Santeri Saarinen

Santeri Saarinen, M.Phil. in Interactive Technology, is R&D Lead and Technology Specialist at Helsinki XR Center and Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Helsinki XR Center if the leading XR developer hub in Europe operated on public funding. They support early-stage startup teams, conduct research and development activities and support Finnish and European ecosystem around Metaverse, XR and other new technologies. Before joining HXRC, Santeri worked as a researcher at Tampere Unit for Computer-Human Interaction at University of Tampere. Santeri has more than 13 years of experience with technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, speech and gesture interaction, mobile technologies and game engines. His latest research projects have centered around educational VR software for healthcare, green energy, public performances and industrial training. Santeri is on the Board of Directors for XR4Europe association, part of the advisory board for Finnish Metaverse Initiative and founding member of EU Commission’s VR/AR Industrial Coalition. He also works as an expert reviewer for Horizon Europe applications and frequently acts as a keynote speaker on XR, metaverse and other related topics.