IEEE VR 2025: presence needs a purpose.
The Saint-Malo gathering brings attention to the practical questions behind an immersive experience: interaction, purpose and a reason to be there.
Illustrative photograph: Minh Pham / Unsplash. The person pictured is not affiliated with Hypetell.
A gathering around immersive interaction
IEEE VR 2025 took place in Saint-Malo, France, on 8–12 March. The official programme included research sessions and workshops, including one connecting generative AI with extended reality.
The interesting connection is between creating a convincing space and creating a useful experience. A person can feel present in an environment without knowing what to do next. Interaction design has to address both.
Ask what the space contributes
Imagine a lesson built around a complex three-dimensional assembly. A spatial experience could help a learner see relationships that are hard to explain in a flat image. The learning objective should guide decisions about scale, labels, movement and feedback.
If a conventional diagram communicates the idea more clearly, the immersive version needs another reason to exist. We would look for a task in which position, depth, shared attention or direct manipulation contributes something specific.
Give the person a stable point of reference
An intelligent guide inside an immersive scene introduces another participant in the experience. Its instructions need to be understandable, its role needs to be clear and its suggestions need to leave room for the user’s own judgement.
Our proposed design review would examine simple moments: entering the scene, recovering from a mistaken selection, asking a question and leaving. Those moments help reveal whether the environment feels navigable rather than merely impressive.
A research agenda for builders
Revisiting the Saint-Malo programme suggests a useful habit: connect each technical choice to an experience that can be evaluated. The display, input method and intelligent assistance should serve the same task.
Hypetell’s interest in spatial computing begins with that relationship. Presence opens a possibility; the purpose of the experience gives it direction.
SOURCES & FURTHER READING
IEEE VR 2025 — Official programme and dates ↗Research and official event materials inform this article. Commentary and illustrative scenarios reflect Hypetell’s editorial perspective.
