Conference Agenda

Reliable tracking of physical objects and lower-body movements remains challenging in Mixed Reality (MR), particularly when relevant elements fall outside the headset field of view. This paper presents a low-cost hybrid sensing prototype that combines a Meta Quest 3 headset with an external Intel RealSense D415 RGB-D camera to track sports balls and lower-body joints in a shared MR coordinate system. The system uses YOLO-based models for object detection and lower-body pose estimation, while a QR-code-based calibration procedure estimates the rigid transformation between the external camera frame and the MR world frame. Detected objects and body joints are transmitted wirelessly to Unity and rendered as spatially aligned virtual overlays. Preliminary evaluation shows a spatial alignment error of approximately 0.5–1.5 cm within a 3 m range, with frame rates of about 31 FPS for object tracking and 27 FPS when lower-body pose estimation is added. A proof-of-concept application, named Hybrid Football, demonstrates how tracked physical objects and lower-body movements can trigger virtual interactions in MR. The results indicate the feasibility of hybrid external sensing for physically grounded MR interaction, while highlighting current limitations related to occlusions and fast-motion robustness.

Metaverse-oriented immersive virtual environments offer shared, interactive spaces that support training when learning depends on procedural awareness, role-based action, and collaborative workflows. This paper presents the human-centered design and exploratory assessment of a metaverse-oriented virtual courtroom, the MetaJust, designed to support training in legal clinics and professional legal education. The prototype integrates multi-user interaction, pro-cedural role enactment, document-based activities, and public/private communication spaces within a shared immersive courtroom. It was implemented in Unity for standalone head-mounted displays (HMD). Two studies were conducted. A preliminary assessment with 17 mostly VR novice users evaluated usability, workload and engagement through SUS, NASA-TLX and UES-SF questionnaires. Moreover, an exploratory legal-clinic validation study involved 17 participants with a legal background. They experienced a simulated civil hearing in an IVR courtroom using a Meta Quest 2 HMD. They evaluated the experience through VRSQ, SUS, UEQ, PQ and a custom perceived-learning questionnaire. Findings indicate acceptable usability, low task workload, positive user experience, high perceived realism, engagement, and perceived educational value. The evaluation also identifies critical design issues concerning document ergonomics, symbolic and procedural fidelity, interface refinement, and discomfort mitigation during prolonged exposure. Overall, the study identifies insightful design implications for metaverse-oriented training environments in legal professional domains.

The increasing demand for accessible and immersive digital experi-ences in Cultural Heritage (CH) highlights limitations in current Ex-tended Reality (XR) authoring workflows, which remain technically demanding for non-specialists. This paper presents a storytelling-driven XR authoring workflow implemented through HERIX, a modu-lar platform designed to support the creation of experiences without requiring programming expertise. The proposed approach embeds nar-rative logic directly into the authoring process, enabling heritage pro-fessionals to structure domain knowledge into layered interactive nar-ratives from shared multimedia assets. The workflow is oriented to-ward the generation of liquid XR experiences, allowing multiple XR applications to be derived from a shared narrative structure and asset library. To validate the approach, two applications in different modali-ties, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), were devel-oped using the same storytelling structure and reusable asset library. The case study illustrates how a storytelling-driven workflow can re-duce fragmentation between narrative design and technical implemen-tation, while supporting iterative refinement, cross-platform adapta-tion, and narrative coherence across XR experiences from a unified au-thoring process. By transferring authoring control toward domain pro-fessionals, the approach can lower the technical and economic barriers associated with XR production, supporting more sustainable and scal-able approaches to immersive heritage communication.

Forklift based inbound pallet handling is a core logistics activity, linking pallet identification, transport, destination verification, and storage accuracy. Although important, repeated pallet cycles can be monotonous while requiring attention to navigation, scanning, and safety constraints. We present WAREPlay, a team based Augmented Reality (AR) gamified system that uses collective scoring, progress visibility, graded safety penalties, and spatially anchored guidance to support engagement in forklift warehouse operations. Unlike prior warehouse AR gamification mainly centered on order picking or productivity support, WAREPlay targets inbound pallet handling and evaluates a cooperative safety aware gamification layer against a non gamified AR baseline with the same task pipeline. The interface was evaluated through a controlled VR-based simulation of an AR guidance concept. In a within-subject study with 27 participants, WAREPlay significantly reduced perceived mental and physical demand, improved self-assessed performance, and yielded higher perceived safety and motivation. Perceived efficiency was not significantly different. Objective logs showed comparable task times and a descriptive, non-significant reduction in location errors. Twenty-five of 27 participants preferred WAREPlay. This work contributes WAREPlay as an implemented team-based logistics gamification system, reports its controlled evaluation against a non-gamified AR baseline, and derives design implications for motivational feedback in XR-supported industrial workflows.

In recent years, higher education institutions have increasingly encouraged the integration of e-learning methodologies to complement and enhance tradi-tional teaching practices. In line with this trend, the Polytechnic University of Marche has implemented formal regulations supporting the adoption of blended learning approaches across its programs. Within this context, the pre-sent study examines the implementation and impact of a blended e-learning strategy in the Computer-Aided Design course, part of the second-year curric-ulum of the Mechanical Engineering degree program. The primary aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of both the teacher’s and the students’ perspectives on the advantages and limitations of this teaching method. To gather empirical insights, students’ opinions were collected through an anonymous questionnaire administered at the end of the course, enabling a detailed analysis of their experiences, perceptions, and feedback.

The development of wearable rehabilitation devices requires the integration of en-gineering, healthcare, and design competencies, which are rarely addressed within traditional engineering education. This paper presents a competence-driven ap-proach to course design developed within the EDUWEAR project. A structured three-stage methodology, combining focus groups, surveys, and hands-on work-shop activities, was used to identify key competence gaps among students and professionals. Results highlight that the main limitations are not only technical, but also related to clinical understanding, systems integration, and interdiscipli-nary collaboration. In response, an interdisciplinary course was designed, inte-grating human-centred design, digital fabrication, sensing technologies, and vali-dation processes within a blended and practice-based learning framework. The course structure combines online modules with hands-on activities in FabLab and real-world contexts, promoting learning-by-doing and collaborative problem solving. The paper contributes a replicable framework for aligning competence gap identification with course design in emerging interdisciplinary domains, with particular relevance for engineering and product design education.

Generative Design (GD) is becoming an increasingly relevant topic in engineering practice, combining optimization algorithms, simulation tools, and AI-assisted approaches to generate design solutions that satisfy predefined requirements. Despite its growing industrial importance and its close connection with Additive Manufacturing (AM) within the Industry 4.0 framework, its adoption in engineering education is still limited and only partially documented, particularly in mechanical and industrial engineering programs. This paper presents a narrative review of the current state of GD education. A Scopus search initially identified 126 publications, which were progressively screened to obtain 12 contributions directly addressing educational applications of GD in engineering. The review is complemented by two teaching experiences developed at Italian universities. At the University of Udine, GD is introduced as a module within a bachelor’s course on Technical Drawing and CAD. At the University of Naples Federico II, a dedicated master’s course focuses on Bio-Inspired Generative Design for Additive Manufacturing. Drawing on both the literature and these educational experiences, the paper proposes a preliminary two-level framework for the integration of GD into engineering curricula. The framework distinguishes between an introductory approach aimed at raising awareness of GD concepts at the undergraduate level and a more specialized approach focused on advanced design and optimization methods at the graduate level.