Special Thanks
We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who contributed to the success of Sandia’s 8th Annual XR Conference. Your dedication, hard work, and unwavering support were instrumental in bringing this event to life.
Conference Etiquette
This conference is at the Unclassified Unlimited Release (UUR) level, and is open to all. Keep in mind that, as we’re going forward over the next few days to keep commentary and questions at that open level.
Links to these videos and recordings will be made available after the conference has ended (for those presenters who have given consent). All times listed are in MST.
Tuesday, July 21, 2026 (Virtual/Microsoft Teams Only)
| Time (MST) | Presentation Title | Presenter(s) | Organization |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 AM | Welcome | Debora Frinke (Deputy Laboratories Director), Jenn Troup (Senior Manager) | Sandia National Labs |
| 9:03 AM | Opening Remarks | Matthew Gallegos, Shane Bramley, Tony Alberti | Sandia National Labs |
| 9:05 AM | Unity Keynote: Powering Next Generation XR – Performance, Presence, and Precision for the Missions That Matter using Unity | Gary Haus | Unity |
| 9:15 AM | Sandia Leadership Interview | Deborah Frincke (Deputy Laboratories Director) interviewed by Jenn Troup (Senior Manager) | Sandia National Labs |
| 9:22 AM | ORION and Future XR | Matthew Gallegos, Shane Bramley, Tony Alberti | Sandia National Labs |
| 9:30 AM | AugRe: Augmented Environment to Facilitate Human-Robot Teaming | Frank Regal, Corrie Van Sice | The University of Texas at Austin |
| 9:45 AM | Sight2Sheet: From Mixed Reality Walkthrough to Structured Inspection Record via On-Device Computer Vision | Mohammed Rashad | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign |
| 10:00 AM | Human-machine interfaces for construction | Fernando Moreu | University of New Mexico |
| 10:15 AM | Human Centered Design Approaches to Tackle Data-Overload in XR Command Centers | Utkarsh Dwivedi, Hanuma Teja Maddali | Headwall Inc. |
| 10:30 AM | 3DGS for Large Scene Reality Capture | Nicholas Wright | Sandia National Labs |
| 10:45 AM | Virtual Frontlines: Advancing Wildland Firefighter Training with Immersive VR | Ryan Salway, Dan Otero, Jennifer VanBerschot, Tim Yurkiewicz | Northrop Grumman Corporation, USDA Forest Service |
| 11:00 AM | From 3D Site Scans to Autonomy: Digital Twin Fusion for Next-Generation Physical Security Technology Stacks | Aiden Shoppel, Matt Ahlrichs, Michael Mardikes | Sandia National Labs |
| 11:15 AM | AR/VR for the Warfighter | Kyle Batchelor, Ysenia Diaz-Millet | NSWC IHD |
| 11:30 AM | Next-Generation Facility Modeling: Synergizing LiDAR, Design Software, and Virtual Twins | Matt Pacheco | Sandia National Labs |
| 12:00 PM | Cognitive-Aware Adaptive Autonomy: An XR-Digital Twin Framework for Human–Robot Collaboration | Asraful Apu | New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology |
| 12:15 PM | CTH Visualization in ORION VR | Jonathan Burn | Sandia National Labs |
| 12:30 PM | Visualization of Ionizing Radiation through Virtual and Augmented Reality for Robotics and Nuclear Education | Fabian Parra | University of Texas |
| 12:45 PM | XR-DT: Extended Reality-Enhanced Digital Twin for Safe Motion Planning via Human-Aware Model Predictive Path Integral Control | Tianyi Wang | The University of Texas at Austin |
| 1:00 PM | Cross-Domain XR Digital Twins for Workforce Training: Applications in Hospitality Operations and Courtroom Procedures | Tharun Thiyagarajan | Husson University |
| 1:15 PM | Secure XR, AR, and AI Without the Cloud: The Potential for On-Premise Data Centers | Amy Gile | Silverdraft Computing, A Mechdyne Partner |
| 1:30 PM | Unity Asset Manager Pilot Deployment at Sandia | Wes Harrickson | Sandia National Labs |
| 1:45 PM | Sandia’s Extended Reality Engineering Visualization (XREV) Capabilities | Ruby Ta, Jack Caycedo | Sandia National Labs |
| 2:00 PM | XR Opus | Lauren Speer | KCNSC |
| 2:15 PM | OpenCIVAN: A WebXR-Based Collaborative Immersive Analytics Platform for Scientific Data Visualization | Fahim Arsad Nafis | George Mason University |
| 2:30 PM | Explorations of Psychophysical Feedback in Virtual Environments | Bradly Alicea | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign |
| 2:45 PM | Visualizing HPC Datasets with the Galaxy XR Headset | Brad Carvey | Sandia National Labs |
| 3:00 PM | Modeling Physical Perception in Virtual Interactions | Elyse Chase | Rice University / University of Houston |
| 3:15 PM | Open Panel Discussion | Moderators: Brandon Klein, Nadine Miner Panelists: Matt Gallegos, Jenn Troup, Gary Haus, Carl Culbertson, Mitch Pryor | Sandia National Labs, Unity, Mechdyne, The University of Texas at Austin |
| 3:45 PM | Unity Breakout Session: Accelerating Virtual Commissioning with Unity Industry Solutions | Chris Mulberry | Unity |
| 4:30 PM | End of Day 1 (Virtual Session) |
Wednesday, July 22, 2026 (In-Person Presentations at Steve Schiff Auditorium)
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM (MST)
REMINDER: This portion of the conference is for those with valid Kirtland Air Force Base access or those who can obtain base access through a sponsor.
If you do not meet the criteria above, please work with your Sandia sponsor/POC if you would like to attend the in-person demonstrations as you will need a valid visitor pass.
| Demo | Presenter(s) | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| ORION | Matthew Gallegos, Shane Bramley, Tony Alberti | Sandia National Labs |
| AR/VR for the Warfighter | Kyle Batchelor, Ysenia Diaz-Millet | NSWC IHD |
| Cognitive-Aware Adaptive Autonomy: An XR-Digital Twin Framework for Human–Robot Collaboration | Asraful Apu | New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology |
| Secure XR, AR, and AI Without the Cloud: The Potential for On-Premise Data Centers | Amy Gile | Silverdraft Computing, A Mechdyne Partner |
| Cross-Domain XR Digital Twins for Workforce Training: Applications in Hospitality Operations and Courtroom Procedures | Tharun Thiyagarajan | Husson University |
| AugRe: Augmented Environment to Facilitate Human-Robot Teaming | Frank Regal, Corrie Van Sice | The University of Texas at Austin |
| Unity Asset Manager Pilot Deployment at Sandia | Wes Harrickson | Sandia National Labs |
| Sandia’s Extended Reality Engineering Visualization (XREV) Capabilities | Ruby Ta and Jack Caycedo | Sandia National Labs |
| Next-Generation Facility Modeling: Synergizing LiDAR, Design Software, and Virtual Twins | Matt Pacheco | Sandia National Labs |
| Visualizing HPC Datasets with the Galaxy XR Headset | Brad Carvey | Sandia National Labs |