The virtual reality (VR) space is booming, thanks to innovators who are pushing boundaries and redefining immersive experiences. While the tech industry often highlights male voices, women are increasingly making a presence felt in VR. This article celebrates the best women in VR, spotlighting the pioneers, creators, and advocates who are shaping this dynamic field.
The Most Influential Females in Virtual Reality (VR)
VR Promoters
Naysy
Naysy is a content creator who focuses on VR gaming and technology reviews and news. She often shares her experience of playing newly released games and provides detailed reviews and opinions to help viewers understand the gameplay, graphics, immersion and other details of the game. She also tests different VR devices, such as VR headsets, controllers, etc., and gives ratings or suggestions based on her own experience.
GamingLadyNici
Nici is a very dynamic and creative VR game content creator. Her channel content mainly revolves around video games, game live broadcasts, game guides, game reviews and entertainment content.
For Nici, games are not just a hobby, but also a lifestyle. She uses her humor and unique gaming skills to show everyone the charm of VR. If you like watching VR game live broadcasts, guides and interactive content, her channel is definitely worth following.
Tetiana
Tetiana is a video journalist & tech reviewer specializing in VR/AR/XR. She is not only a gamer, but also a PhD researcher in VR and the head of marketing at SideQuest. Tetina has achieved a lot in the field of VR games. She has also become a role model for many female players, encouraging more women to participate in the VR game community.
Cas and Chary XR
A couple passionate about VR, AR, and beyond. Cas and Chary dedicate as much time as possible to learn, share and inform about the amazing work done in the industry like hardware, games, deep dives, live streams, and more.
Jasmine Uniza
Obsessed with tech & gaming, Jasmine reviews everything from AR to VR. She likes helping others enjoy XR through easy-to-follow video tutorials and reviews. She owns the brand VR with Jasmine and co-founded the VR consultancy Impact Reality XR with two renowned leaders in the XR space to help companies navigate the changing Metaverse and XR industry landscape.
Phia
Phia from the Virtual Reality Show focusses a lot on social VR and VRChat. Watch her content for great tips and even better vibes.
Amanda Watson
Former Quest engineer Amanda Watson is a force in VR, working on CitraVR, a 3DS emulator port for virtual reality.
VR Pioneers
Nonny de la Peña – The Godmother of VR
Nonny de la Peña is known as the "Godmother of VR". She pioneered immersive news reporting, allowing viewers to experience news events firsthand through VR technology. For example, Hunger in Los Angeles (2012), a VR experience focusing on food insecurity, is also the world's first VR news documentary and was selected for the Sundance Film Festival.
Cathy Hackl – Queen of the Metaverse
Cathy Hackl is a globally recognized Metaverse Advisor, dubbed the “Queen of the Metaverse” by Forbes. She redefines how we understand the intersection of AI, immersive technologies, the future of computing, new hardware, and social change.
Hackl founded Future Dynamics, which provides VR/AR marketing strategies for brands such as Gucci and Nike, and has pioneered transformative projects in gaming, virtual worlds, and emerging technologies.
She has designed immersive experiences on platforms such as Roblox (Walmartland) and Fortnite, produced virtual concerts such as Electric Fest, and is a developer of Apple Vision Pro.
Hackl’s work has been recognized globally: she is an Ad Age Leading Woman of 2023, featured on the Forbes Latam 100 Most Powerful Women cover, listed among the Vogue Business 100 Innovators, named one of Newsweek en Español’s Top 25 AI Visionaries, and included in Bloomberg Línea's Top 100 Latin Innovators.
Dr. Helen Papagiannis – AR Expert for 20 Years
Dr. Helen Papagiannis is an AR expert who has worked in the augmented reality space for 20 years.
Helen is an invited member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Future Council on Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality and a WEF Technology Convergence Partner. In her cutting-edge talks, Dr. Papagiannis walks audiences through the present and future realities created and embodied by AR and AI. These technologies are not meant to replace our current tangible reality. Instead, Dr. Papagiannis shows all the ways AR and AI can augment human intelligence, allow us to focus on engaging in real spaces, and expand our creativity in new ways. Her TEDx talk is among the top 10 talks on augmented reality and gamifying our lives.
Helen’s bestselling book, Augmented Human, explores what AR and AI do best, highlighting the ways emerging technologies can extend human intelligence. Book Authority calls it the best book ever written about augmented reality.
Helen Situ – Oculus Product Manager
Helen Situ, Senior Product Manager at Meta’s Oculus, has been instrumental in launching consumer-friendly VR hardware. Her work on the Oculus Quest 2 democratized VR access, making it a household staple.
Catherine Allen – Immersive Storyteller
Catherine Allen is a UK immersive media expert and CEO and Chief Consultant at Limina Immersive, a leading voice in the development of AR, VR, AI and the Metaverse.
In 2016, Catherine founded Limina Immersive. Limina is a VR events and research company dedicated to bringing immersive technology to a wider audience, exposing tens of thousands of people to immersive media through VR cinemas and workshops across the UK and around the world, attracting over 15,000 attendees in total.
Sophia Moshasha – Metaverse & Immersive Technology Expert
Sophia is an expert in the metaverse and immersive technologies, and her work with the AR/VR Association continues to drive the XR industry forward through many podcasts, articles, panels, and events she leads. She has been actively involved in the immersive technology community since 2017, including serving as Vice President of the VR/AR Association DC Chapter, co-founding XR Women (connect, educate, and support women and allies who are making waves in Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality), and more.
Christina Heller – VR Changer
Christina is a multimedia producer and entrepreneur with 15 years of experience in the XR field. Huffington Post listed her as one of the five most influential women changing VR.
Christina is the founder and CEO of Metastage, the first US company to officially start using Microsoft Mixed Reality Capture, where she leads the team and creates projects for virtual and augmented reality, developing various XR content: VR games, AR ads, MR astronaut training, etc. Over the years, Metastage has worked with more than 200 companies such as H&M, Coca-Cola, NASA, etc., and received two Emmy Awards.
Elizabeth Churchill – UX Visionary
A psychologist and UX expert, Elizabeth Churchill (Director of UX at Google) has shaped VR’s human-centered design. Her research on social interactions in virtual spaces informs platforms like Meta’s Horizon Worlds, ensuring VR remains intuitive and inclusive.
Kavya Pearlman – Cyber Guardian
Kavya Pearlman, known as the "Cyber Guardian", is an award-winning cybersecurity expert and founder and CEO of X Reality Safety Intelligence. The XRSI focuses on the most critical aspects of immersive and emerging technologies, launching the first new XRSI privacy and security framework for the XR and spatial computing fields to address global privacy and safety issues.
Global Community
Women in VR
Women in Virtual Reality is a networking and advocacy organization founded in the summer of 2014 with a mission of increasing the visibility of women in virtual reality and attracting more women to the field.
XR Women
XR Women was established in 2020. It is a pioneering global community, dedicated to connect, educate, and support women and allies who are making waves in Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality. Their 150+ metaverse events over 3 years have showcased inspiring women from diverse verticals within the immersive technology industry, underscoring the crucial role they play in shaping the future of technology.
Challenges & Future
Despite progress, women hold just 26% of VR-related jobs (Deloitte, 2023). Barriers like funding gaps persist—female-led VR startups receive only 2% of venture capital. Initiatives like Women in XR and Girls Who Code are critical to fostering inclusivity.
Whether it’s the VR promoter like Naysy and Tetiana or VR pioneers like Nonny de la Peña Cathy Hackl, who are blazing new trails in the virtual reality space, women are redefining what’s possible in VR.
By highlighting these amazing women, we’re not only celebrating their achievements, but also inspiring the next generation to shape the limitless future of VR.
