eXtended Reality for All

Project Information

XR4ALL

Grant agreement ID: 825545

DOI 10.3030/825545

Closed project

EC signature date 12 November 2018

Start date 1 December 2018

End date 31 August 2021

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost € 2 999 312,50

EU contribution € 2 999 312,50

Coordinated by

FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - XR4ALL (eXtended Reality for All)

Reporting period: 2020-06-01 to 2021-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Interactive technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) (Both together and other interactive technologies Referred as eXtended Reality – XR hereinafter in the document) are set to transform the ways in which people communicate, interact and share information on the internet and beyond. The industry is now at a stage where after years of research and development, it has reached a point where technology is accessible and allows large-scale market introduction. Every day, new XR applications emerge, new start-ups, increased investment, and they all build on the growing expectation of what VR & AR technologies can offer. XR is set to directly impact a larger number of European industries ranging from the cultural and creative industries, manufacturing, robotic and healthcare to education, entertainment and media, enabling new business opportunities

However, the European XR scene is fragmented and there is a risk that big US companies dominate the XR market (what they are already doing B2C).

XR4ALL ambitions to forge a competitive and sustainable ecosystem of European technology providers and users by pursuing the following objectives:
i) Establishing a well governed XR community and an XR forum within the community where intense dialogue and knowledge sharing takes place to strengthen the collaboration among the different stakeholders and act as the voice of the XR industry in Europe;
ii) Building a platform to gather and share knowledge, algorithms and tools for the development and use of new interactive technologies solutions;
iii) Launching an open call to attract, select XR tools developers in view of creating new tools and integrating them in the platform;
iv) Elaborating a common research agenda and fostering technology transfer and
v) Providing technical and financial support to third parties to develop their solutions and tools; resulting in a unique access point for innovators, SMEs and industrial companies interested in taking-up European XR technologies in their product and services.

All activities are carried out by a consortium of 5 partners with complementary expertise: Coordinator Fraunhofer HHI (XR research), EUN (cascading funding management, access to market and industry users), I3D (10 years of XR community building and events organisation), BCOM (XR platform building and integration) and LucidWeb (XR communication and community building with a strong focus on women in XR).

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

XR4ALL achieved its objectives as follows:
- A strategy for building the XR4ALL Community was established and members were continuously engaged. At the end of the project, XR4ALL counted 1185 members which were involved in several ways in the project activities;
- The XR4ALL web portal was designed and launched has served as the central place for informing stakeholders on the activities and opportunities offered by XR4ALL. The website was maintained and will be kept available for all our visitors after the end of the project;
- Two XR4ALL Annual Events were organized in December 2019 and December 2020 with more than 900 participants in total. This event will continue to bring stakeholders together after the end of the project as part of the Stereopsia conference;
- 31 XR Stars identified, selected and featured in our communication campaigns and annual events;
- The XR4ALL open call for proposals has been launched, out of which 50 projects were selected and funded with a total of €1.500.000. From the 50 selected projects, 25 were selected to develop their solution and 21 ended with a commercial solution and expect to generate revenues of €30,7 mln in 2022 and €175,8 mln in 2025. This represents 117 times the initial investment made;
- A mapping of research activities landscape and a review of ongoing research activities in XR on a global and European level was conducted and a “Landscape report” was prepared and made available to the community;
- A research agenda for the coming 3-5 years and a vision for the research in the next 5-10 years was developed with the involvement of experts from the XR4ALL community. The research agenda was made available to the community in an online Wiki;
- Support was provided to 140 XR entrepreneurs to improve their investment and partnering readiness by providing them the needed business skills (through online workshops and Venture Academies);
- Awareness of the potential of XR technologies among investors and industry players was raised to increase their up-take and investments for technology providers (3 webinars);
- Two brokerage and investment events were organised to connect technology providers with funding sources or industrial partners. As result of these events bringing together selected XR entrepreneurs and investors, we tracked 8 investments in companies that participated in the events with a total investments made amounting to €21,66 mln. The XR Investment events will be continued in the next years by seeking alternative funding sources and will continue supporting XR entrepreneurs;
- A “Dissemination & Communication strategy and implementation plan” (DCS) for the project was successfully elaborated, updated and implemented during the project. Social media channels for communication and dissemination were successfully launched and managed and diverse dissemination, communication and awareness raising activities (e.g. social media posts, newsletter, participation in events, articles posting, etc.) have been implemented according to the defined DCS. These activities have helped reaching out to more than 7.500 stakeholders, generate more than 3.368 followers on our social media channels;
- As a continuation of the XR4ALL activities, the partners have created a Non-For-Profit Association (XR4EUROPE), which will continue with several European XR clusters some of the work initiated by XR4ALL.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

XR4ALL results and impact:
- A community established with more than 1185 members involved in several ways in the project activities;
- The XR4ALL portal will be transited towards XR4Europe.eu after the end of the project;
- Two XR4ALL Annual Events gathering more than 900 participants in total. This event will continue to bring stakeholders together after the end of the project as part of the Stereopsia conference;
- An open call for proposals selected 50 projects and funded with €1.500.000. Out of the 50 selected projects, 25 developped their solution (an MVP) and 21 ended with a commercial solution and expect to generate revenues of €30,7 mln in 2022 and €175,8 mln in 2025. This represents 117 times the initial investment made;
- An XR "research agenda" and “Landscape report” developed with the involvement of experts from the XR4ALL community and made available to the community;
- 140 XR entrepreneurs supported to improve their investment and partnering readiness and 2 brokerage and investment events organised to connect technology providers with funding sources or industrial partners. As result we tracked 8 investments in companies that participated in the events with a total investments of €21,66 mln.;
- As a continuation of the XR4ALL activities, the partners have created a Non-For-Profit Association (XR4EUROPE) which will continue with several European XR clusters some of the work initiated by XR4ALL.

XR4ALL logo