Beyond the Headset: Scaling XR for Sweden from Pilot to Practice

XR is no longer just headsets. Glasses are getting lighter, spatial computing is moving into daily workflows, and sensing is becoming continuous rather than something you switch on for a demo. That shift is already playing out in factories, classrooms, hospitals and museums. Sweden has the industrial base, design heritage and creative-tech talent to lead here, but the expertise is spread across gaming studios, industrial labs, universities and cultural institutions that rarely compare notes.

This Tech Forward Circle, facilitated by RISE, brings those groups into one room to look at where XR is delivering real value today, and where Sweden should be investing next.

We'll be focusing on some key areas including:

• Training & Simulation
  Industrial training, digital twins and vocational education. What's actually working, what the evidence shows, and where XR still underdelivers on the hype.
• Spatial Computing & Wearables
  The move from headsets to glasses to ambient, always-on interfaces. What lighter hardware changes about how and where XR gets used day to day.
• XR and AI
  Where AI genuinely extends XR: real-time scene understanding, adaptive content, generative environments. And where it's just being bolted on for the pitch deck.
• Ethics & Privacy
  Data capture, always-on sensing, consent and surveillance risk. What responsible design looks like once XR devices are worn all day rather than picked up for a session.
• Arts & Culture
  How artists, museums and cultural institutions are using XR for storytelling and public engagement, and what industry can learn from that work.
• Accessibility & Inclusive Design
  Who XR is actually built for. Motion sensitivity, vision and hearing impairments, cost barriers, and what it takes to design for more than the average able-bodied user.

This Circle is for people shaping XR strategy across R&D, product, learning & development, and cultural production. Teams from your organisations can be 1-2 persons.