Advanced and Innovative hardware components for Virtual Worlds (RIA) (Virtual Worlds Partnership)
Horizon Europe · Grant topic
Summary
A Polish company can use this call for R&D.
Funds research into advanced XR hardware, wearables, haptics, sensors and chips enabling more immersive, multisensory virtual worlds.
- Who can apply
- Companies can lead: SME, large company, startup, research org, university.
- Amount
- €4.8M – €5.6M per projectTotal budget €39,000,000
- Deadline
- 18 Mar 2027 01:00 CETin 145 days
- Status
- Forthcomingopens 17 Nov 2026
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source.
Description
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 are expected to 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.
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.
Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects
Activities are expected to start at TRL 3 and achieve TRL 5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
Who can apply, in detail
- Applicant types
- SME, Large company, Startup, Research org, University
- Purpose
- Research and innovation
- R&D relevance
- 3 of 3
- Poland eligible
- Yes
- Country limit
- —
- Region
- Any
- Consortium
- Required
- Readiness level (TRL)
- —
- Topics
- Extended reality hardware
- Haptic interfaces
- Wearable devices
- Multisensory immersion
- Non-invasive brain-computer interfaces
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source. 23 Oct 2026
Conditions
Typed facts extracted from the source documents by Scindu's grant-data review. Each value keeps its own conditions. Unknown means unstated, not zero or unlimited.
- Eligible project scope
- Focus includes XR hardware, wearables, haptic components, sensors/actuators and advanced chips for immersive experiences; projects should investigate novel or improved approaches integrating modalities and demonstrate tested devices.
- Other condition
- Horizon Europe General Annexes describe personnel as actual costs unless declared as a unit cost; they separately list SME-owner/natural-person personnel unit costs, subcontracting as actual costs, purchases as actual costs unless unit cost, and FSTP only if provided by the specific call. Therefore these personnel categories do not turn an external service purchase or subcontract into a hire, and no specific FSTP entitlement is asserted for this topic.
- Other condition
- For A.1 employees/equivalent, the HE MGA states annual personnel costs divided by 215 as the daily-rate basis; declared day-equivalents must be identifiable and verifiable. The total declared day-equivalents per person across EU grants in a year cannot exceed 215, minus parental leave time where applicable.
- Other condition
- Exact source identifies budget-based HORIZON-AG; General Annexes describe actual-cost grants. Eligibility/reimbursement terms depend on applicable MGA and grant agreement.
- Other condition
- Inclusivity, energy use and efficiency are central concerns for reliable, miniaturised and interoperable technology.
Amounts and costs
- Indicative budget
- €39,000,000
Topic budget as stated in the portal's budget table. Lump-sum and per-project limits are in the call conditions.
- Eligible cost
- Directly contracted natural persons (under a non-employment contract) and paid seconded persons may be personnel costs when assigned to the action and meeting general eligibility conditions; they must work under conditions similar to employees, results belong to the beneficiary unless agreed otherwise, and actual costs must not be significantly different from employees performing similar tasks.
- Eligible cost
- Employees/equivalent may be charged as personnel costs only if general eligibility conditions are met, the person works for the beneficiary under an employment contract or equivalent appointing act, is assigned to the action, and remuneration-linked amounts arise under national law or the employment terms; this category is based on costs actually incurred.
- Eligible cost
- The HE MGA allows nonsalaried SME owners and natural-person beneficiaries to claim personnel costs as unit costs under Annex 2a, subject to general eligibility conditions; the AGA gives a daily-rate formula of EUR 8,745.4 divided by 18 days, multiplied by the applicable country-specific correction coefficient for calls opened on or after 30 July 2024. This is a unit-cost calculation, not an employee salary cap or rate guaranteed for every country.
- Funding intensity, maximum
- 100
General maximum for exact HORIZON-RIA code; topic and GA control; not a staff pay rate.
- Expected project funding, up to
- €5,600,000
Expected EU-contribution range only; the topic permits different requested amounts; not a hard award floor or cap.
- Expected project funding, from
- €4,800,000
Expected EU-contribution range only; the topic permits different requested amounts; not a hard award floor or cap.
- Topic allocation
- €39,000,000
Indicative topic allocation, distinct from expected EU contribution per project and staff costs.
Personnel and services
Other role
Staff cost the grant can fund
Potential fundable personnel category only when the grant conditions and Article 6.2.A.2 apply; assigned to the action, work under conditions similar to an employee, result belongs to beneficiary unless agreed otherwise, and actual direct-contract costs are not significantly different from comparable employees. It is a contractor engagement category, not employee payroll; no qualification, headcount, FTE, duration or rate is set by this topic.
Other role
Staff cost the grant can fund
Potential fundable personnel category under the applicable Horizon Europe General MGA, conditional on actual action assignment and all eligibility rules. This is not a call-specific required team, named job, or promise of award. Qualification, headcount, FTE, duration and salary are not stated by the topic. Employee remuneration must be actual and linked to national law/employment terms; daily-rate and reporting rules are described in the cited MGA.
Other role
Staff cost the grant can fund
Potential personnel unit-cost category where the applicable grant agreement includes Article 6.2.A.4. Applies only to an SME owner not receiving a salary or a natural-person beneficiary not receiving a salary, with work assigned to the action and general unit-cost conditions met. The daily unit rate is country-adjusted; it is not a salary and this packet does not assert a per-person EUR rate without the recipient country coefficient. No required headcount, FTE, duration or qualification is named in this topic.
Other role
Staff cost the grant can fund
Potential fundable personnel category only when the grant conditions and Article 6.2.A.3 apply; assigned to the action, works under conditions similar to an employee and actual costs are not significantly different from comparable beneficiary employees. This is a paid secondment, not a new employment contract with the beneficiary. No call-specific qualification, headcount, FTE, duration or pay rate is stated.
Source documents
Call facts
- Opens
- 17 Nov 2026
- Deadline model
- Single-stage
- Programme
- Horizon Europe · 2021 - 2027
- Call
- HORIZON-CL4-2027-04 · DIGITAL
- Types of action
- HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
- Keywords
- Display and sensing technologies
- Force-feedback
- Haptics
- Human perception
- Immersion
- Innovative optics and photonics technologies
- Integration
- Microdisplay
- Multimodal interaction
- Smell
- Speech
- Touch
- Vision
- Visualisation
- brain computer interface
- wearables
- Source
- ec.europa.eu
- Checked
- 23 Oct 2026
- Portal updated
- 19 Oct 2026
- Review status
- Partial review
- Reviewed
- 23 Oct 2026
This is a summary of the source page, not the official text. Eligibility, conditions and the submission system are at the source.