ORIGINS

The ORIGINS project (Open Realities for Inclusive Generative Immersive Narrative Spaces) addresses core challenges in Extended Reality (XR) by moving beyond rigid avatars and pre-scripted scenarios to create adaptive, inclusive virtual environments powered by Artificial Intelligence. The project aims to substantially enhance the quality of human experience in shared virtual spaces across three primary technological pillars:

• AI-Enhanced Holoportation: Advanced RGB-D and point-cloud volumetric capture and reconstruction pipelines featuring real-time denoising, completion, and perceptual compression to preserve personal identity, facial dynamics, gestures, and gaze during multi-user streaming.
• Inclusive Multimodal Interaction: Seamless integration of speech, bodily gestures, gaze tracking, instant translation, and accessible interfaces to enable effortless communication regardless of language or physical/sensory abilities.
• Generative Narrative Spaces: Deployment of Generative AI to craft photorealistic avatars, context-aware 3D virtual companions, and dynamic virtual environments that adapt in real time to user context and emotional states.

Project innovations will be validated through four real-world pilot scenarios: Cultural Heritage, Educational Training, Virtual Tourism, and Digital Health & Rehabilitation.

i2CAT holds a dual leadership position in ORIGINS, leading both overall project coordination and technological R&D in real-time volumetric communications. Particularly, the Catalan Research and Innovation Centre leads WP2 (Real-Time Volumetric Communication) and directs core R&D for low-latency volumetric communication. The centre oversees the design of 3D human presence capture pipelines, AI-assisted bandwidth-aware compression algorithms (point clouds/autoencoders), and multi-user volumetric streaming over hybrid edge/cloud architectures. As Project Coordinator, i2CAT also leads WP7, taking full responsibility for legal, administrative, financial, and operational governance. This includes managing EC contractual obligations, budget allocation, milestone monitoring, and risk management. Finally, within WP5, i2CAT leads Task 5.1, which defines and executes the software architecture and modular API framework, delivering SDKs for Unity and WebXR engines. Within WP6, i2CAT leads Task 6.3, driving project outcomes into international standardization bodies.