Sensorama conducted a hands-on demonstration of the Alliance4XR platform at the State University “Kyiv Aviation Institute” on 14 May 2026 in Kyiv. The event was successfully delivered and engaged students from technical colleges, various faculties of the institute, as well as participants from other educational institutions representing both technical and creative disciplines.
The event was designed to further disseminate the project’s immersive platform and showcase its XR content to participants from academic, technological, and creative sectors, with a particular focus on reducing the gap between practical education and industry needs.
Overall feedback from participants was highly positive. Attendees emphasized the educational value of the platform, its ease of use, and its practical benefits for working with virtual twins in situations where access to real equipment is limited due to cost, availability, or scale constraints. Participants highly valued the ability to work with the platform from anywhere in the world, as well as the lack of requirement for specialized or expensive equipment (referring to the platform itself rather than the XR mode). They were inspired by the capabilities of the technology and suggested its potential application in adjacent fields, such as agricultural monitoring and other industry-related use cases.
Several challenges were identified, including the need for a larger open physical space for assembly-based XR tasks, improvements in object physics, expansion of platform functionality, and recognition of correct and incorrect user actions during training scenarios.
The workshop utilized 10 Meta Quest 2 headsets and a Starlink internet connection. Two groups of 10 participants each worked in one-hour sessions, supported by two instructors delivering the lecture and guiding the practical activities. In addition, participants had the opportunity to explore various XR training simulator examples already used in industry settings.
Key outcomes of the Kyiv workshop include strong participant satisfaction, valuable feedback for technical and infrastructural improvements, and increased interest in applying XR technologies within Ukrainian academic and innovation ecosystems.
Workshop event and evaluation
The event, held at the State University “Kyiv Aviation Institute” under the Faculty of Air Navigation, Electronics and Telecommunications, was dedicated to the course “Principles of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Construction.” It was conducted by lecturers Tetiana Solomakha and Nataliia Bilak and aimed to introduce students to the use of Extended Reality technologies in UAV engineering education.
There were about 30 attendees, the majority were students of various faculties of the Kyiv Aviation Institute, along with representatives from other institutions, including 2 college representatives, 2 students of Karpenko-Kary National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television, 3 lecturers, a representative of a production studio, and a representative of an XR solutions company. The workshop brought together students primarily from programs in aeronautical systems, avionics and control systems, automation, computer-integrated technologies and robotics, data analytics and artificial intelligence, as well as telecommunications and radio-electronic systems. Participants engaged in both theoretical instruction and practical activities using the Alliance4XR platform, where they interacted with 3D models during a simulated UAV assembly process in an immersive XR environment.
The session emphasized hands-on learning through room-scale XR experience, allowing students to explore complex technical structures without requiring physical prototypes in the classroom. Participants evaluated the UX/UI design of the immersive environment and gained a deeper understanding of UAV construction principles through direct interaction with digital twins and assembly workflows. Approximately two-thirds of the participants had prior experience using VR headsets, which contributed to faster adaptation during the session and smoother engagement with the XR activities. After the event, participants received certificates from Alliance4XR via email.
Beyond technical training, the workshop also aimed to assess the educational effectiveness and usability of XR-based learning tools in engineering education, fostering interdisciplinary skill development and supporting the integration of immersive technologies into modern aerospace curricula.
The workshop began with opening remarks by Roman Odarchenko, Dean of the Faculty of Air Navigation, Electronics and Telecommunications, followed by an online welcome from Alliance4XR representatives Konstantinos Smagas and Carmen Renovell, who introduced the project and its objectives.
The educational session continued with a lecture delivered by Maryna Tymchenko (Blue Arrow), covering the fundamentals of VR, AR, and XR technologies, immersive learning methodologies, international and Ukrainian implementation cases, current XR training trends, and the role of artificial intelligence, digital twins, and multiplayer environments in modern education and workforce development.
Alona Stulii (Sensorama Lab) then presented the Alliance4XR platform, demonstrating its main functionalities, including the Lesson Builder, Creations module, session creation workflow, Collections, Library, and upcoming platform features.
Following a coffee break, participants were divided into practical activity groups. In the Huawei laboratory, Michael Stelmakh (Sensorama Lab) facilitated a demonstration zone using Meta Quest 3 headsets, where attendees explored industrial XR applications, including Ferrexpo, DroneXR, and robotic arm training scenarios. Simultaneously, in the Ajax laboratory, Tetiana Solomakha and Nataliia Bilak from the Faculty of Air Navigation, Electronics and Telecommunications conducted a hands-on workshop on UAV assembly using the Alliance4XR platform. Participants completed both theoretical and practical XR training, interacting with digital twin models and performing step-by-step assembly procedures in an immersive environment.
After the practical sessions and a second coffee break, the event concluded with a discussion session led by Alona Stulii, during which participants shared feedback, discussed their experience with the platform, and completed evaluation forms.
In addition, video interviews were recorded with several participants after completing the interactive lesson on the Alliance4XR platform.
“For more engineering-oriented specialties, this was very helpful, because instead of immediately providing physical equipment that can be broken or damaged, we allow everything to be assembled in VR. It would be great to add a clear assembly sequence, outline the steps in text, or include an instructor’s voice guidance.” – Oleksii Antsybor, third-year student of the Department of Software Engineering at the Kyiv Aviation Institute.
“I recommend integrating this program into universities and even schools” – Marta Levchenko, third-year student of the Department of Cinematography, Karpenko-Kary National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television
“The application is clear, easy to use, and convenient, and everything works properly. It is quite engaging and interesting to learn something new and integrate it into the educational process.” – Ivan Biriukov, first-year student of the Department of Aeronautical Systems, specialization in Unmanned Aerial Systems
