socialXR

5th Spring School on Social XR

March 22-25, 2027
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Welcome Anniversary Edition

Welcome!

We are happy to announce that the 5th edition of the Spring School on Social XR, will take place at CWI (Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica) in Amsterdam. Come join us for the anniversary edition from March 22-25 2027!

When imagining the future of media communication, we believe that it will be immersive. Thanks to its interactivity, enhanced realism and personalized viewing paradigm, Extended Reality (XR) is a key technology to empower and transform sectors as varied as cultural heritage, education, manufacturing and to provide a climate-neutral alternative to travelling in line with the ideas of the European Green Deal.

Social XR systems promise to overcome the limitations of current real-time teleconferencing systems, enabling a greater sense of immersion, increasing the sense of presence in the virtual world and fostering more natural interpersonal interactions through the integration of virtual and augmented reality systems, physiological sensing technologies and haptic interfaces.

Spring School 2026 group photo
Spring School 2026 group photo
Apply now

Apply now!

We welcome applications from Ph.D. students, post-docs, and master students from various disciplines.

  • 5 ECTS credits
  • For PhD students and postdocs
  • Application deadline: December 3rd, 2026
Apply here

The success of the Spring School goes beyond the curriculum; it's a testament to the seamless integration of insightful talks, engaging discussions, and well-curated social events. This blend created an environment where learning and networking seamlessly converged.

— Mohammed Faisal, University of Ottawa (participant 2024)

School Scope

Scope

The aim of this spring school is to learn about Social XR as a new medium for communication and collaboration following an interdisciplinary approach, welcoming students from technology, social sciences, and humanities. In particular, the school will target the following areas:

  • 3D Capturing and Modeling realistic avatars and their behavior in the virtual world;
  • Coding, transmission and distribution of volumetric video content and their optimisation for increasing the QoE;
  • Ethics by design for the development of responsible Social XR experiences;
  • Rendering and interaction, including the development of new immersive and multi-sensory experiences;
  • Human factors and evaluation, including the assessment and evaluation of experiences and QoE modeling and prediction; and
  • Research context, providing insights of a research lab, DIS.

Target Audience

This school is intended for Ph.D students from different disciplines who are interested in learning more about the mechanics underlying immersive experiences, such as user-centered delivery systems and human perception, as well as volumetric content recording, rendering, and coding. Participants seeking a mixture of theoretical, empirical and practical insights from an interdisciplinary perspective are encouraged to apply.

We also welcome applications from master students and post-docs, as well as professionals and researchers (upon availability).

English is the language of instruction. Attending PhD students will be granted 5 ECTS points for their participation.

Supported by

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