XR Bavaria e.V. – officially Extended Reality Bavaria e.V. – is an independent professional association and a community for virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, 360° video and related immersive technologies in Bavaria. The association brings together people from the business sector, research institutions, the creative economy, universities, and technology development, creating a platform for exchange, knowledge transfer, and joint events.
What originally emerged from an active Munich Meetup community around VR, AR, and 360° video is today a broader network with members from a wide range of sectors within the XR industry. On its official website, XR Bavaria describes its mission primarily through three pillars: Community, technology and the location of Bavaria.
What is XR Bavaria e.V.?
Extended Reality Bavaria e.V. was founded in 2019 and is based in Munich. The association sees itself as a professional association for Extended Reality and aims to strengthen professional exchange in Bavaria, make new technologies visible, and connect companies, developers, creatives, researchers, and users with each other.
According to the association, more than 100 members belong to the network today. They come from fields such as software development, UX design, research, marketing, entertainment, industry, healthcare, automotive, tourism, architecture, and education.
With this, XR Bavaria forms a cross-section of the different fields of application of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and XR. It is not simply a question of headsets or games; it is also about how immersive technologies can be practically used, developed, and further thought about.
To the official website of XR Bavaria e.V.
From the Meetup community to the XR professional association
The Meetup activities in Munich date back even further than the founding of the association itself. Over the years, an open community has developed around VR, AR, and 360° Video, From this, the network we have today developed later on.
The current Meetup group „VR, AR, 360° Video Meetup Munich by XR Bavaria“ now has more than 1,400 members and documents numerous past events. As such, it is one of the established XR community formats in Munich.
The basic idea has remained the same to this day: people should not only know about new technologies from presentations or press releases, but also from their own experience. Try it yourself, talk to developers and exchange experiences can.
What does XR Bavaria do concretely?
Community and Networking
A central part of the club’s work is personal exchange. At meetups, workshops, lectures, and informal gatherings, XR professionals, companies, students, researchers, creatives, and interested parties come together.
The thematic events are complemented by a regular XR forum. The focus is less on a fixed lecture program but on direct exchange within the community.
Making new XR technologies practically accessible
XR is developing rapidly. New headsets, cameras, tracking methods, AI tools, and 3D technologies are emerging at a rapid pace. Therefore, XR Bavaria is trying to bring current developments to the community early on and not just talk about them theoretically.
Topics from recent years included, for example, new XR hardware, 3D scanning, Gaussian Splatting, Spatial Computing, Virtual Production, User Experience Design, immersive video formats, and the use of AI in XR workflows.
Knowledge transfer between research and practice
The association does not see itself as a mere technology showcase platform. An important goal is the exchange between people who research, develop, and actually implement XR in companies.
These include technical deep dives as well as discussions about UX, business models, promotion, law, training, or the question of where a new technology actually offers added value in the day-to-day operations of a company.
XR Bavaria Events: from hardware to funding
The range of topics covered by the events is deliberately broad. According to the association, more than 60 events have been held in recent years with a total of over 1,500 participants.
In 2026 alone, the program covered everything from XR hardware to Unity development with AI to 3D scanning and immersive video formats. At the launch event for the XGRIDS Lixel K2, visitors were able to see an up-to-date 3D scanner and workflows for point clouds, meshes, and 3D Gaussian Splatting Getting to know each other. Another meetup focused on the question of how stereoscopy, 180° video, 360° video, and Apple Immersive Video differ in production and use.
Other events specifically address funding opportunities. There, programs and contact points relevant to the development and production of XR projects are presented.
This is intended to not only inspire the events but also to provide as much concrete information and connections as possible that can actually be used to further develop projects.
Current and past XR Bavaria events
Collaboration with the XR HUB Bavaria and other partners
An important partner of the community is the XR HUB Bavaria. The XR HUB is an initiative of the Bavarian State Ministry for Digital Affairs and is active with locations in Munich, Nuremberg and Würzburg.
Many XR Bavaria events take place at the XR HUB Munich on the Museum Island. The collaboration connects the independent community of associations with an institutional network for XR in Bavaria.
In addition, XR Bavaria works with companies, universities, research institutions, industry partners, and business organizations. These include joint formats with the vbw – Association of the Bavarian Economy – as well as contacts in the Bavarian digital and media landscape.
It is precisely this mix that is important: XR is no longer an isolated special field; it touches on education, industry, media, medicine, research, marketing, software development, and many other sectors.
What are the topics of Extended Reality?
The association consciously uses XR as a broad term. This includes in particular:
- Virtual Reality: completely virtual environments for training, simulation, entertainment or communication.
- Augmented Reality: digital content that is projected into the real environment – for example via a smartphone, tablet or optical see-through glasses.
- Mixed Reality: remotely anchored virtual content that is connected to the real environment.
- 360° and immersive video formats: from classic full-round videos to stereoscopic 180° and new spatial video workflows.
- Spatial Computing: new categories of devices and interaction models in which digital content is organized and accessed spatially.
- 3D Capture and Gaussian Splatting: Technologies for the rapid capture of real-world locations and objects for immersive applications.
- AI and XR: For example, AI avatars, generative 3D workflows, language models, or adaptive training applications.
Who can participate in XR Bavaria?
The community is not only aimed at developers or companies. Designers, filmmakers, students, researchers, trainers, consultants, artists and people generally interested in immersive technologies can also participate.
Many events are open to the public and can be attended even without being a member of the club. Anyone who wants to contribute permanently and support the network can become a member of the club.
XR Bavaria offers both personal memberships and opportunities for companies, start-ups, universities, and other organizations. The official membership page currently lists more than 100 members from various professional disciplines.
Information about membership at XR Bavaria
The Board of Directors of XR Bavaria
The current management team consists of Clarence Dadson as Chairman of the Board, Dr. Fabrizio Palmas as deputy board member and Sonja Unger in the board and as treasurer.
The diverse professional backgrounds also reflect the organization’s focus: XR is not viewed solely from a technical perspective, but at the intersection of design, development, education, research, the business sector, and the community.
Design4real and XR Bavaria are organized separately
Design4real and XR Bavaria work on many similar topics, but are two different organizations. XR Bavaria e.V. is an independent association. The connection arises, among other things, because Design4real CEO Clarence Dadson is one of the founding members of the association and is currently Chairman of the Board of Extended Reality Bavaria e.V.
On this website, we therefore regularly report on activities from the XR Bavaria area when they are relevant to companies, developers, or the XR community.
Why such XR communities are important
XR technologies are changing rapidly – and product announcements alone rarely answer the really important questions. How well does a new pair of glasses work in everyday life? What technologies are actually being adopted by companies? Which workflows already work, and which are still in the experimental stage?
It is precisely here that professional communities are valuable. They enable direct exchange of experience between people who work with the technologies. Often it is the practical experience from projects that helps distinguish marketing promises from real-world applications.
XR Bavaria wants to create an open space for this exchange – from initial insights for newcomers to technical discussions among experienced XR professionals.
Getting to know XR Bavaria
Anyone interested in VR, AR, MR, spatial computing, 360° video or other immersive technologies can learn about XR Bavaria through various channels:
The Meetups are a great opportunity to experience technologies live, make new contacts and get a direct impression of what the XR industry is actually dealing with at the moment.
