The world is facing the unprecedented challenge of building responsible, safe, and inclusive XR and Spatial Computing Information and Communication Technology ecosystems. We need pragmatic policy decisions and governance frameworks that help build responsibility, safety, and inclusion for new and emerging fields of XR technologies (an umbrella term for AR/VR/MR). With the pandemic catalyzing and fueling the growth and adoption of these technologies, we need to pause and reflect - if we are going to extend realities via the immersive domain of XR, what kind of world will we wish to create?

Founder and CEO of XRSI, Kavya Pearlman, has been outlining the potential issues with and the need for research required to help build safe and inclusive XR ecosystems. Building these brave new worlds fueled by augmented and virtual reality requires us to proactively address safety, privacy, and ethics in this domain. Without informed consent and lack of awareness around risks that these sophisticated technologies bring, the industry is walking a thin line between trust and dystopia. Kavya is currently helping develop a novel Privacy and Safety framework for XR and Spatial Computing domain with heavy focus on higher education and medical XR use cases. This talk will provide academics and researchers with background on our current responsibilities and shed light on what to expect in the coming months and years as we develop responsible, safe and inclusive XR ecosystems.

About Kavya Pearlman

Well known as the “Cyber Guardian”, founder & CEO of the XR Safety Initiative (XRSI), Kavya Pearlman is an award-winning cybersecurity professional with a deep interest in immersive and emerging technologies. She recently launched a novel XRSI Privacy & Safety Framework for the XR and Spatial Computing domain. Kavya is constantly exploring new technologies to solve cybersecurity challenges. She has been named one of the Top Cybersecurity influencers for three consecutive years, 2018-2019-2020 by IFSEC Global. Kavya has previously advised Facebook on third party security risks during the 2016 US presidential elections and worked as the head of security for the oldest virtual world, “Second Life” by Linden Lab. Kavya is the co-host of the immersive podcast “Singularity Watch” and one of the Top 50 speakers in the cybersecurity industry. Kavya has founded The CyberXR Coalition that now focuses on diversity and inclusion and the cross section of Cybersecurity and XR, helped launch a trustworthy XR news platform, ReadyHackerOne and establish a Medical XR Advisory Council.

This talk is sponsored by Digital Humanities and Social Engagement and hosted by the ITC DEV Studio.

Past, Present, and Future of XR - XR Safety Initiative