The Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering at Politecnico di Milano is participating in VICTOR-XR, a new project funded by the Horizon Europe program. The project aims to develop innovative technologies to strengthen integration between the physical and digital worlds.
VICTOR-XR — Virtual–Physical Integration and Consistency through mulTimodal, Open, Real-time XR — was officially launched on 15–16 June 2026 during the kick-off meeting hosted by the DFKI (German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence) in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The meeting brought together the 16 partners of the European consortium, marking the start of three years of research and development activities.
The goal of VICTOR-XR is to develop a new generation of immersive environments in which people, machines and digital systems can interact more naturally, safely and effectively. Central to the project is the concept of Virtual–Physical Consistency — the ability to keep the real world and its digital representation constantly aligned. This allows virtual environments to reflect physical contexts in real time.
To achieve this, the project combines several advanced technologies. Sensors, computer vision systems, voice interfaces, haptic devices and user status monitoring tools will help to create more realistic and adaptive XR (Extended Reality) experiences. These will be complemented by advanced Digital Twins and artificial intelligence systems that can support operators and professionals in decision-making processes by providing contextual suggestions and real-time assistance.
Particular attention will be paid to the security, privacy, and reliability of the technologies developed to promote transparent, inclusive, people-centred solutions.
The innovations developed as part of the VICTOR-XR project will be tested in three high-impact sectors: automotive manufacturing, collaborative robotics and clinical rehabilitation. XR technologies and Digital Twins will be used in these contexts to improve operational safety, process efficiency, work activity ergonomics, and training support.
The consortium comprises 16 organizations from seven European countries, including universities, research centres and companies specializing in advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and immersive technologies.
The Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering at Politecnico di Milano is coordinating the Piloting & Adoption Centre within the project. Under the scientific leadership of Professors Marco Taisch and Adalberto Polenghi, the department is responsible for testing and validating the developed solutions. The department will contribute to defining industrial and clinical requirements, designing pilot cases, integrating technologies and assessing their impact across various application areas.
In this capacity, the department will facilitate the transfer of research results into practical applications, promoting the adoption of new digital technologies in industrial and healthcare settings, and contributing to the development of future European Virtual Worlds.