SPRITE+ Community Building Day

We re-launched the SPRITE+ Community of Interest on Extended Reality and Trust, Identity, Privacy, Security and Safety (previously the COI for “TIPSS in the Metaverse”), with an in-person meeting on Friday 20th June in Manchester. We were pleased to welcome attendees for a day of talks, networking, and discussion!

The day was all about showcasing current and emerging academic research and other work relevant to the future of Trust, Identity, Privacy, Security, and Safety. We also gathered feedback and ideas for our new SPRITE+ Deep Dive project on Extended Reality Convergence with other Emerging Technologies and the implications for Trust, Identity, Privacy, Safety, and Security (XRCET-TIPSS).

We had a fantastic turnout given the hot weather and long journeys from Bournemouth and Glasgow! We welcomed attendees whose work relates to privacy, security, safety, identity, and Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality or Virtual Reality. Registration was open to any SPRITE+ Members, Expert Fellows, stakeholders and Project Partners.

Key information:

Date: Friday 20th June 2025

Timings: 11am – 5pm (arrivals from 10:30, lunch provided)

Location: Central Manchester

Cost: There is no cost, but early registration is essential. Places are limited.

Travel bursaries: We have limited funds to cover travel expenses if your institution / organisation cannot cover these costs. Please indicate on the registration form if you would like to be considered for a bursary. Priority will be given to presenters and early career researchers. (We regret we cannot cover travel expenses for representatives from SPRITE+ Project Partners.)

Access fund: You can apply to our access fund for support if caring responsibilities or accessibility requirements would otherwise prevent you from participating in this event. Please email spriteplus@manchester.ac.uk for more information.

Call for speakers

We invite proposals for short talks to showcase or introduce research and other projects about or relevant to XR TIPSS. We welcome submissions from researchers at any career stage, and from people working in industry, NGOs, or the public sector.

Talks can take the form of:

• Lightning talks (5 minutes + 2 minutes Q&A): Brief outline of research or other small projects, that are early stage, ongoing or recently completed. Most suitable for presenting work that is part of a PhD, small-medium sized grant-funded projects, and industry, NGO, or public sector initiatives.

• Ten-minute talks (10 minutes + 3 mins Q&A): Programmes of research or other work that is ongoing or recently completed that is about or relevant to XR TIPSS. Most suitable for introducing a team and presenting large grant-funded research projects and/or an industry/government work programme.

We will do our best to accommodate all submissions but time for talks is limited. If we are over-subscribed, the COI Steering Group will select talks to represent a balance of input from different sectors, disciplines, career stages, and topics.