The European research project IRIS-XR – Immersive Realism through Integrated Sensing and Optics for eXtended Reality – held its kick-off meeting on 11 and 12 June 2026. The project develops innovative photonic and AI-based technologies for next-generation extended reality systems, with the aim of enabling more natural, efficient and immersive interaction in virtual and augmented environments.

IRIS-XR combines advanced display technologies with integrated sensing and intelligent perception. Key developments include display-integrated infrared illumination for eye tracking, event-based depth sensing for hand and gesture analysis, and AI-based methods for the joint interpretation of gaze, hand movements and the surrounding environment. The resulting technologies will be integrated into a new XR hardware and software platform designed to improve interaction quality while reducing latency, cognitive effort and energy consumption.

DFKI contributes its expertise in computer vision, machine learning and human-centred XR. The Augmented Vision research department leads work on egocentric hand and gesture analysis, contributes to the integration and orchestration of multimodal sensor data, and is responsible for the technical validation of the developed platform. The technologies will be evaluated in application scenarios covering healthcare, flight simulation and automotive use cases.

Duration: 01.06.2026 – 31.05.2029
Programme: Horizon Europe – Research and Innovation Action (RIA)
Research Department: Augmented Vision
Partners: DFKI, Varjo, VoxelSensors, ITI, Mercedes-Benz, Reiser, University College Dublin, Australo,
Coordinator: Dr. Alain Pagani
Research topics: Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence, Extended Reality, Human-Computer Interaction, Eye Tracking, Hand and Gesture Analysis

Contact: Dr. Alain Pagani