Virtual Worlds: Immersive Hardware and Haptics
Funds €4.8–5.6M research projects building smaller, smarter and more realistic hardware for inclusive virtual-world experiences.
Virtual worlds need more than a better screen. This topic funds research into the hardware that can make digital experiences feel more natural and immersive, from advanced headsets and displays to haptic components, sensors, actuators, wearables and chips.
Projects should explore new scientific approaches for synchronising multiple sensory modalities, integrating the components into fully tested …
Researching and integrating next-generation XR hardware, wearables, haptics, sensors, actuators, chips and non-invasive brain-computer interfaces that bring virtual-world experiences closer to reality. Projects should synchronise multiple sensory modalities, demonstrate complete devices in industrial or societal scenarios, and deliver reliable, robust, miniaturised and interoperable systems with inclusive design and energy efficiency.
Sign up free to see the funding breakdown
Sign up free to see the industries in scope
Sign up free to see the full eligibility
Sign up free to see how to apply
Sign up free to see what you submit
Sign up free to see how they score you
Sign up free to see the timeline
Sign up free to see where teams trip up
Guides for this application
All guides →Horizon Europe Grants for Startups: A Founder Guide
A practical guide to Horizon Europe grants for startups, including EIC, consortia, eligibility, Funding & Tenders, TRL, budgets, and EU strategy.
Where to applyGrants for Robotics Startups: SBIR, Defense, NSF, and Pilot Funding
A practical guide to grants for robotics startups, including SBIR/STTR, NSF, DoD, NASA, field validation, TRL, pilot evidence, budgets, and commercialization strategy.
Start hereTRL Levels Explained for Deeptech Founders
Learn what TRL levels mean, how to estimate technology readiness, and how TRL affects grants, EIC Accelerator, SBIR/STTR, funding stage, and application evidence.
Write proposalHow to Write a Grant Proposal Reviewers Can Score
Learn how to write a grant proposal around reviewer criteria, evidence, work packages, budget logic, and commercialization for deeptech and R&D funding.
More from European Commission
All grants from this funder →Digital Europe Programme
🇪🇺European Commission · European Union
Funds Europe-wide digital capability development in AI, cybersecurity, semiconductors, hardware, and IoT.
Crime prevention approaches, online and off-line, tackling the nexus between addictions and crime
🇪🇺European Commission · European Union
Funds research and pilot collaboration between police authorities and civil-society groups to prevent addiction-linked crime across the EU.
Horizon Border Security: Accessible Travel Facilitation
🇪🇺European Commission · European Union
Funds two €4M border-crossing tech projects, run with Border or Coast Guard Authorities, built for travelers with disabilities or low digital skills.
Horizon Border Security: Age Assessment Reliability
🇪🇺European Commission · European Union
Funds a €1.33M project, run with border and coast guard authorities, that compares how reliable different ways of estimating a young migrant's age really are.
Horizon Border Security: Surveillance & Drone Detection
🇪🇺European Commission · European Union
Funds two €6M projects that build border detection and surveillance tech, run jointly with national Border and Coast Guard authorities.
Horizon Civil Security: Bioterrorism Prevention
🇪🇺European Commission · European Union
Funds a €3M project that reviews how synthetic biology could be misused for bioterrorism and pinpoints where monitoring and regulation fall short.
Similar grants
Browse the directory →
RCN Innovation Project: Agriculture and Food (FFL/JA)
🇳🇴RCN · Norway
Funds Norwegian agriculture and food companies carrying out industrial research or experimental development through RCN innovation grants.
Research Ireland Frontiers for the Future
🇮🇪Research Ireland · Ireland
Funds high-risk investigator-driven research in Ireland across frontier technology and translational discovery.
DRIVE35 Supplier Readiness and Transformation Fund
🇬🇧WMCA · United Kingdom
Funds West Midlands businesses scaling EV supply-chain manufacturing capacity through capital grants.
SPRIND Next Frontier Robotics Challenge — Stage 1
🇩🇪SPRIND · Germany
Funds European teams building complete multi-purpose robots or the breakthrough hardware inside them.
Defence IDEaS — Competitive Projects
🇨🇦DND Canada · Canada
Offers research teams and institutions for Defence IDEaS Competitive Projects in defense innovation, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.
Grand Solutions Grant
🇩🇰Innovationsfonden · Denmark
Funds Denmark-wide flagship consortia tackling difficult science and engineering problems through shared-stage support.