This years’ Innovate UK Immersive Tech Awards brought together hundreds of industry experts, academics, professionals, government representatives and students from across the boundless XR community to celebrate phenomenal multi-generational talents.
The high-energy atmosphere at the showcase and awards reception sparked many new connections while everyone jostled for the chance to experience this year’s finalists’ phenomenal virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) projects.
After months of waiting on tenterhooks as judges diligently deliberated and carefully evaluated work from the UK’s most promising undergraduates and non-university talents, we are delighted to finally reveal who won at the Innovate UK Immersive Tech Awards 2025 and share some exciting surprises!
The winners of the university categories
Best Immersive Game 🏆 The Warming Table
From left: Amy Chao; Kewin Skrzekut, Leyi Zhou and Yiping Li of London College of Communication, University of the Arts London; Asha Easton.
Not in the photo is Kris Harwood who was also a member of the award-winning team.
Creative XR Storytelling 🏆 Sonderambla
From left: Asha Easton; Tomis Fras of London College of Communication, University of the Arts London; Amy Chao
Sensory 🏆 Sensing Nature
From left: Amy Chao; Tianyuan Zhang of Goldsmiths, University of London; Asha Easton
Technical Innovation 🏆 microGEXT
From left: Asha Easton; Xiang Li of Robinson College, University of Cambridge; Amy Chao
UX & UI Design 🏆 The Future of Child Safety in the Metaverse
From left: Amy Chao; Cristina Fiani of School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow; Asha Easton
Two more fantastic university student projects were awarded on the night
Jury Prize 🏆 The Dunwich Rose
From left: Asha Easton; Emily Godden of Anglia Ruskin University; Amy Chao
Best Undergraduate Project 🏆 Fire-MR: Mixed-Reality Fire Safety Training Simulation
From left: Asha Easton; Virej Dasani of University of Liverpool; Amy Chao
Internship prize winners
We are pleased to announce that the undergraduates who won the paid internships with our amazing industry partners are:
Yu-Shu (Sam) Hsu, MSc Immersive Technologies of the University of Bristol. Yu-Shu was selected for his technical skills for the 13-week internship with Snap Inc. and Qi Pan, Director of Computer Vision Engineering at Snap, was delighted to present Yu-Shu with Snap’s new AR glasses!
Kewin Skrzekut, MA 3D Computer Animation of London College of Communication, University of the Arts London was proudly announced by Martin McDonnell, CEO & Co-Founder of Soluis Group, as the company’s newest intern. Kewin was selected for his wide range of abilities that are well suited to the company’s dynamic environment and ground-breaking projects.
Leyi Zhou, MA Virtual Reality, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London gracefully accepted the three-month paid internship with StoryLab Research Institute from real-time 3D developer at Anglia Ruskin University, Christopher Nightingale.
Another exciting first for our awards initiative, is a triple award winner! In addition to being awarded one of the five university categories above, Tomis Fras of London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, was also awarded two paid internship positions! His professional career will begin with a joint internship with Wales Millennium Centre and Sugar Creative Studio, after which Tomis will begin a permanent graduate position with Arup.
From left: Amy Chao; Will Humphrey, Creative Director at Sugar Creative Studio; David Massey, Senior Producer at Wales Millennium Centre; award winner Tomis Fras; David Edge, Director and Experiential Environments Practice Lead at Arup; Asha Easton
Career Breakout Showcase 🏆 Trinket
We are pleased to announce this years’ winner from the emerging talent community is Birmingham Open Media (BOM) alumni Clodagh Delahunty-Forrest.
XR Educator Award 🏆 Dr. Atif Mohammed Ghani
In another first for this one-of-a-kind awards initiative for the XR community that received more than 80 nominations in just a few weeks, we are delighted to announce the winner of the new XR Educator Award as Dr. Atif Mohammed Ghani, Associate Lecturer Communication MFA and Digital Direction MA at the Royal College of Art. This award offered a touching and heartwarming moment for many as we were able to commemorate a dear friend in Daniel Dyboski-Bryant whilst recognising visionary educators in the UK who champion a more connected, inclusive, and technologically empowered world.
We would like to also give a very special mention to Sylvia Xueni Pan, Professor of Virtual Reality at Goldsmiths, University of London as runner up for this award. It was a very close call!
While Amy Chao and Asha Easton presented the awards, winners were welcomed to the stage with an introduction from XR pioneer and entertaining awards’ MC, Muki Kulhan. In addition to trophies and internships, our winners have also been awarded passes for this weeks’ inaugural SXSW London and some will have the opportunity to demo their showcase projects at an exclusive WIIT (Women in Immersive Technologies) and Igloo Vision event.
Commenting on how this initiative has opened up career opportunities, finalist Giorgos Karambasis Rodriguez of Kingston University London said that having the Innovate UK Immersive Tech Awards on his CV helped him to get a new job, and Kewin Skrzekut shared with us that he has also had interest from other companies in addition to the internship he won.
Cited as an amazing opportunity to network and discover new ways of thinking by numerous guests throughout the evening, Asha Easton and Amy Chao of the Innovate UK Immersive Tech Network reflect on the celebration of talent:
“These awards present a brilliant way to give-back to everyone in the XR community, and we are incredibly grateful and proud to continue to inspire innovation and collaboration that would help to identify solutions to real-world challenges. We have high hopes for all our entrants whose talent absolutely sparkles, and we can’t wait to see what’s around the corner!”
Huge thanks to everyone who supported us and celebrated with us on the night – you have all made this year’s awards a very successful memorable event. Congratulations once again to our awards finalists, winners and internship partners; we can’t wait to see what you work on next!
Details of the 2026 awards will be released in due course and if you would like to get involved, please contact the Immersive Tech team.
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