Extended reality (XR) is reshaping how individuals interact with digital environments, merging the physical and virtual worlds into immersive experiences. This transformative technology is more than a tool for entertainment; it’s becoming a core of industries like education, healthcare, and urban planning. By integrating augmented, virtual, and mixed realities, XR provides innovative ways to communicate, collaborate, and solve intricate problems. As XR continues to mature, its applications diversify, offering solutions tailored to various societal needs while redefining the limits of interaction and engagement in the digital sphere.
Santeri Saarinen, a visionary leader in the XR domain, is redefining how research and innovation shape this field. As an R&D Lead, he is committed to exploring the vast potential of emerging technologies, combining a pragmatic approach with a forward-thinking mindset. His leadership is characterized by a deep understanding of technological advancements and human-centric innovation, ensuring that solutions are meaningful and impactful. Focusing on blending theoretical knowledge with hands-on experimentation, Santeri inspires a new generation of thinkers and creators in the XR space.
Under the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, the Helsinki XR Center is a hub of innovation and collaboration, driving the exploration of XR technologies and their applications. Dedicated to advancing the metaverse and immersive technologies, the center supports groundbreaking research and cultivates a community of industry professionals, academics, and enthusiasts. Through its innovative initiatives, the center continues to make major strides in enriching the XR ecosystem and creating opportunities for transformative advancements.
Let’s explore Santeri’s innovative leadership approach in extended reality (XR):
Transitioning to Research in Emerging Technologies
Santeri studied Interactive Technology at Tampere University. During his studies, he experienced early versions of virtual and augmented reality, which seemed interesting but not compelling enough to fully dedicate himself to them. He was more interested in gaming, particularly collaborative multiplayer games and educational solutions, and completed his master’s thesis on social interaction in MMO games.
During the same period, he started working as a researcher (initially as a research assistant) in the Speech and Pervasive Interaction Group, one of five research groups in TAUCHI (Tampere Unit for Computer-Human Interaction). While there, he developed solutions utilizing a wide range of technologies, including speech and gesture interaction, interactive 360-degree content, mobile solutions, and virtual reality.
This experience led him to realize that these technologies are not separate but can be selected based on the needs of the case, a concept now referred to as the Metaverse, though at the time, it was known as multimodal interaction. The opportunities provided by different technologies showed him that this was his future path.
In 2017, Santeri moved to Metropolia to lead a development team in collaboration with the City of Vantaa, creating small pilot solutions for the city in various contexts, such as urban planning in virtual reality and supporting youth decision-making with immersive video content. This collaboration ended in the summer of 2018, leading him to the team planning the setup of the Helsinki XR Center. Operations began at the start of 2019, with Santeri as the technology specialist of the team.
As the team grew, collaboration extended, and the number of research projects increased, he organically transitioned to his current position of leading all research activities in the field of the Metaverse and emerging technologies. Through his research, he has become increasingly interested in various aspects of the Metaverse, including technological solutions, the semantics around the topic, the history of convergence, and philosophical musings on the subject.
Identifying Future Research Priorities
In his role, Santeri has the opportunity and responsibility to select and formulate the exact topics of research to pursue. In collaboration with the rest of his team, they face the challenging task of identifying which topics will be important in the coming years. Their efforts aim to ensure they remain leaders in the field while simultaneously supporting the entire ecosystem.
Evaluating Technological Convergence with Caution
He considers himself a balanced individual. Instead of constantly jumping on the latest hype train, he looks backward and learns from the field’s pioneers. By not repeating past mistakes, Santeri believes a better future can be reached.
While the convergence of technologies and the sudden impact of new solutions are always present, they should be taken with a grain of salt. Another aspect he highlights is the focus on the human aspect of innovation. It is important not to be blinded by technology but to always consider the latest advances from the end-user’s point of view to see the effect technology has on people, companies, and society at large.
Balancing Work and Family Life
According to Santeri, maintaining a healthy work-life balance is sometimes a challenge, especially with a daughter to take care of. He feels fortunate to have a great employer. Remote work has been extremely important. While his calendar is always fully booked, the lack of daily travel to the office allows him to spread responsibilities throughout the day and care for his family at the same time.
Another equally important aspect is the skill to say no, though he admits this is something he still needs to improve. The team is constantly asked to participate in new research projects, collaborations, events, or other meetings. With such a small core team, they cannot do everything, no matter how interesting the opportunities are. Therefore, prioritization of tasks becomes extremely important.
Hands-On Approach to New Technologies
He believes following the news in the field, reading research articles, and reading books is very important. However, that is not sufficient in this field. Santeri thinks one can only truly understand extended reality by trying it out. The spatial experience is impossible to feel through a 2D video.
Therefore, visiting different events, expos, and conferences is very important. During these, one can meet with the creators, try out new technology, and see which direction the field is moving in. It is also the best opportunity to engage in discussions about the field with other experts.
Especially in Europe, where the field is still fairly small, one often meets the same people at different events and can catch up with the latest news and continue previous discussions. He believes this is very important to stay up to date, as it allows for deeper discussions instead of repeating the same introductions. Another important factor he mentions is trying out the technology.
New SDKs, libraries, and hardware are released all the time. To truly understand their capabilities, one must try them out in practice. This is why, in their development, they look for new solutions, new pipelines, and tools whenever they start a new project, just to try them out and share the knowledge with the rest of the ecosystem. Otherwise, they would just be sticking with the same old way of doing things while the rest of the field advances with new systems.
Balancing Innovation with Reliable Tools
One of the biggest issues that Santeri’s team has had to tackle several times is linked to the habit of trying out new technologies and tools. Sometimes, they face the fact that a certain tool could be utilized in their solution, but it is still a work in progress.
Some functionality might be missing, some APIs are not complete, and support for a certain platform is not finished yet. This, of course, causes issues for them as an external party. Often, the only option is to wait and see if the developer brings out the updates they need.
The timeline for these updates might be too slow, especially when dealing with bigger players in the industry like Meta or Epic. This means that even though it is challenging, sometimes they need to completely pivot their solution and go back to other, potentially older tools that they know can handle the situation at hand.
Advice for Aspiring XR and Metaverse Leaders
Santeri advises aspiring leaders who want to make a mark in the XR and metaverse industry to look for new discussions and collaboration opportunities. While it’s great to have the goal of making a mark in the industry, it’s not about the individual. It’s about the whole community and ecosystem around the industry.
Furthermore, he states, “Putting yourself forward without any weight behind the name leads nowhere. So, you should start by building something yourself, showcasing it to people, talking with them, and being interested in what they do.”
He highlights that the ecosystem is still small. Because of this, one’s reputation will move faster than one can. Being able to offer a new viewpoint, new technology, or new ideas to the field is the most valuable offering.
Ambition to Release a Book on Metaverse Concepts
Santeri’s biggest dream is to release a book on the subject, concentrating on the convergence of technologies towards the Metaverse. He has planned this for some time, but it remains to be seen how and when the plan will move forward.