Advanced and Innovative hardware components for Virtual Worlds (RIA) (Virtual Worlds Partnership)

Through the European Partnership on Virtual Worlds, Europe will drive investment in advanced hardware, immersive interaction, and seamless integration across the Telco-Cloud-to-Edge continuum, enabling lifelike multisensory experiences and fully interoperable platforms. These efforts will enhance Europe’s capacity to innovate, deploy, and scale trustworthy virtual worlds, thereby strengthening competitiveness, resilience, and alignment with EU values.At the same time, a robust Web 4.0 architectural framework — underpinned by open-source solutions and shared standards — will be essential to ensure interoperability, decentralisation, and trust. By deepening Europe’s engagement in international digital standardisation, the Union will help shape global norms in line with its strategic interests, technological sovereignty, and core values.

Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in both Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) falling under this destination. For additional information please see “Restrictions on the participation of legal entities established in China” found in General Annex B of the General Annexes.

Expected Outcome:

Projects are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

• Innovative and advanced XR hardware, advanced headsets, screens, wearables and haptic components, sensors and actuators, advanced chips for a deeper and closer-to-reality immersion, stimulating all human senses.

Scope:

In the recent years, hardware for Virtual Worlds made major breakthroughs, democratising headsets, sensors, actuators or haptic equipment. To keep this momentum and advancing further, new generation of XR equipment, wearable solutions and haptic components, as well as non-invasive brain computer interfaces for handsfree interaction, hardware or technologies will put the users at the very centre of virtual experiences, for even greater and realistic immersion, aiming at blurring the lines between the real and digital environments. To ensure this next generation of engaging and lifelike immersion, all senses must be stimulated (sight, hearing, feel, touch, smell), for a fully immersive close-to-reality experience. Users will be submerged with realistic sensations making the experience as immersive as possible.

Proposals should investigate novel scientific approaches or push the limit of existing ones to improve the synchronization and integration of the different modalities.

Proposals will integrate various components in fully tested devices, demonstrating the usefulness and efficiency of their system in illustrative scenarios in the industrial and societal contexts.

Proposals should focus on performant, reliable, miniaturised, interoperable advanced and innovative technologies, with inclusivity, energy consumption and energy efficiency at the centre of concerns.

This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

The Consortium should pay attention to developing solutions that are reliable, robust and interoperable. Proposals should leverage existing open standards and technologies in the domain of Virtual Worlds, while contributing to ongoing standardisation work.

Beneficiaries that intend to transfer ownership or grant an exclusive licence must formally notify the granting authority (i.e. DG-CNECT and HaDEA) before the intended transfer or licensing takes place and the granting authority may up to four years after the end of the action object to a transfer of ownership or the exclusive licensing of results.

We consider that proposals with an overall duration of typically 36 months would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other durations.

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on Virtual Worlds.

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