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VR, AR & Gaming

Friday, 19 June 2026
14:00 – 18:30 
Stage 3

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We are entering an era where digital experiences no longer sit on screens: they surround us. Virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive gaming are merging into a single attention economy, one that rewires how we learn, play, and perceive ourselves. The technology is breathtaking: high-fidelity headsets, spatial computing, and haptic feedback are turning imagination into environment. Yet the consequences are equally profound.

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For every new creative possibility, there is a cognitive cost. Millions of young people spend more time in digital worlds than physical ones, reshaping attention, emotion, and learning. The metaverse is not just a technological frontier. It is a psychological experiment running at planetary scale.

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This track explores the twin challenge of innovation and responsibility: how to build immersive worlds that expand human potential without collapsing human focus. It brings together developers, neuroscientists, educators, investors, and creators to ask whether immersion can be both profitable and humane.

 

Session 1: The Business of Immersion: From Gaming to Human Experience

14:00 – 15:30             

 

Gaming remains the world’s largest entertainment industry, but its future lies beyond entertainment. This session explores how immersive platforms are reshaping business models, user engagement, and behavioral patterns across sectors: education, wellness, retail, and cultural heritage. Speakers will confront the economics of attention and the ethics of addiction.

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Key questions:

  • How are gaming and immersive design transforming learning, work, and social interaction?

  • What are the business models of extended reality (XR) that can sustain creativity without exploiting psychology?

  • Can we design for engagement without dependency?

 

4 Speakers (15 minute presentations) plus a 30-minute round table

 

Afternoon Break

15:30 – 16:00             

 

Session 2: Immersive Technologies: Building the New Reality 

16:00 – 17:00             

Behind every virtual experience lies a complex stack of hardware and computation: optics, sensors, edge AI, and cloud rendering. This session examines the infrastructure and technology of immersion, where the physics of latency meets the limits of human perception.

 

Key questions:

  • What are the bottlenecks in spatial computing and how close are we to seamless mixed reality?

  • How will advances in haptics, AI, and neural interfaces redefine the boundary between user and machine?

  • Can immersive design evolve sustainably, minimizing cognitive fatigue, motion sickness, and ecological impact?

 

4 Speakers (10 minute presentations) + 20 minute round table

 

Session 3: Investing in Play, Presence & the Metaverse

17:00 – 18:00            

Investment in immersive technology is rebounding as hardware stabilizes and real-world use cases multiply. Yet returns remain volatile: hardware cycles are long, user adoption unpredictable, and content creation costly. This session unpacks where capital is flowing, and what that reveals about the next decade of human-computer interaction.

 

Key questions:

  • Where is sustainable value emerging: hardware, content, or infrastructure?

  • How do investors price the risks of dependency, regulation, and public perception?

  • Will the metaverse become a new economy — or a digital cul-de-sac of distraction?

 

4 Speakers (10 minute presentations) + 20 minute round table

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