Child Safety Initiative brings together thought leaders, subject matter experts, and visionaries to help build safe and inclusive experiences for children using Extended Reality (XR). Children start engaging with the internet and technology at a very young age without necessarily being aware of the risks associated with it. They can have access to inappropriate content, contact or easily be trapped into fraud transactions, phishing, virus and malware. In the case of immersive and augmented experiences, there are external hazards and a realistic component that may not suit all child users.
We at XRSI are committed to foster the positive elements associated with the use of Extended Reality (XR) and protect kids from risks associated with it.
We do this by conducting research, building standards, and establishing measures to keep kids safe in such worlds. We also provide guidance to empower families, teachers, and policymakers around emerging technologies to be more active and decisive in their roles.
Well known as the “Cyber Guardian”, founder of the XR Safety Initiative (XRSI), Kavya Pearlman is an award-winning cybersecurity professional with a deep interest in immersive and emerging technologies. Kavya is constantly exploring new technologies to solve current cybersecurity challenges. She is one of the Top 50 speakers in the cybersecurity industry and named Top 20 Cybersecurity influencers for three consecutive years 2018-2019-2020 by IFSEC Global. Kavya has won many awards for her work and contribution to the security community including:
Cybersecurity Woman of the Year 2020 by Cybersecurity Excellence Award Series
Cybersecurity Professional of the Year 2020 by Cybersecurity Excellence Award Series
Most Influential Cyber Security Leader 2020 by Acquisition International
40 under 40 Top Business Executives 2019 by San Francisco Business Times
Rising Star of the year 2019 by Women in IT Award Series
CISO Women Security Leader award from Middle East CISO Council
Minority CISO of the Year 2018 by International Consortium of Minorities Cybersecurity Professional (ICMCP)
Kavya has previously advised Facebook on third party security risks during the 2016 US presidential elections and worked as the head of security for the oldest existing virtual world “Second Life” by Linden Lab. Kavya constantly shares knowledge via webinars, conference talks and blog posts around Application Security, Cloud-native technologies, Machine Learning and immersive technologies such as XR.
Kavya holds a master’s degree network security from DePaul University, Chicago and many prestigious Information Security certifications including CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) from ISACA, and PCIP for Payment Card Industry Security Standard Council.
Kavya is truly passionate about her work and inspires many around the world including women and underrepresented communities in security and emerging technologies. Kavya is a board of directors for EM360, non-profit “Minorities in Cybersecurity”, an advisory board member for "CISO Council North America", Spark Mindset LLC, and cybersecurity advisory board member for the University of New Haven.
Maria Tamellini, is a co-founder of GamerSafer, a company designing technologies to help online games prevent fraud, toxicity and child exploitation. She was named a Headstream Innovator this year for creating positive, ethical and healthy technologies for teens and is a Child Safety co-chair at XR Safety Initiative.
Before GamerSafer, she had a successful CSR consultancy B Corp certified company and advised eighty businesses across the world. Maria is a UC Berkeley SkyDeck alumna, a Board Member of Latinas in Tech, holds an international certification in social business. She is also a gamer, a mom of two passionate gamers and an Ambassador for Women in Games.
Lawrence Wagner is an eight-year Army veteran who also is Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Spark Mindset. Lawrence has over ten years of project management experience, along with a background in military, cybersecurity, high-tech business, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and human design thinking.
Lawrence has a Master’s Degree in Business Management from Colorado Technical University. He also received leadership training from Leadership Pikes Peak Signature Program and Center for Creative Leadership Community Leadership Program and is currently serving on the Colorado Workforce Development Council. Now living in Colorado Springs, Colorado, he is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and is a huge Ohio State Buckeyes, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Cleveland Browns fan
In the modern world of extended reality and online personas in multiplayer video games, YouTube channels, and live streams, stories are no longer told just with words, but with experiences.
Those experiences translate into impactful moments that can create movements and foster conversations. They can manifest opportunities and educate students. They can inspire ideas and spark new relationships.
Tim's goal is to use video games, video production, XR, and event hosting to create these experiences and tell stories that have a lasting influence on those who encounter them. Strategizing content, developing adventures, and managing teams are all a means to present great stories, and Tim has the years of experience and drive to succeed in those areas.
Tamas is an instinctive, meticulous, and forward-thinking security professional with years of leadership experiences that have created a passion for implementing effective cyber security programs, best practices, strategies and technologies via a combination of exceptional thought leadership and innovative directions. Solid history utilizing out-of-the-box approaches, adapting to new business environments, and negotiating win-win agreements. Skilled strategist recognized for ability to incorporate innovative management techniques that result in enhanced business practices, increased productivity, and increase in security posture.
Through his career Tamas has held various roles across various security disciples and launched numerous successful programs that aimed at effectively reaching its goal vs “checking the box”. With his work in Third Party Security he aimed at not only minimizing risks unilaterally but to work with third parties to increase their security posture and help them be a better digital citizen. Across other disciplines he fought against CEI in collaboration with We Are Thorn and collaborated with the Technology Coalition to help distribute technology to companies to fight CEI.
Tamas has a passion for gaming and he is actively involved in various gaming communities like Minecraft. There he helps with the Modding community on Security, Privacy and general business direction. Secondly, Tamas works with YouTube, Twitch and Mixer content creators to enable them to connect with various businesses, advise on go to market strategies and analytics for community growth.
Our Resources For You
Captain Cuttle and The Quest for Virtual Safety!
On this adventure into Virtual Worlds together we will go on a Quest for Safety for all explorers. Together we will make sure everyone, even your friends and family, read the Explorer Notes so we can all play safe.
VR Safety Tips for Parents: 7 XRSI Recommendations
If you are a parent, a teacher, or a guardian, you may be confused about whether VR is safe for children. There are several ways for you to enable safe exploration of VR technology, with a key understanding in mind: It is your responsibility to guide your kids to facilitate safe, responsible, and healthy relationships with VR. With an objective to help facilitate safe exploration of VR for kids, XRSI has put together Top 7 Safety Tips for parents.
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Contact us
Would you like to join the initiative for Child Safety in XR? XRSI’s Child Safety Initiative is growing and we welcome your contribution! Please reach out and help build safer and healthier emerging technologies!
We believe children can explore immersive worlds as long as they have consistent safety, security, and privacy measures in place to safeguard their experiences. By supporting the XR ecosystem with standards, awareness programs, research, and innovation specially designed to safeguard children, we can prevent risks and harms in such experiences, and with that, we fulfill our mission of creating safe immersive environments in immersive worlds.
