Project results are expected to contribute to at least one of the following expected outcomes:

• Realistic, creative and innovative characters, user-tailored artefacts, and Virtual Worlds for a better immersion and significantly improved user experience.
• Smart digital assistants and 3D chatbots for a safe and inclusive navigation.

Scope:

Generative AI, at the edge and integrated in devices, will bring better performance, a more personalised and a more immersive experience for an inclusive and wider adoption of Virtual Worlds. Small and frugal AI models would enable faster inference contributing to lower latency while improving security and privacy by processing data closer to the user, preserving EU Values. Smart digital assistants will accompany users throughout their journey within Virtual Worlds, bringing new innovative communication modalities, advancing collaborative intelligence and decision-making AI capabilities.

Innovation actions proposals are expected to address:

Generative AI – Realistic and innovative Virtual Worlds for a better immersion:

Proposals should use Generative AI to build on the users’ expectations to create either safe and inclusive virtual spaces, realistic environments, or creative and beyond reality ones. They should develop dynamic Storytelling and scenarios to enable creative content that is personalised leading to unique experiences for the users or shared with other users. They should also use AI to enable generation of personalised avatars aiming to provide seamless and more realistic immersive interaction.

Generative AI – Smart digital assistance for a safe and inclusive navigation in Virtual Worlds:

Proposals should develop smart people-centered and accessible digital assistants and 3D chatbots (AI-enhanced communicating 3D avatars), to for example, enhance training and education, remove language barriers or language disorders through instant translation, including sign languages, remove barriers to persons with disabilities, offer sentiment analysis and behavioural decision support systems, enable users to adapt to various interlocutors from various cultures, languages and backgrounds, contributing to navigate in inclusive and safe Virtual Worlds, while offering users new adapted learning modalities. When relevant, proposals can capitalise on latest developments in generative AI, to bring step change in explainable collaborative intelligence and decision-making capabilities by dedicated specific research.

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.

Proposals should involve the effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and SSH experts, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

This topic is implemented as a joint effort between the co-programmed European Partnership for Virtual Worlds and the co-programmed European Partnership on AI, data and robotics (ADRA), and all proposals are expected to allocate tasks for cohesion activities with both partnerships, including the CSA HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-17: Specific support for the Virtual Worlds Partnership and the Web 4.0 initiative and the CSA HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-HUMAN-18: GenAI4EU central Hub.

When possible, proposals should build on and reuse public results from relevant previous funded actions. Communicable results should be shared with the European R&D community through the AI-on-demand platform, and if necessary, other relevant digital resource platforms to bolster the European AI, Data, and Robotics ecosystem by disseminating results and best practices.

Proposals should also build on or seek collaboration with existing projects and develop synergies and complementarities with other relevant International, European, national or regional initiatives.