Dear readers,

Extended Reality, short XR, is getting real, moving from hyped prototypes to concrete applications for different vertical markets. With the growing capabilities of networks and cloud solutions, demanding XR applications are getting more and more the conditions they need to fulfil their potential. While many technological challenges still need to be addressed, the huge potential of XR has started to rapidly unfold.

As Eurescom is leading the EU-funded project CHARITY, which is at the forefront of network-related XR research in Europe, we are able to present in this issue of Eurescom message an inside view of selected European R&D activities in the XR domain. While two articles are directly related to the CHARITY project, we also present other selected EU research activities to provide an idea of the variety of R&D activities taking place.

In the first article of the cover theme, Eurescom message editors Milon Gupta and Uwe Herzog, the coordinator of the CHARITY project, give an overview on facts and trends around XR.

In the next article, a team of authors from CHARITY partner ORamaVR present their solution for XR-based medical training.

The following article by Zbyszek Ledwoń from Polish SME Orbital Knight explores the future of augmented reality gaming and shares related insights from the CHARITY project.

In our exclusive cover theme interview, Didier Stricker from DFKI, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, shares his insights on current activities and future trends in the XR domain.

In the following article, a team of authors from InterDigital Europe explore the implications of XR applications for networks.

In the final article of the cover theme, Paul Muschamp from BT presents XR experimentation use cases performed on a 5G testbed of the 5G-VINNI project.

This edition of Eurescom message also includes a variety of further articles on different, ICT-related topics. See, for example, the new opinion article by Eurescom director David Kennedy on the challenges of staying in control of smart digital services in his column “The Kennedy Perspective”. Under “Events”, we report about the 5G-PPP participation at MWC Barcelona 2022, the world’s largest telecoms event. See also our “News in brief” section, which features an interesting study on the digital dependence of EU countries and a short report on the agreed EU Digital Markets Act. Finally, in the latest “A bit beyond” article you can learn about Russia’s cyberwarfare against Ukraine and the West.

My editorial colleagues and I hope you will find value in this edition of Eurescom message, and we would appreciate your comments on the current issue as well as suggestions for future issues. Enjoy reading our magazine.

Let me close with a personal note: This is the last issue of Eurescom message under my responsibility as editor-in-chief. I decided to leave my position as Marketing and PR manager at Eurescom and pursue new professional challenges. It is with deep gratitude that I look back to 22 years of Eurescom message and the productive work with my colleagues and our external authors.

Milon Gupta
Editor-in-chief