Hosted gracefully by the Cyprus Institute, the HERIFORGE Consortium concluded its 2nd annual meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus. Partners used this face to face gathering opportunity to reflect on the first 18 months of work, visit cultural heritage sites, and shape the next steps in developing immersive technologies, open calls, and collaborative tools for cultural heritage innovation.
From strategy discussions to hands-on workshops, the meeting strengthened our shared vision of using XR and digital technologies to make cultural heritage more accessible, participatory, and resilient.
#HERIFORGE #CulturalHeritage #ImmersiveTechnologies #DigitalHeritage #HorizonEurope
Last week, the HERIFORGE Cyprus Hub team met with the two Cyprus based recipients of the first Open Call at The Cyprus Institute, marking the official start of their collaboration.
We are pleased to be working with:
CODE ETC. on their project; “Giuliana: Reconnecting Heritage Through Immersive Storytelling”, a WebAR experience at Porta Giuliana that will introduce visitors to Cyprus’ history through accessible and immersive storytelling.
Athanor Enterprises on their project; “Echoes of Cyprus”, an immersive XR series bringing the island’s heritage to life through interactive narratives and high-fidelity 3D reconstructions of key historical sites.
Both projects respond to the Cyprus Hub challenge: Collaborative XR Experiences for Innovation in Cultural Heritage, which encourages XR developers and Cultural Heritage Institutions to co-design meaningful, interactive experiences rooted in both tangible and intangible heritage.
These Open Call projects will act as real life test cases, contributing directly to HERIFORGE’s research by exploring how high quality 3D cultural heritage data can be transformed into reusable, interoperable XR experiences while maintaining strong narrative depth and alignment with FAIR principles.
The projects will be developed in close collaboration with Cyprus Hub mentors Nick Loucas, Senior Research Technical Scientist at The Cyprus Institute and Haris Shekeris, Research & Development Project Manager at Catalink Ltd, ensuring a shared learning process between researchers, XR industry professionals, and cultural heritage stakeholders. This collaboration highlights the importance of cross-sector and cross-border engagement within the cultural heritage ecosystem. By bringing together expertise from across disciplines and countries, HERIFORGE Cultural Heritage and Immersive Technologies Forge continues to build a foundation for innovation in XR for Cultural Heritage.
We look forward to following the development of these projects and to the insights they will generate for the wider HERIFORGE community.
#HeriforgeOpenCall #HorizonEU #ResearchImpactEU #EUinnovation
We’re excited to introduce one of the selected projects of HERIFORGE’s 1st Open Call: “Heriverse” by @panoramicweb_immersive .
This project is an XR-based volumetric capture system combining 360° video, LiDAR, and Gaussian Splatting to preserve and explore intangible cultural heritage as interactive digital twins, and has been selected under the Türkiye Challenge: Reimagining Rituals.
For more information about the Open Call and to access the public summary report, link in bio.
#HeriforgeOpenCall #HorizonEU #ResearchImpactEU #EUinnovation
We’re excited to introduce one of the selected projects of HERIFORGE’s 1st Open Call: “Forget Me Not (FOMENO)” by Orb Amsterdam.
This project offers an XR pipeline to capture and present intangible cultural heritage, enabling immersive, multi-platform experiences for both research and public engagement, and has been selected under the Türkiye Challenge: Reimagining Rituals.
For more information about the Open Call and to access the public summary report, link in bio.
#HeriforgeOpenCall #HorizonEU #ResearchImpactEU #EUinnovation
We’re excited to introduce one of the selected projects of HERIFORGE’s 1st Open Call: “CreatorXR” by @zenonvr
This project empowers everyone to create synchronized, gamified XR heritage and cultural education experiences using 360° media and 3D assets through an immersive, intuitive, no-code, multi-user platform, and has been selected under the Poland Challenge: Unlocking Interactive Stories.
For more information about the Open Call and to access the public summary report, link in bio.
#HeriforgeOpenCall #HorizonEU #ResearchImpactEU #EUinnovation
We’re excited to introduce one of the selected projects of HERIFORGE’s 1st Open Call: “Channelers” by @monstermind_studio
This project is an immersive 6DoF VR experience exploring the architectural and design heritage of modernism and brutalism in the Polish People’s Republic (1970–1989), inspired by the unique history of ufology in Eastern Europe, and has been selected under the Poland Challenge: Unlocking Interactive Stories.
For more information about the Open Call and to access the public summary report, link in bio.
#HeriforgeOpenCall #HorizonEU #ResearchImpactEU #EUinnovation
We’re excited to introduce one of the selected projects of HERIFORGE’s 1st Open Call: “Echoes of Cyprus” by Athanor Enterprises.
This project is an immersive XR series that brings the island’s heritage to life through interactive storytelling. Its first chapter takes users inside the House of Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios, and it has been selected under the Cyprus Challenge: Collaborative XR Experiences.
For more information about the Open Call and to access the public summary report, link in bio.
#HeriforgeOpenCall #HorizonEU #ResearchImpactEU #EUinnovation
We’re excited to introduce one of the selected projects of HERIFORGE’s 1st Open Call: “Giuliana”: Reconnecting Heritage Through Immersive Storytelling (AREXPG) by CODE ETC LIMITED.
This project offers an accessible, immersive WebAR experience that introduces visitors at Porta Giuliana to the history and cultural heritage of Cyprus, and has been selected under the Cyprus Challenge: Collaborative XR Experiences.
For more information about the Open Call and to access the public summary report, link in bio.
#HeriforgeOpenCall #HorizonEU #ResearchImpactEU #EUinnovation
Launched on August 27 and closed on October 28, 2025, HERIFORGE’s 1st Open Call has officially concluded. The call received an impressive 147 proposals, with 140 eligible submissions from across Europe.
Following the evaluation and selection process, 6 projects have been selected for funding. All applicants have been informed of the results. A total of €300,000 in funding has been awarded, supporting up to €50,000 per project.
We are excited to collaborate with the selected teams as they explore new ways of engaging with cultural heritage through XR. Congratulations to all selected projects, and thank you to everyone who applied!
For more information about the Open Call and to access the public summary report, link in bio.
HeriforgeOpenCall #HorizonEU #ResearchImpactEU #EUinnovation
Excited to share our latest publication!
“HERIFORGE Polish Hub as Digital Heritage Growing XR Community,” is a paper derived from the work done within the project’s first six months for deliverables 2.1 and 4.1. accessible on our website and under review of the commission. These deliverables document the critical groundwork laid through stakeholder mapping, policy analysis, and qualitative interviews. The paper underscores the research that identified structural gaps and opportunities within Poland’s digital heritage landscape.
#HorizonEU #ResearchImpactEU #CulturalHeritage #HERIFORGEPublication
The ECHOES Project Second Annual Meeting took place from 16–20 March 2026 in Poznań, where HERIFORGE Project was actively present. The meeting brought together project partners, ECCCH sister projects, and representatives of the European Commission to review progress, present results achieved so far, and plan future activities.
On the second day of the conference, Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center, as the host, organised a dedicated Tech Corner to showcase cutting-edge technologies and ongoing projects, fostering engagement with the ECHOES community and sister initiatives. HERIFORGE was presented by the Project Coordinator, Michał Kosiedowski, together with the project team.
The presentation highlighted the project’s scope, its international network of Excellence Hubs, Joint Pilot Research Projects, as well as the first results of Open Call 1 and the upcoming Open Call 2.
It was a unique opportunity for inspiring discussions, strengthening engagement, and enhancing mutual impact between both communities and projects. The event also created space to explore synergies and identify common areas for collaboration between these important initiatives in the cultural heritage sector, along with their many sister projects.
#HeriforgeOpenCall #HorizonEU #ResearchImpactEU, #EUinnovation
HERIFORGE’s 1st Open Call received 147 submissions, with 140 eligible applications from innovators exploring new connections between Cultural Heritage and Extended Reality (XR).
Following the evaluation process, 20 projects have been invited to Jury Day, with 6 selected and 3 placed on the reserve list.
Winners will be announced soon. Stay tuned as we continue forging new possibilities for cultural heritage through immersive technologies.
#HeriforgeOpenCall #HorizonEU #ResearchImpactEU #EUinnovation
