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Steinbeis-Transferzentrum Digital Workspace

XR FACHTAGE 2026

Programme

Two days all about Extended Reality, smart glasses, industrial applications, support and immersive learning worlds – in theme blocks with expert talks from research and practice.

Day 1

Tuesday, 29 September 2026

9:00 – 17:30

  • Exhibition opens at 9:00 – with live demos
  • Opening at 10:00, expert talks from 10:30
  • Networking evening from 17:30 – personal exchange and community

Schedule

  1. Doors open · exhibition with live demos

  2. Opening

    • Ralf Lauterwasser – Welcome

      Managing Director of Steinbeis GmbH & Co. KG für Technologietransfer

    • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Mandel – Welcome

      Vice-Rector for Research, Transfer and Sustainability & Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at DHBW Stuttgart

    • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tim Jansen – Welcome and thematic introduction

      Head of the mechanical engineering degree programme at DHBW Stuttgart Campus Horb, founder and director of the Steinbeis Transfer Center Digital Workspace, and founder and majority shareholder of Steinbeis Technologie & Wissens Hub GmbH

    • Jan Kopmann – Welcome address from the main sponsor

      Senior Business Unit Manager at Schenker Technologies

  3. AI & Spatial Computing

    • AI Glasses
    • Smart Assistants
    • Computer Vision
    • Spatial Interfaces

    1. Spatial Reality 2026: Mature Platforms, New Form Factors, Smart Glasses

      • Thomas Riedel

        Tech journalist, XR expert and host of Spatial Realities

      Between established tool use in industry, open system architectures and lightweight media visors, the XR hardware landscape is more diversified than ever before. At the same time, a new device category is emerging at the interface with generative AI – one that renegotiates the concept of digital assistance in everyday life. This talk puts the current ecosystem into perspective, outlines the strategic lines of the major platforms and gives an overview of the status quo and the future of AI glasses.

      About the speaker

      Thomas Riedel is a tech journalist, XR expert and host of Spatial Realities, a platform with a podcast, newsletter, calendar, meetups and hackathons. For many years he has followed and analysed the development of VR, MR and spatial computing.

    2. AI Glasses – Superpowers to Go? Use Cases between Vision and Practice

      • Christoph Spinger

        Telekom MMS

      Telekom continuously explores the latest technologies and what they make possible. The talk offers insights into what Telekom MMS has already been able to realise with AI glasses.

      About the speaker

      Christoph Spinger has more than 14 years of experience with VR and AR – and he is still curious to see what the future holds for these technologies. The products he has contributed to have won numerous awards and attracted international attention. He experiments intensively with AI, computer vision and sound design.

    3. –

      Exhibition

    4. Smart Glasses between Half-Knowledge, Hysteria and Horizons

      • Prof. Dr. Philipp A. Rauschnabel

        Universität der Bundeswehr München · Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia

      Smart glasses are evolving from a nerdy gadget into a computing platform in their own right, challenging established notions of data protection, social acceptance and human-technology interaction. But what actually sets them apart from smartphones, wearables or spy cameras? Where does the technology stand today, and which developments are already emerging? The keynote positions smart glasses within the triad of people, technology and regulation. Many current debates consider only one of these perspectives: they focus on technical possibilities, individual risks or regulatory limits – including those set by supervisory authorities. Such discussions inevitably lead to abbreviated or misguided conclusions, emotionalised debates or hype bubbles.

      About the speaker

      Prof. Dr. Philipp A. Rauschnabel is among the most cited researchers internationally in his field: smart glasses, augmented reality and spatial computing. Alongside his professorship at the Universität der Bundeswehr München and his role as honorary professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, he regularly acts as a keynote speaker and expert advisor on digital technologies and their social and political impact.

  4. Panel discussion

    Smart Glasses 2026 – from gadget to the next platform?

  5. XR for Production & Service

    • Assembly
    • Maintenance
    • Remote Support
    • Work Instructions

    1. MTM goes VR – From virtual motion to MTM analysis

      • Achim Schneider

        XR-EASY · Co-founder and Managing Director of R3DT GmbH

      Many work systems are planned digitally – with CAD, layouts and process models. One central challenge often remains, however: how can people's manual work be assessed realistically as early as the planning phase? In this talk we show how existing 3D data can be used with XR-EASY for the virtual simulation of manual assembly tasks. The resulting motion data is then used for a methodically sound MTM analysis. This makes the MTM method effective even earlier in the digital planning process – before real workplaces, sample set-ups or later corrections become necessary.

      About the speaker

      Achim Schneider is co-founder and managing director of R3DT GmbH. With the VR solution XR-EASY he brings virtual reality into engineering, work and assembly planning and ergonomics in a hands-on way. The business graduate combines many years of industry and management experience with the development and marketing of innovative XR applications.

  6. Exhibition

  7. End · start of the networking evening

Day 2

Wednesday, 30 September 2026

9:00 – 17:00

  • Exhibition opens at 9:00 – with live demos
  • Welcome at 10:00, expert talks from 10:15

Schedule

  1. Doors open · exhibition with live demos

  2. Welcome & summing-up

  3. Immersive Learning, Training & Experience

    • Training
    • Qualification
    • Safety
    • Education
    • Location Based Experience (LBE)

    1. XR meets HR. Why good virtual reality solutions often fail to reach HR – and how the transfer succeeds

      • Michael Stock

        Founder and Managing Director of #Think.Start VR

      The XR industry develops impressive technologies and innovative applications. Nevertheless, many solutions never make it into the everyday work of HR development and training. Why is that?

      In his keynote, Michael Stock offers a change of perspective: he shows how HR decision-makers look at new technologies, what requirements companies actually place on training solutions and why technological excellence alone rarely decides success.

      Using concrete practical projects from recruiting, onboarding, training and communication, he shows which factors decide the introduction of virtual reality in companies – from the first idea to sustainable integration into existing learning processes.

      The keynote is aimed in particular at developers, XR companies and solution providers who want to position their products successfully in the HR market and understand how an innovative technology becomes real added value for companies.

      About the speaker

      Michael Stock is founder and managing director of #Think.Start VR and a pioneer in the use of virtual reality in human resources development. He supports companies in integrating immersive technologies into training, coaching and skills development. Together with TÜV Rheinland he developed a further-education programme for metaverse trainers, and with World of VR the VR communication training KommCoach. His innovative learning concepts have received awards including the eLearning Award and the Deutscher Bildungs-Award.

    2. 3,000 VR Headsets in the Classroom

      • Madine Madaminow-Tselios

        VIL – Virtuelles Interaktives Lernen · Sales and partner management

      Drawing on the use case of VR headsets in the classroom, the talk reports on initial hurdles, successes, practical tips and further findings from a project in North Rhine-Westphalia. Best-practice examples from everyday school life are presented: first aid, vocational preparation and history.

    3. Can. May. Work. Compliance as a design parameter in AI-supported XR training

      • Prof. Dr. Peter F.-J. Niermann

        Co-author of the book “Extended Reality Training”

      Technically possible does not mean didactically sensible. And not everything AI can analyse should be analysed by a training system.

      An example: nervousness can be derived from the voice. Emotions can be classified. Both are available, in VR even in real time. Article 5 of the EU AI Act prohibits this in the workplace and in educational institutions. And yet voice analysis in training remains possible. Exactly where the line runs decides the product.

      Every team currently bringing AI into an existing product has to make this decision.

      The talk demonstrates this using the ongoing development of a VR-based presentation training. GDPR and the EU AI Act do not become relevant only shortly before release. They help decide how the system is built. What data does the training really need? What may the AI derive from it? And is a training still effective if the AI knows less about the participants than it could?

      This leads to an economic argument. The ban on emotion recognition applies exactly where the market for training software lies: in educational institutions and in the workplace. Whoever builds in emotion recognition excludes themselves from this market. Whoever measures the voice without inferring feelings keeps it. Whoever draws the boundaries only afterwards builds twice.

      A valuable contribution especially for product owners, development teams and educational institutions bringing AI into existing XR applications.

      About the speaker

      Prof. Dr. Peter F.-J. Niermann has been developing and researching innovative XR training solutions for many years and is one of the early pioneers of immersive corporate learning applications. He has published his research findings in numerous scientific publications on extended reality, virtual reality, gamification and digital learning. As co-author of the book “Extended Reality Training”, he combines scientific findings with many years of practical experience.

    4. VR neuro games reduce the risk of falls in companies through body stabilisation

      • Janick Sill

        IMPROVR · Sports scientist and VR expert for neuro-athletic product development

      • Ringo Mosch

        Trainingsinsel · Founder, CEO and innovative developer of neurofitness

      • Dr. Nils Balser

        Merck Group · Senior Expert Health Manager

      Neuro-athletic exercises from professional sport not only boost athletes' performance, they can also reduce the risk of falls among employees. A pilot project with the Merck Group from Darmstadt makes the effects visible.

    5. –

      Exhibition

    6. No more prototypes that only work in the lab: how do XR use cases become scalable?

      • Marcus Ernst

        MACK One · Europa-Park Erlebnis-Resort

      Many XR projects die because they are planned and built as pure tech demos and then fail at the “final bosses” inside the company (IT, legal, operations). In this impulse talk I show how at Europa-Park we turn “nice” ideas into robust experiences for millions of visitors – with “dirty” gaffer-tape prototyping, a strict focus on operations and what I call the “Elsa rule”. Participants get the impulses and the tools to stop developing mere ideas and instead build economically scalable business cases that customers will queue up for.

      About the speaker

      At MACK One, in the environment of the Europa-Park Erlebnis-Resort, Marcus Ernst creates innovative immersive experiences at the intersection of XR, storytelling and entertainment. He is also closely associated with the AUREA Award and thus brings a special perspective on innovative XR applications and the future of immersive experience worlds.

    7. Haptic feedback for immersive product development in the automotive sector: from research to industrial use

      • Dr. Alexander Achberger

        Haptive GmbH · Co-founder and CEO · Postdoctoral researcher at the Visualization Research Center of the University of Stuttgart

      Virtual reality is well established in automotive product development, yet the physical experience of virtual interactions is often missing. The talk shows how haptic feedback can extend industrial VR applications – from the analysis of real application scenarios and the development of new systems to everyday use at work. The focus is on the key findings and challenges in transferring haptics research into real immersive workflows.

      About the speaker

      Dr. Alexander Achberger is co-founder and CEO of Haptive GmbH, which develops haptic feedback systems for industrial XR applications. At the same time he is a postdoctoral researcher at the Visualization Research Center of the University of Stuttgart and an associated scientist of the International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems (IMPRS-IS). His research focuses on haptics, virtual and augmented reality and human-computer interaction. He completed his doctorate as an industrial PhD at the Virtual Reality Center of Mercedes-Benz AG, on transferring haptic technologies from research into real applications in automotive product development.

    8. Use cases for location-based entertainment in arts and culture

      • Lars Telöken

        Hochschule Düsseldorf · XR software developer and lecturer

      Conveying emotions and knowledge with XR: how arts and cultural institutions use XR.

      This talk presents use cases from the practical implementation of projects in theatre and museums. What the projects have in common is that they are location-based entertainment: they use HMDs with passthrough and are designed as multiplayer experiences, so that several visitors can experience something together or interact with each other.

      Alongside the finished results, the talk also offers insights into the development process: which hurdles had to be overcome, what was learned from them and what the final implementation looked like.

      About the speaker

      Lars Telöken is an XR software developer and lecturer. He currently works at Hochschule Düsseldorf, where he conducts research in the field of XR. He not only develops XR software but also passes on his knowledge in a wide range of courses. As a freelancer, he also brings his passion for teaching and software development to industry.

  4. Exhibition

  5. Prize draw

  6. End of the XR FACHTAGE 2026

Subject to change at short notice.

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