Beyond Pilot Projects: Scaling XR in Federal Emergency Services

XR is often framed as a tool, but in large public organizations, it must function as infrastructure. This talk examines how immersive training was implemented and scaled across a decentralized federal emergency service, supporting thousands of responders without centralized classrooms or schedules. It explores how XR enabled asynchronous, risk-free training while integrating with existing curricula, governance structures, and operational realities.

The session focuses on where most promising pilots fail: scaling. It unpacks the real challenges encountered when moving XR beyond experimentation, including organizational buy-in, trainer trust, device logistics, accessibility, and sustaining quality across a diverse, time-constrained user base. The talk also presents measurable outcomes from real-world deployment, including improvements in training success rates, adoption, and return on investment.

Attendees will leave with a realistic, experience-driven blueprint for making XR work as long-term training infrastructure in complex public-sector and emergency response environments.