Today, VOXReality awarded €1 million in grant funding to five European XR projects that use AR/VR/MR technology to solve hurdles in human-to-human interaction for enterprise sectors. VOXReality awards the €1 million grant via equal €200k investments across a 1-year programme. The European Commission-funded VOXReality group focuses on aiding the development of XR services in the region.
Moreover, the funding looks to support XR projects integrating VOXReality’s AI models to assist with communication barriers in professional sectors, including education, career development, and manufacturing.
Spiros Borotis, the Project Coordinator, noted:
By extending application domains for cutting-edge XR technologies and finding new, innovative ways to leverage their capabilities, we have a unique opportunity to improve human-to-human interaction across multiple industries. Whether that be cultural heritage tours, dementia patient support or career development, it’s hoped that these five projects will demonstrate the value of AI-enhanced XR for breaking down persistent communications barriers and drive the continued adoption of this technology in new domains.
Sean Kane, Co-Founder and Chair of the startup network F6S, a global innovation network supporting the VOXReality program, also noted that “AI is the game-changing innovation of our lifetimes, but its capabilities are running ahead of delivering practical experiences.”
Kane continued:
The project led by VOXReality gives AI a virtual voice, vision and presence by bridging the gap between AI and XR innovation and facilitating collaboration between the two sectors. This funding will enable leading European innovators to combine AI with immersive XR experiences and transform day-to-day interactions.
Exploring the Awarded Firms
Of the awarded firms, MindPort GmbH & LEFX GmbH is gaining funding to enhance its real-time educational translation service: AIXTRA Programme. The funding will assist MindPort in introducing further AI integrations via virtual training partners. Moreover, the AIXTRA will leverage virtual assistance to support inclusive learning environments and multilingual remote training.
VOXReality is awarding €200k to the French firm DASKALOS APPS and the British CVCOSMOS to help the group co-developer of XR-CareerAssist, an XR career development solution.
The XR-CareerAssist allows students to engage with career development mentorship via immersive experiences that provide career feedback and advice, with additional VOXReality’s AI model integration to ensure student accessibility.
The third firm to gain €200k is Animorph Co-operative, which is developing CrossSense, an immersive automatic speech recognition software that explicitly aims to improve XR-based user interaction.
Moreover, XR Ireland and the Āraiši ezerpils Archaeological Park are receiving VOXreality funding to deploy the Augmented Reality Heritage Tours (VAARHeT) solution, which brings AR tourism experiences to each region. The solution leverages AI to translate tourist information into relevant languages while also personalising museum tours.
The final firms to gain €200k are the Greece-based firms KONNECTA SYSTEMS P.C. and IKNOWHOW S.A., which developed WELD-E, an XR solution targeting the manufacturing industry. WELD-E provides welding students with immersive remote welding training solutions, which again leverage AI to translate learning modules for a broad range of students.
As AI’s growth becomes more realised, the technology can boost XR alongside it by creating more accessible solutions. As firms like Meta aim to increase their AR product portfolio, AI will continue to find a home alongside emerging technology.
