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Strike Fighter League - The Sim is the Instrument

Tim “Monk” Miller, Founder & CEO, Strike Fighter League — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 12:34:36 GMT

The Strike Fighter League is the world's first professional air combat sport. Where traditional eSports lives entirely on the screen, SFL puts competitors into high-fidelity simulators so that mastery is measured in body and mind alike. We are not building a game. We are building a performance benchmark: a controlled, standardized environment where human performance is measured against the foundational skill set of fighter aviation. The simulator is the instrument. The pilots are the subject of measurement.

That distinction drives every hardware decision we make. It is also why Varjo matters to this story.

Tracking Built for Dynamic Environments: Polhemus VIPER Now Supports XR-4

Alyssa Presley, Marketing Manager at Polhemus — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 10:38:01 GMT

Getting started with the Varjo XR-4 Series: a practical setup guide

Anna Korhonen, Solutions Engineer, Varjo Alpha Team — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 08:40:46 GMT

As a solutions engineer on the Varjo Alpha team, I spend a lot of my time in the room with customers on the first day a headset arrives. And I've learned that the gap between a great XR session and a frustrating one almost always comes down to a handful of basics done well: a clean headset, a proper fit, and a quick calibration.

None of it is complicated. But simple setup actions can create an optimal experience. So I put together this guide, and the video that goes with it, to cover the essentials for the XR-4 Series.

XR Closes the Gap: Inside the REISER-Varjo Experience Day in Munich

Valentin Storz — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 07:02:33 GMT

Designed around the theme “New Realities Outpace Training – XR Closes the Gap”, the one-day event hosted by REISER Simulation and Training GmbH and Varjo gathered around 75 selected participants from the aerospace, defense, civil aviation and training communities at REISER’s facility south of Munich.

The event brought together operators, integrators, decision-makers and technology experts to explore how high-fidelity virtual and mixed reality 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 firsthand, discuss their operational value and exchange perspectives on real-world integration.

The event centered on one key question: 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.

Expert Voices: Security, Mission Training, and the Operator Perspective

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, D.C.; Hanno Tabeling, VP Landsimulation Medium Forces; 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.

“Training is the decisive factor in military success. Forces win when they can rehearse complex environments and high stress situations before they face them. XR-based simulation finally gives us the ability to train at that level of realism and scale,” said Nico Lange, Founder and Director of the IRIS Institute for Risk Analysis and International Security and Senior Fellow at CEPA.

From Briefing Room to Cockpit: XR in Action

Live demonstrations gave participants the opportunity to experience XR-based training solutions and discuss practical deployment and future training requirements together with leading experts and the user community. Demonstrations included the REISER H135 XR Simulator, Rheinmetall’s SAR data-visualization simulation, and various mixed reality demos from Varjo, including a new AI-based smart segmentation.

"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,” said Martin Keil, REISER CTO.

The Organizations That Move Fastest Will Outpace Every Threat That Follows

Varjo’s contribution underlined the role of high-performance XR technology in mission-critical training applications.

"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," said Valentin Storz, Chief Revenue Officer at Varjo. "Our work with REISER demonstrates how high-fidelity XR delivers measurable outcomes today, and why the organizations that move fastest on synthetic training will outpace every threat that follows."

The event reflected a strong common interest among organizers, 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.

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Using AI to see your crew in VR

Fabian Seiler, Solutions Engineer, Varjo — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 11:44:12 GMT

At Varjo, our mission is to deliver the world's most realistic training experiences. As part of this mission, lately we have been exploring how AI models can be leveraged to push the boundaries of XR simulations. The introduction of People Occlusion (Beta) in Varjo Base 4.16 is another significant step toward truly seamless mixed reality and a showcase of how artificial intelligence can benefit immersive technology.

Eurosatory 2026: Everything still has to be trained on

Dorian Frayssinet, Area Manager, Varjo — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 08:55:28 GMT

Eurosatory is my home show. I cover France for Varjo, so Paris-Nord Villepinte is where a lot of my year quietly points, and this edition was the biggest the exhibition has ever staged.

Nowadays, I often hear negative and pessimistic discourse about the current positioning of France on the world stage. Eurosatory tells a different story. Pulling off an event this large reflects strong momentum in heart of my country and running it this cleanly is a serious organizational achievement. The COGES Events team and General Charles Beaudouin certainly earned the credit for that.

The industrial players who filled the halls were not coasting either, innovating and investing seriously, with European sovereignty running through almost every conversation. All of it pulled in the same direction, which made this the easiest edition to get a reading on in a while.

DSET 2026: what a $55 drone tells you about training

nick.williams@varjo.com (Nick Williams) — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 12:40:59 GMT

DSET 2026 is running at its new home, Cheltenham Racecourse, in the kind of sweltering heat the grandstands do nothing to soften. It has outgrown Bristol, and this is the biggest edition yet. The thing that struck me before any of the technology was who is in the room. The female presence this year is high, with women well represented among the attendees and speakers. DSET has a strong track record on this, and at a defence show it is worth saying out loud.

Why Counter-Drone Simulation Can't Wait

Juny, Combat Veteran — Wed, 20 May 2026 10:37:06 GMT

My name is Juny. I'm Uruguayan by birth, and for nearly two years I served as a member of the Ukrainian Special Forces, fighting on the front line from early 2023 through the end of 2024. I was wounded six times. The third, fourth and fifth time, it was an FPV drone, one of them put shrapnel in my leg.

My combat experience is exactly why I’m now working with AVS (Applied Virtual Simulation,) and helping to bring awareness to the already huge training requirement to better prepare infantry to defend themselves from lethal drones. I can’t stress how important it is that we work fast in this domain. What I lived through is no longer unique to Ukraine, and the window to prepare is shorter than most people think.

XR-4 or XR-4 Focal Edition? How to choose for your use case

Valeria Acevedo, Solutions Engineer, Varjo — Mon, 18 May 2026 07:47:22 GMT

Both the XR-4 and the XR-4 Focal Edition headsets are built on the same XR-4 platform, share the same 4K-per-eye mini-LED displays, and are used by some of the world's most demanding training and simulation programs. But the difference between them can make or break certain use cases. After spending time deploying both across aerospace, defence, and industrial programs, the decision is often simple.

A new format for Varjo Base updates

Anna Nilsson, Head of Design and Research, Varjo — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:18:10 GMT

With the release of Varjo Base 4.15, we’re introducing a new way of delivering updates through two release channels; Release Candidates and Main releases.

This change is a response to how Varjo Base is actually used today. Our customers rely on it in environments that are often complex, integrated, and highly specific. While we test extensively, there is always a gap between internal validation and real-world use. At the same time, many teams want access to improvements earlier, especially when those changes can enhance their workflows directly.