OpenVerse Observatory | XR, Virtual Worlds & Metaverse Directory

Displaying 1 - 24 of 48, in alphabetical order

6G-XR

Extended reality (XR) includes virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. These immersive technologies merging the physical with the virtual are now upon us, thanks largely to beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G technologies. The EU-funded 6G-XR project will develop an experimental research infrastructure enabling the demonstration and validation of numerous B5G and 6G technologies/architectures.

AccessVR

AccessVR will fill the gap in the scientific knowledge on how people with physical disability – particularly people with limited upper- and lower body mobility – access and experience Virtual Reality (VR) technology. Many of the several million physically disabled people in the EU cannot tap into the huge potential of the technology for leisure, education, and work: VR systems are commonly designed for non-disabled human bodies, but as a result of the complexity of VR technology, fundamental accessibility barriers for physically disabled users remain unaddressed.

ADVHANDTURE

In recent years, there has been a surge in tactile technologies offering a range of haptic sensory experiences. However, virtual reality systems still struggle to deliver convincing tactile sensations for 3D interaction. They fall short in three critical aspects: rendering multiple haptic stimuli coherently in space, achieving temporal integration compatible with interactive framerates, and preserving user immersion in virtual worlds.

AI4WORK

In a rapidly evolving technological landscape, the collaboration between humans and machines poses a pressing challenge to the modern workforce. As artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics become integral to various industries, striking the right balance between human ingenuity and machine efficiency remains elusive. The need for optimal work-sharing methods becomes paramount, spanning from manual labour to intricate decision-making processes.

ASP-belong

Poor mental health and social isolation are on the rise among young people, exacerbated by the pandemic. Supportive relationships play a crucial role in mental health and addressing loneliness. Schools currently lack evidence-based interventions to foster a sense of belonging. The EU-funded ASP-belong project has developed Augmented Social Play (ASP), a digital mental health intervention that utilises smartphones to facilitate group experiences.

AVATAR

Surgeons rely on medical images to make critical decisions. Poorly interpreted MRIs and CT scans can result in unnecessary surgeries, more invasive procedures and slower recoveries. The ERC-funded AVATAR project introduces a revolutionary surgical solution as a highly effective productivity tool for medical specialists and surgeons. It features the first-ever photorealistic XR viewer of 3D medical images, powered by advanced machine learning algorithms and data visualisation techniques. The project aims to improve medical decision-making without investing in new equipment or personnel.

B-prepared

In case of a disaster, 'plan A' is that first responders arrive and save everyone. Until then, everyone needs a 'plan B'. Despite existing learning materials and disaster alert apps available to the public, neither those solutions nor traditional information campaigns significantly increased citizen preparedness, and live drills are extremely expensive. The EU-funded B-prepared project aims to teach disaster survival skills to European citizens.

BrainCode

The BrainCode project proposes novel compression techniques for extended reality (XR) data which are energy efficient while ensuring a reconstruction quality that satisfies the human visual semantic perception. There are several challenges concerning the complexity and the power consumption of the latest video compression standards which have not yet taken into account by the signal processing community. We propose that these challenges can be addressed by machine learning based architectures in order to avoid the exhaustive comparisons between sequential frames.

CAPHE

Virtual reality (VR) is creating new opportunities to experience events in immersive and creative ways. In the realm of art and artistic communities, VR can enhance interaction and somatic participation between artists and communities from different cultural backgrounds. The MSCA-funded CAPHE project will develop a new framework of VR participation as a pioneering, engaging way of sharing knowledge through multimodal communication in different fields like humanities, arts, technology and education.

CORTEX2

Video conferencing and mixed reality are both forms of communication but based on very different technologies. Video conferencing does not provide an in-person feel to meetings and has several other drawbacks. In contrast, mixed reality has emerged as a technology that can provide a genuine feeling of presence, and better collaboration tools. The EU-funded CORTEX² project will bridge the divide between widespread video conferencing tools and innovative XR-based solutions to democratise the adoption of next-generation eXtended Reality tele-cooperation by industrial sectors and SMEs.

CREATIVR

Recent global developments have sparked a seismic shift in how organisations define their workspaces. Driven by the forces of digitalisation, pandemic-induced remote work experiences, and the growing need for workforce flexibility, organisations are breaking free from traditional brick-and-mortar boundaries. This transformation has given rise to a new concept of organisational space that extends far beyond the confines of a physical office.

CyberSecDome

Organisations across the sectors significantly benefit from digital transformation to support evolving business models, services and customer experience. Despite the benefits of digital infrastructure adoption, there are numerous security challenges that could pose any digital disruption and risks for the critical service delivery and overall business continuity.

DIDYMOS-XR

The digital transformation and the availability of more diversified and cost-effective means for 3D capture have led to the creation of digital twins also for physical environments. Based on such digital twins, various applications could be built using real-time data from real-world environments, serving as a blueprint for smart cities and for improving performance and efficiency across industries. Currently, creating high-fidelity digital twins is costly, and their update requires manual intervention. Furthermore, data integration from heterogeneous sensors is challenging.

e-DIPLOMA

The COVID-19 pandemic placed students and teachers online. Now the question is how to improve and enhance the quality of distance learning experiences. While the shift to online learning during the pandemic was sudden, it was unavoidable. It also exposed the many challenges, such as inadequate technology infrastructure, lack of training for teachers and limited access to technology for some students.

EO4EU

Vast amounts of data are produced each day and become available via various channels, significantly enhancing our lives. The EU-funded EO4EU project will focus on Earth observation (EO) data, aiming to make it accessible to a larger audience, from professionals to citizens. To that end, it will deliver a set of advanced tools and methods leveraging AI and the FAIR data principles that will bridge the gap between domain experts and end users, encouraging wider EO data exploitation.

EXPERIENCE

In recent years, virtual reality (VR) has found more commercial applications and larger market share. However, VR still holds great potential to enhance interaction and expression. The EU-funded EXPERIENCE project seeks to use VR to enhance daily life by allowing brand new ways of social interaction and personal expression. It will develop the technology required to help users easily create and manipulate their own unique VR environments, significantly improving their virtual experiences.

FLUAR

Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) uses near-infrared (NIR) sensors to detect and display fluorescent biomarkers indicating the exact location of tumors. But the current cameras and monitors force surgeons to match the images to the body via subjective comparisons. This long, error-prone process reduces the accuracy, and increases operating times and cost. This is a critical problem in cancer surgery where complete tumor removal is key to prevent recurrence, e.g. a yearly incidence of <0.5 M breast cancer patients requires over 2.8 M surgeries.

GuestXR

User content often stimulates antisocial interaction and abuse, representing a threat to vulnerable adults, teenagers and children. The EU-funded GuestXR project intends to develop a socially interactive multisensory platform system that uses extended reality – virtual and augmented – as a vehicle to connect people for immersive, synchronous face to face interaction with positive social results. The project will introduce a critical innovation consisting of the intervention of artificial agents that learn over time to assist the virtual social gathering in realising its purposes.

HEAT

Hybrid Extended reAliTy (HEAT) is born to pave the way for the next-generation distributed experiences by addressing major challenges to make those experiences that up to now could only be in our imagination: being realistically immersed (holo-ported) within real captured omnidirectional and navigable hyper-realistic 3D spaces, feeling their atmosphere, and sharing these experiences with others, regardless of their location.

HXR

Lifelike 3D images (holograms) have the potential to revolutionize key sectors, such as manufacturing, healthcare, consumer electronics, and creative industries. However, it has not yet been possible to create usable holographic displays for commercial applications due to the low visual quality of digital holograms and the very limited field of view of holographic projections. Swave is developing HXR, the world’s first spatial light modulator specifically designed for digital holography.

INDUX-R

In an intriguing historical twist, Joseph von Fraunhofer’s once-secret optics work contrasts with today’s dominance of non-European players in industrial extended reality (XR). With this in mind, the EU-funded INDUX-R project aims to revolutionise Europe’s XR industry. Facing fragmentation and investment challenges, INDUX-R proposes a human-centric XR ecosystem, empowering users and fostering innovation. It focuses on core XR technologies and addresses multi-user challenges with scalable 5G architecture and secure IoT networks.

LUMINOUS

LUMINOUS aims at the creation of the next generation of Language Augmented XR systems, where natural language-based communication and Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLM) enable adaptation to individual, not predefined user needs and unseen environments. This will enable future XR users to interact fluently with their environment, while having instant access to constantly updated global as well as domain- specific knowledge sources to accomplish novel tasks. We aim to exploit MLLMs injected with domain specific knowledge for describing novel tasks on user demand.

MASTER

The transition to Industry 4.0 required the adoption of new robotic and automation tools in its processes. The adoption of such tools requires that workers understand how to use and take advantage of them. Additionally, extended reality (XR) technologies have reached sufficient maturity to enter the domain of industrial applications and, among other things, support the training of operators.

MAX-R

Extended reality has the potential to radically disrupt traditional media. The EU-funded MAX-R project aims to help develop new extended reality (XR) programming by creating new tools for generating, processing and delivering content in real time. The project’s software pipeline will use open APIs as well as open-file and data-transfer formats to encourage development and support the integration of new open-source and proprietary tools.

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