ICXR Monthly Recap

Congrats to all of our graduates, and good luck to everyone finishing up finals!

In May many of our members were wrapping up the semester, preparing for finals, graduating, and transitioning into summer.

It has been a strong semester overall for ICXR. We’ve seen continued growth across chapters, more collaboration between schools, and more members getting involved in XR through projects, research, events, and community.

Once again we’re excited to see what everyone builds, learns, and explores over the summer!

Event Highlights

This month, On May 29, we hosted ICXR Speaker Series #6: Scaling Healthcare: VR Startup Lessons, featuring Veena Somareddy, CEO and Founder of Neuro Rehab VR.

Veena shared her personal journey founding a healthcare-oriented VR startup and spoke about building in the XR space, scaling healthcare technology, and navigating the startup path as an XR founder.

The session gave members a look into how VR can be applied in healthcare and rehabilitation, while also offering insight into entrepreneurship within immersive technology.

Watch the recap here:

Community Highlights

XR Fest: Bay Area also took place this month at San Jose State University.

The one-day event brought together XR clubs across the Bay Area for demos, talks, and community building. Events like this continue to show how student XR communities are growing across campuses and creating more opportunities for collaboration.

Applications have also opened for the Worlds in Action Hack, taking place before SIGGRAPH 2026 in partnership with ACM SIGGRAPH LA, PicoXR, and World Labs. Participants will have access to mentorship, world model tools, prizes, and showcase opportunities. More information can be found in the Opportunities section below.

Media Team Call

ICXR is looking for more people to join the media team.

If you’re interested in helping with newsletters, event recaps, social media, member spotlights, speaker features, short-form content, graphics, video editing, or documenting what’s happening across the student XR ecosystem, we’d love to have you involved.

This is a great way to contribute to ICXR, build your portfolio, network with others in XR and help highlight the people, projects, and events shaping the XR community.

If you’re interested in joining the media team, reach out to us or let an ICXR lead know.

Community Spotlight – Haoran Wang (NYU Shanghai )

Haoran recently graduated from NYU Shanghai, where he studied Computer Science and developed a strong interest in immersive technology through both healthcare and cultural heritage applications.

His work in XR has focused on building experiences that blend technical development with real-world impact. Through internships and research opportunities, he explored how immersive technologies can be used for medical training, education, and digital preservation.

XR Surgery Simulations & Research

One of Haoran’s projects involved developing mixed reality surgical training experiences while interning at Epitome Medtech in Shanghai.

The project focused on creating immersive simulations for medical procedures, helping demonstrate how XR can support healthcare education and professional training.

Wood and Ink – Zhenru Monastery AR Experience

Haoran also contributed to Wood and Ink, an AR experience created through the Digital Heritage Lab that combines heritage conservation methodologies with immersive technology.

The project allows visitors to explore cultural and historical spaces through interactive digital storytelling, highlighting the growing role of XR in preservation and public engagement.

ICXR Involvement

Within ICXR, Haoran served as Head of the Outreach Team, helping grow the community and support engagement across universities throughout the academic year.

His leadership played an important role in strengthening outreach efforts and expanding connections across the student XR ecosystem. We would like to extend a special thank you to Haoran for all of his contributions to ICXR and wish him the best as he begins this next chapter.

XR News

visionOS 27 expands accessibility through eye tracking

Apple demonstrated Vision Pro users controlling a power wheelchair through eye tracking, highlighting how spatial computing could improve accessibility and assistive technology.

Steam Frame appears on Qualcomm website

Steam Frame was added to Qualcomm’s website alongside new documentation, suggesting continued progress toward Valve’s next-generation XR hardware.

Game engines find new uses beyond gaming in Japan

Unreal Engine and Unity are increasingly being used for city planning, cultural preservation, simulations, and virtual experiences outside traditional game development.

Spatial sunsets creator platform tiers

Spatial announced it will discontinue the free and pro tiers of its Creator Platform on July 27 while continuing support for enterprise customers.

Opportunities

Conferences

Register for AWE 2026 (Augmented World Expo): June 15–18, Long Beach Convention Center, CA
Immersive Tech Week 2026: June 23–25, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Hackathons

Register now for Worlds in Action Hack: July 18-July 19, Los Angeles, CA. Build with world model tools, AI, XR, games, VFX, and interactive media ahead of SIGGRAPH 2026.