Interactive technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR are set to transform the ways in which people communicate, interact and share information. The XR industry is now at a stage where after years of research and development, it has reached a point where technology becomes accessible and allows market introduction. 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 is set to risk through 6 objectives that correspond to the 6 work packages. Together, they will create a thriving European XR community: 1) unite the XR community through the XR Forum (community and supportive portal for knowledge exchange and visibility); 2) provide access to XR solutions on the XR Platform; 3) increase XR innovation through funding of sub-projects, to be integrated in the XR Platform; 4) monitor trends, visions and developments to create a SRIA; 5) boost the take-up of XR through a technology transfer strategy and VC involvement; and 6) carry out efficient dissemination activities to pave the way towards sustainability. 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).

Everything is digital today in the creative industries value network. The production process, often the products, the supply chains, and the communication with end users. The digital world calls for fast and cross-border re-use of creative content in different contexts, at different levels of granularity, for different purposes. However there is a dark lacuna when it comes to the digital content value network – everything is digital except the actual functioning of the rights supply chains to enable such re-use. When users wish to re-use content, it is very hard to find information on who to ask for permission, which licenses are available, and on which terms and conditions. This is where the ARDITO project comes into play. The project vision is that any user should be able easily to access such rights information. To obtain this, we need a Rights Data Network (RDN), a network of connected e-infrastructures to automate the exchange of information about rights. We do not start from scratch. The Linked Content Coalition initiative has defined the framework. The RDI project has demonstrated how such RDN could implement the LCC framework; and the Copyright Hub has provided a first implementation of such principles. The time to go live with actual services is now. A group of SMEs, well established in different creative sectors (books, audio-visual and images), a research centre and the Copyright Hub Foundation decided to promote the ARDITO idea to accelerate the development of the RDN, through optimising a range of content identification technologies (watermarks, content recognition, DOIs) for use in the RDN, integrating them into the Copyright Hub ecosystem, and developing new services, ready to bring to the market. The services are varied but share the same vision: to be an access point to the RDN offered to different markets. The final aim is to support SMEs in European creative industries in promoting new business ideas through monetising the re-use of their content.

5G promises increased connectivity, high data rates, and ultimately new services. The first 5G release standard in 3GPP will be available by June 2018 with pre-commercial deployment in Korea soon after. Whilst 5G will meet current demand, the exponential rise in demand for wireless connectivity will ultimately require Tbps connectivity in indoor spaces. The future network will use an all optical fibre core, and an ultra-high data rate wireless ‘bridge’ to the User. WORTECS focuses on the goal of ultra-high data rate wireless. High-frequency mm-wave (in the band above 90 GHz) radio communications will be combined with optical wireless communications in the infrared and visible regions of the optical spectrum, using novel heterogeneous networking concepts. A compelling virtual reality application will be used to showcase the capability of the WORTECS network. The project will deliver two Proof-of-Concept demonstrations. An ultra-high density LiFi/Radio network providing multi-Gbps to virtual reality terminals will be developed, and an ultra-high data rate Proof-of-Concept capable of Tbps networking will also be targeted. WORTECS brings together innovative, world leading LiFi SMEs Oledcomm (France) and PureLiFi (UK), Global telecommunications operator Orange (France) and research institutes BCOM (France) and IHP (Germany). These are joined by university research leaders in optical wireless communications from the University of Oxford (UK) and the University of Las Palmas (Spain). The consortium has the dual ambition of proposing new scientific solutions beyond 5G while transferring these technologies from research labs to industrial world. A successful project will both showcase technologies required to alleviate the radio spectrum crunch, and provide substantial benefits to EU citizens through the exploitation of results by WORTECS commercial partners.

Industry and construction 4.0 have high expectations of AR technologies in terms of productivity gains and quality improvement. Numerous proofs of concept demonstrate significant returns on investment but difficulties occur when it comes to large-scale deployment in operational dynamic environments exposed to variable lighting conditions. To overcome these limitations IT leaders (Google/Apple/Microsoft) investigate ARCloud technology in building a 3D map of the environment in the cloud which can be updated and shared by any AR device, allowing collaborative AR experiences and a more robust and accurate 3D registration. Unfortunately, the early-stage ARCloud implementations do not fully meet industry and construction 4.0 requirements and European players may face a lock-in situation if no sovereign solution is proposed to them. ARtwin project aims to provide European Industry and Construction 4.0 with a ARCloud platform that meets their needs. This platform deployed on a private distant or/and edge cloud ensures the privacy of information and offers three key services: (i) an accurate and robust 3D registration for any AR device in large-scale and dynamic environments, allowing to present relevant information to workers at the right time and place, (ii) reduction of the difference between the physical and digital world by continuously maintaining the Digital Twin/BIM model based on vision sensors available in the factory or on construction sites, (iii) display of complex 3D augmentations on any AR device by remotely rendering them in the cloud with ultra-low-latency. The ARtwin platform and services will be validated in operational environments through two use cases in Industry 4.0 and a use case in Construction 4.0. The results of the format of the 3D map stored in the cloud will be submitted to standardization bodies to prevent lock-in situation with few vendors and encourage an ecosystem with a diverse range of solutions providers (small players, academics, etc.)

Key industrial sectors e.g. automotive, are rapidly transformed by digital and communication technologies leading to the fourth industrial revolution. New ones are in the making, e.g. Smart Cities, which inspire a new breed of applications and services. The salient characteristic of these sectors, known as verticals, is that they are rapidly becoming open ecosystems built on top of common physical infrastructures and resources. This requires a high degree of technological convergence among vertical industries empowering them with enhanced technical capacity to trigger the development of new, innovative products, applications and services. 5G network infrastructures and embodied technologies are destined to “become a stakeholder driven, holistic environment for technical and business innovation integrating networking, computing and storage resources into one programmable and unified infrastructure”. It is this 5G vision that when it is further projected to accommodate verticals raises a number of technical issues Motivated by them, 5GinFIRE project aspires to address two interlinked questions: - Q1: How such a holistic and unified environment should look like? - Q2: How can 5GinFIRE host and integrate verticals and concurrently deal with reconciling their competing and opposing requirements? Addressing these key questions, 5GinFIRE main technical objective is to build and operate an Open, and Extensible 5G NFV-based Reference (Open5G-NFV) ecosystem of Experimental Facilities that integrates existing FIRE facilities with new vertical-specific ones and enables experimentation of vertical industries. In order to guarantee architectural and technological convergence the proposed environment will be built in alignment with on-going standardization and open source activities. Accordingly, the Open5G-NFV FIRE ecosystem may serve as the forerunner experimental playground wherein innovations may be proposed before they are ported to emerging “mainstream” 5G networks.