Designed around the theme “New Realities Outpace Training – XR Closes the Gap”, a one-day event hosted by REISER Simulation and Training GmbH and Varjo brought together selected participants from the aerospace, defence, civil aviation and training communities last Wednesday (24 June).
The event, which was held at REISER’s facility south of Munich, brought together operators, integrators, decision-makers and technology experts to explore how high-fidelity extended reality (XR) simulation can keep pace with rapidly evolving operational demands across land, air and civil aviation domains.
Rather than presenting XR technology as a future concept, REISER and Varjo invited guests to experience modern XR-based training solutions first-hand, discuss their operational value and exchange perspectives on real-world integration.
The event centred on one key question, namely: how can training systems keep pace with rapidly evolving technological, operational, and mission requirements? Through expert presentations, live demonstrations and peer exchange, participants explored how mixed reality can help close the gap between emerging requirements and existing training capabilities.
The event featured expert presentations by Nico Lange, founder and Director of the IRIS Institute for Risk Analysis and International Security and Senior Fellow at CEPA in Washington DC; Hanno Tabeling, VP Landsimulation Medium Forces at Rheinmetall; and Florian Rabe, Managing Director of DRF Academy. Their contributions addressed the changing security environment, the future of multi-domain mission training and XR simulation from an operator’s perspective.
Live demonstrations gave participants the opportunity to experience XR-based training solutions and discuss practical deployment, real-world integration and future training requirements with experts from REISER, Varjo, Rheinmetall and the user community. Demonstrations included the REISER H135 XR Simulator, the Rheinmetall Virtual Procedure Trainer (VPT), and various mixed reality demos from Varjo, including AI-based smart segmentation and a counter-UAS training demonstration.
Martin Keil, REISER’s CTO, said: “Modern training systems must evolve in step with operational demands. XR-based simulation enables us to build a scalable and flexible training ecosystem that adapts to real-world requirements and delivers mission-ready forces.”
Varjo’s contribution underlined the role of high-performance XR technology in mission-critical training applications.
Valentin Storz, the company’s Chief Revenue Officer, said: “Mixed reality is no longer a concept we pitch to decision-makers – it is the infrastructure that enables militaries and civil security forces to scale training at a pace traditional methods simply cannot match. New threat vectors like drone warfare do not wait for ranges to be built, instructors to be hired, or NCOs to be trained. Our work with REISER demonstrates how high-fidelity XR delivers measurable outcomes today, and why the organisations that move fastest on synthetic training will outpace every threat that follows.”
The event reflected a strong common interest among organisers, speakers, partners, and participants in advancing immersive, high-fidelity training solutions for civil and military applications. By combining expert insights, live demonstrations, and direct exchange in an exclusive setting, the event created a strong platform for practical experience, professional dialogue, and follow-up discussions on the future of modern training.
Nico Lange said: “The security environment is evolving faster than most training systems can adapt. XR-based simulation is one of the most credible answers we have to that gap, and events like this show it is ready to be taken seriously.”
