PhD focusing on compassionate behaviour in VR. Throughout his career, Nick has developed, executed, and overseen various XR-based projects, including the nationally recognised NHSE-supported VR Lab. He is the founder of PatientVR, an innovative project educating healthcare workers on non-technical skills through immersive patient perspective scenarios. Currently, Nick supports the Digital Futures programme at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, which has been nominated for a parliamentary award. This programme supports digital research and development projects, digital health fellowships and apprenticeships, and digital literacy initiatives in XR and other emerging technologies. Nick co-chairs the VR in Education NHSE community of practise meetings and provides guidance to NHS organisations on implementing XR technologies, advocating for transparent sharing and collaboration as key factors in successful adoption. He holds an honorary academic position at the University of Plymouth, specialising in humanities perspectives toward technology in health and care.

Toby is a passionate advocate of evidenced-based simulation for training and therapy. He started his professional career as a physicist in the nuclear industry, where he became interested in the use of new technology to improve human performance and reliability in high-hazard work environments and was an early adopter of XR. Following ESRC funding, Toby co-funded Cineon, a company that builds XR applications that specialise in the use of eye-tracking to develop personalised, data-driven tools, underpinned by contemporary research in psychology, neuroscience, and pedagogy. Toby has overseen ground-breaking XR projects in multiple sectors including aviation, oil & gas, healthcare, nuclear and defence, and is currently involved in the development of a wide range of applications; from assisting anxious patient to undertake MRI scans to training the next generation of RAF pilots. In the previous year Cineon have been successful in obtaining over £1M in funding both from grants and as part of an equity raise.

Atif is a VR implementation expert with four years at Shell, where he revolutionized workflows through VR at refineries. After speaking on a Meta panel and various podcasts, he recognized the industry’s struggle to scale VR beyond pilots. This led him to found Immersive Horizons, a consultancy that guides enterprises and vendors in overcoming the challenges of VR implementation and scaling, driving real-world impact in immersive technologies.

Tara Collingwoode-Williams is a lecturer and researcher at Goldsmiths University, where she teaches in the Master’s Program in Virtual and Augmented Reality. She is currently completing her PhD in Virtual Reality(VR), focusing on Embodiment, Virtual Avatars, and the use of VR in training for Medical Communication Skills. Tara is a passionate advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity (EDI), leading EDI initiatives within the Computing department at Goldsmiths. Additionally, she is the founder of the ‘Black XR Network,’ a platform dedicated to supporting people of colour in the immersive and creative tech industry.

Dr Aiden Jayanth is Head of Anatomy at the School of Medicine, University of Surrey. He is also the Lead for Year 1 of the Surrey Medical programme. Externally, he is the Treasurer of the London and South East Committee of Anatomists (LSECA). Aiden is a medically qualified anatomist and has completed doctoral studies in molecular medicine focusing on healthcare-associated infections. He has taught anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology on a number of undergraduate and postgraduate pre-registration healthcare programmes, including medicine. He also teaches anatomy on a number of external courses offered by the Royal College of Surgeons. At Surrey, Aiden will be managing the new anatomy teaching facility, integrating traditional cadaver-based teaching with modern approaches. His research interests are in inclusivity, assessments and development of cadaveric teaching.

Dr Oliver Runswick is a Senior Lecturer in Performance Psychology at King’s College London where he co-leads of the Multidisciplinary Occupational Research for Performance and Health (MORPH) Lab and the Basic Psychological Science Research Theme. Dr Runswick has published numerous academic research papers and spoken at international conferences. He is experienced in science communication and delivers consultancy and contract research to sports and performance organisations including professional cricket, football, and Olympic sport. His current focus is on the application of XR technologies in sport, exercise, and health. Dr Runswick’s work in this area has applications ranging from testing and training in high performance sport to optimising exercise rehabilitation in clinical populations.

Bea is a Human Factors Consultant at QinetiQ. She completed her PhD (2017-2021) at the University of Portsmouth sponsored in part by QinetiQ, empirically exploring the impact of immersive Virtual Reality (VR) on team training. This has been acclaimed by the Royal Navy and Training organisations as a leading evidence based analysis of the benefits of VR technology for teams and published externally at international fora. Bea specialises in Human-Computer Interaction, Behavioural Analytics, and Team Science, and has led and supported a wide range of projects on the use of XR for training and, more recently, Human Augmentation.

Andrew is an NHS anaesthetist and one of NHS England’s Clinical Entrepreneurs. With longstanding passion and experience in medical education, he became frustrated with the constant barriers that limit access to on-the-job training for NHS staff and founded Upskill. Health in 2023 to deliver cost-effective, virtual simulation training ‘in the flow’ of clinical work. Awarded Innovate UK funding, Upskill are partnering with Coventry & Warwickshire’s ICS and Coventry University to develop a combined mobile, AI and VR training platform that aims to scale access to on-the-job training for NHS maternity staff.