UnitedXR Europe 2025 — Day 2 Recap

UnitedXR Europe 2025 — Day 2 Recap

Day 2 delivered a full program from early morning until late evening. Scientific presentations, builders activity, new product demos and the highly anticipated expo opening were among the highlights. The energy on-site stayed steady throughout the day as attendees moved between the main stage, track rooms, the Expo Hall, the EU Village, and the many community spaces that define UnitedXR Europe.

The Day Begins: Snap Keynote and Scientific Conference

Snap Keynote

The morning kicked off with a Keynote on Snap’s journey to Specs. Daniel Wagner, Senior Director, Spectacles, gave an inside look into Spectacles and the platform behind it all – Lens Studio.

Also on the main stage from Snap, Qi Pan, Director of Spectacles AR Platform, outlined why professional developers prefer building AR experiences and applications for mobile, web AR, and Spectacles with Lens Studio.

On the Developer & Creator stage, Spectacles Engineers hosted “A Deep Dive on Snap Cloud, Powered by Supabase”, showing how developers can build Spectacles AR experiences using Snap Cloud, which provides instant access to databases, edge functions, secure storage, real-time features, and more through Snap’s partnership with Supabase.

If you missed the talk you can watch it here:

Scientific Conference Begins

The Scientific Conference also opened at 9:00 with a full day of peer-reviewed sessions covering perception, interfaces, spatial reconstruction, healthcare applications and more. The room stayed active until 1PM with researchers, labs and industry teams exchanging ideas and meeting potential collaborators.

Building the Living Map: Where AI Meets the Real World

Thomas Gabaki’s session highlighted Niantic Spatial’s pioneering geospatial AI work, centered on an advanced smart-living model that maps and understands the real world to enable accurate localization, 3D reconstruction, and contextual awareness. He distinguished these real-world “world models” from traditional language models, emphasizing how sensor- and video-driven systems create precise digital twins and unlock richer AR interactions. Gabaki showcased partnerships with Yale Wolf, Ubisoft, and Snap, demonstrating how high-precision geolocation enhances entertainment, gaming, and AR content. He concluded with a vision of AI systems that perceive the physical world like humans, transforming navigation, robotics, wearables, and everyday experiences through deeply integrated digital-physical intelligence.

The Next Big Thing Isn’t on Your Phone

The XPANCEO session, led by founders Roman Axelrod and Valentyn Volkov, introduced their smart contact lens technology that blends XR displays, health biosensing, and early neural interfaces into a lightweight lens designed to eventually replace bulkier XR devices. The company, valued at over $1 billion, has developed numerous prototypes and patents, with applications ranging from enhanced human perception to hands-free support in extreme environments. With major partnerships and announcements on the horizon, XPANCEO emphasized how their work is quickly transforming science fiction into practical, human-centered innovation.

Builders Take the Spotlight

The Pitch Stage hosted two rounds of Builders Lightning Talks, starting at 10:30 and then 12:00. Forty young builders and global hackathon winners took the stage, selected from hundreds of submissions worldwide. Each delivered a focused two-minute pitch to an audience of founders, investors and attendees tracking the next wave of XR ideas.

In the afternoon, the Builders Demo Hour ran from 14:30 to 15:30 in the BIS Lounge in Shed 1, giving visitors the chance to meet the teams, try the projects and learn more about their work.

Expo Opening in Shed 1

At 11:00 the expo officially opened and quickly became a key destination for the rest of the day. Attendees explored hardware demos, developer tools, enterprise solutions, national pavilions and immersive installations. See the recording of the Expo media tour:

The Booster and EmiC

At 13:30 The Booster took over the Pitch Stage with creators presenting narrative XR projects in early development to producers, distributors and film funds. At 17:00 The Booster Awards Ceremony celebrated the selected projects and the jury’s decisions.

Throughout the day the EMIC area remained active with meetings between country ecosystems, creative studios, and industry partners. The flow of visitors continued until late afternoon as teams explored collaborations and new funding routes.

The EMIC is supported by the Creative MEDIA Program of the European Commission, and a dedicated MEDIA Desk is available on site to answer any questions related to the MEDIA Program.

Meta Happy Hour

At 17:30 Meta hosted the evening Happy Hour, bringing everyone together for relaxed networking after a busy day of sessions. 

See here the Day 2 recap video:

XR Awards Gala

The day closed with the XR Awards Gala presented with AIXR at 19:00. Guests enjoyed an evening dedicated to recognizing standout achievements across Europe’s XR ecosystem.

Follow the blog and UnitedXR social channels  for a complete list of all XR Awards winners.

Coming Up on Day 3

The final day brings another strong program with a focus on AI & XR, creativity, research, and the last chance to explore the expo floor.

• 9:00 – EU Village Opens in Shed 1
• 10:00–14:30 – EMIC Sessions on the Pitch Stage
• 11:00 – New Immersive Narratives – Maritime Room
• 11:00 – Investor Panel – Track Room 2
• 11:00 – Expo Opens in Shed 1
• 12:15 – Start-up Pitch Competition
• 14:00 – Immersive Storytelling Trends – Main Stage
• 14:15 – EU XR Market Data – European Commission
• 15:45 – Show Wrap-up & Best in Show Awards – Main Stage

Full agenda here.