XR in Medicine: From the Dev Floor to the Operating Room

XR technologies are beginning to reshape surgical navigation, rehabilitation, and education but real-world adoption remains limited. This workshop and paper explore XR's translational challenges through a clinician-centered lens. Grounded in our experience developing an intraoperative XR system, we advocate for a biodesign-first approach. We highlight where XR succeeds, where it fails, and why deep clinical integration, not necessarily technical novelty, drives real impact. The workshop brings together clinicians, engineers, and researchers to examine real clinical use cases in robotic surgery, physical therapy, training, and remote care. Through breakout discussions, we'll critically assess where XR genuinely improves outcomes, and where it does not. This session is especially relevant to developers seeking real-world constraints, researchers looking to ground their tools in practice, and clinicians interested in shaping the next generation of medical interfaces. Attendees will leave with not only new collaborations but a practical framework for translational XR: one that builds not for XR's sake, but for patient impact.