Designing XR for Long-Term Distribution and Impact

Designing XR for Long-Term Distribution and Impact

Mike Golembewski is an interactive designer, researcher, and writer running MWG Design & Research, an independent consultancy focused on immersive media, artistic practice, and emerging technology. In this episode, Mike breaks down the structural challenges facing cultural XR, the category of immersive work that functions more like theatre or documentary than gaming. We cover why festival-premiered XR experiences rarely survive beyond their premiere, why platform stores like Meta and Steam are fundamentally misaligned with this type of work, and what creators can do from day one to design for longevity. Mike also highlights real examples and explains why thinking about the long tail before writing a single line of code is the only approach that actually works. Subscribe to XR AI Spotlight weekly newsletter 👉 https://xraispotlight.substack.com/ *** CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST ⁠💼 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-golembewski-9aaa343/] ⁠🔗 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠ [http://mwgdesignresearch.com/]   *** CONNECT WITH ME 🐤⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ [https://twitter.com/GabRoXR] 💼 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriele-romagnolixr/] 🔗⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Link-in Bio [https://beacons.ai/gabroxr]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   *** PAST EPISODES 🎙️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Show Website⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.xraispotlight.com/] 🟢 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRuoUmWO_pPu1hSaRm3BTuTGTjklXS4yG&si=SVG9Tg8a5uhhKSL-] 🍎⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/xr-ai-spotlight/id1718315002]

Can a 360 Drone beat Insta360 for Gaussian Splatting?

Andrey Shelomentsev is the co-founder of Splatica, a London-based physical AI infrastructure startup building consumer-grade 3D reality capture pipelines. In this episode, we get into the real trade-offs between capture tools, how Splatica's one-click cloud pipeline turns a casual walk-around with an Insta360 into a navigable 3D Gaussian Splat scene overnight and what we need to turn photorealistic Gaussian Splats into a synthetic training ground for robots. Subscribe to XR AI Spotlight weekly newsletter 👉 https://xraispotlight.substack.com/ *** CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST ⁠💼 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelomentsev/] ⁠🔗 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠ [https://splatica.com/]   *** CONNECT WITH ME 🐤⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ [https://twitter.com/GabRoXR] 💼 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriele-romagnolixr/] 🔗⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Link-in Bio⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://beacons.ai/gabroxr]   *** PAST EPISODES 🎙️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Show Website⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.xraispotlight.com/] 🟢 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRuoUmWO_pPu1hSaRm3BTuTGTjklXS4yG&si=SVG9Tg8a5uhhKSL-] 🍎⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/xr-ai-spotlight/id1718315002]

Gaussian Splats Workflow for Unity and AR

In this episode, Ruben Frosali, founder of TRIDOT and Head of Cinematics at JADU AR, unpacks how he builds interactive Gaussian Splat experiences across Unity, AI generation tools, and mobile AR. Drawing on two decades of work across film, music videos, volumetric capture, shaders, and real time graphics, Ruben explains how 3DGS can be used in production workflows. He also shares how tools like World Labs and Sharp change the speed and flexibility of 3D world creation, where web workflows may outpace closed engines, and why optimization for phones matters as much as file compression. Subscribe to XR AI Spotlight weekly newsletter 👉 https://xraispotlight.substack.com/ *** CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST ⁠💼 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubenfro/] ⁠🔗 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠ [https://rubenfro.com/]  🐤⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter) [https://x.com/rubenfro]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ *** CONNECT WITH ME 🐤⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ [https://twitter.com/GabRoXR] 💼 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriele-romagnolixr/] 🔗⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Link-in Bio⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://beacons.ai/gabroxr]   *** PAST EPISODES 🎙️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Show Website⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.xraispotlight.com/] 🟢 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRuoUmWO_pPu1hSaRm3BTuTGTjklXS4yG&si=SVG9Tg8a5uhhKSL-] 🍎⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/xr-ai-spotlight/id1718315002]

Relighting Gaussian Splats Is Now Possible

Fernando Rivas-Manzaneque is the CEO and co-founder of Volinga AI, a spin-off born from early research into 3D Gaussian Splatting for professional film and virtual production. In this episode, Fernando walks through what Volinga actually does: from its Unreal Engine plugin, which brings relighting, depth of field, reflections, and proxy mesh-based materials to Gaussian Splats, to the newly released Volinga Suite, a full end-to-end pipeline built on top of LightField Studio with HDR and ACES support for Hollywood-grade workflows. We cover real production use cases, including a digital replica of Auschwitz-Birkenau and a Paramount+ TV show that replaced a dangerous location shoot with a VP set. Fernando also breaks down the difference between additive and mesh-based lighting, the EnVol file format, and where 4D Gaussian Splatting and generative splat creation are heading in 2026. Subscribe to XR AI Spotlight weekly newsletter 👉 https://xraispotlight.substack.com/ *** CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST ⁠💼 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/fernando-rivas-manzaneque/] ⁠🔗 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠ [https://web.volinga.ai/]   *** CONNECT WITH ME 🐤⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ [https://twitter.com/GabRoXR] 💼 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriele-romagnolixr/] 🔗⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Link-in Bio⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://beacons.ai/gabroxr]   *** PAST EPISODES 🎙️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Show Website⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.xraispotlight.com/] 🟢 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRuoUmWO_pPu1hSaRm3BTuTGTjklXS4yG&si=SVG9Tg8a5uhhKSL-] 🍎⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/xr-ai-spotlight/id1718315002]

The Best in 3D GenAI right now

Explore the latest in 3D Generative AI tools, workflows, and industry implications with Gabriele, Stefan, and Philipp. Discover top models, segmentation techniques, Gaussian splatting, and future trends shaping 3D AI. Subscribe to XR AI Spotlight weekly newsletter 👉 https://xraispotlight.substack.com/ *** CONNECT WITH OUR GUESTS ⁠🔗 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stefan YouTube:⁠⁠⁠  @stefan_ai_3d  [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCRW08KcTVjXEmBzBsVl7XjA] ⁠🔗 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Philipp YouTube:  @PixelArtistry_  [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCRGb8yCnI5-upL3hT4oiOZw]   *** CONNECT WITH ME 🐤⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ [https://twitter.com/GabRoXR] 💼 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriele-romagnolixr/] 🔗⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Link-in Bio⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://beacons.ai/gabroxr]   *** PAST EPISODES 🎙️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Show Website⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.xraispotlight.com/] 🟢 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRuoUmWO_pPu1hSaRm3BTuTGTjklXS4yG&si=SVG9Tg8a5uhhKSL-] 🍎⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/xr-ai-spotlight/id1718315002]