xR4DRAMA · Project

VR Command Center That Lets Teams See and Plan in Disaster Zones Remotely

digitalTestedTRL 6

Imagine you need to coordinate an emergency response in a flooded town — but you're sitting in an office 200 km away. This project built a virtual reality system that reconstructs outdoor locations in 3D so your whole team can "walk through" the scene together, see live sensor data overlaid on the environment, and make decisions as if they were actually there. It even detects stress levels in team members and supports three languages automatically. Think of it as Google Street View meets a war room, updated in real time.

By the numbers

EUR 1,999,450

EU funding for development

consortium partners

countries involved (DE, EL, ES, IT)

total deliverables produced

demo deliverables

languages supported (EN, DE, IT)

SMEs in consortium

43%

industry partner ratio

The business problem

What needed solving

Emergency responders, media crews, and event planners often need to make critical decisions about locations they cannot physically visit in time — or where being on-site is dangerous. Current tools like satellite imagery, phone calls, and static maps give an incomplete picture, leading to poor resource allocation, costly on-site visits, and coordination failures between team members who each see a different version of reality.

The solution

What was built

The project built a collaborative VR platform with 3D outdoor reconstruction from multiple data sources, live sensor integration, a decision support system with semantic data fusion, stress-level detection using body sensors and audio analysis, outdoor localization tools, multilingual text and speech processing in 3 languages, and a VR authoring tool for creating interactive scenarios. All components went through two development iterations (v1 and v2) and formal evaluation.

Audience

Who needs this

Civil protection agencies and emergency coordination centers managing disaster response remotelyMedia production companies scouting and planning outdoor shoots in remote or difficult locationsEvent management firms responsible for safety planning at large public gatheringsMilitary and defense organizations needing shared situational awareness for remote operationsInsurance companies assessing disaster damage and coordinating field teams

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Emergency Services & Civil Protection

enterprise

Target: Civil protection agencies, fire departments, emergency coordination centers

If you are an emergency coordination center dealing with the chaos of managing disaster response from a remote command post — this project developed a collaborative VR environment fed with live sensor data that lets your entire team virtually walk through the disaster site together, share a common picture, and make better-informed decisions. The system was evaluated across 2 prototype cycles with 31 deliverables produced by 7 partners across 4 countries.

Media & Broadcasting

mid-size

Target: Outdoor media production companies, location scouts, broadcasters

If you are a media production company spending time and money sending crews to scout outdoor locations — this project built a multi-sourced 3D reconstruction tool combined with a VR authoring environment that lets your team virtually visit and plan shoots in remote locations before anyone travels. It includes multilingual content generation in English, German, and Italian, plus spoken language analysis for real-time briefings.

Event Management & Public Safety

any

Target: Large-scale event planners, venue security firms, public safety consultancies

If you are an event planning or security company responsible for crowd safety at large outdoor events — this project created a decision support system with outdoor localization and 3D environment reconstruction that lets you simulate event scenarios, plan resource placement, and coordinate teams through shared VR. The tool was built as an Innovation Action with 3 industry partners and 3 SMEs directly involved in development.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to license or deploy this system?

The project received EUR 1,999,450 in EU funding and was developed by 7 partners. Specific licensing costs are not published in the project data. You would need to contact the coordinator or the SME partners to discuss commercial terms.

Can this scale to cover large geographic areas or multiple simultaneous incidents?

The system includes outdoor localization algorithms and multi-sourced 3D reconstruction of exterior spaces, suggesting it can handle varied outdoor environments. The collaborative VR tools support multiple actors simultaneously. Based on available project data, specific scale limits (area size, concurrent users) are not documented.

Who owns the IP and can I license the technology?

The consortium of 7 partners across 4 countries (Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy) developed the technology, with 3 SMEs involved. IP ownership typically follows Horizon 2020 rules where each partner owns what they developed. Contact the coordinator ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS in Greece for licensing discussions.

Has the system been tested in real emergency scenarios?

The project produced a formal evaluation of the 1st prototype followed by a final system evaluation. Both deliverables document methodology, process, and results. The project ran as an Innovation Action (IA), which targets technology validation and demonstration rather than pure research.

What languages does the system support?

The multilingual information generation module covers three languages: English, German, and Italian. Spoken and written language analysis techniques were developed through two iteration cycles (v1 and v2). Extending to additional languages would require further development.

Does it integrate with existing emergency management systems?

The system includes a semantic representation and reasoning-based decision support system designed to fuse information from heterogeneous sources. Based on available project data, specific integrations with commercial emergency management platforms are not detailed, but the architecture was built for multi-source data fusion.

How does the stress detection feature work?

The system uses both body sensor-driven and acoustic signal-driven techniques to detect the stress level of team members, combined into an ensemble model. This was developed through two iteration cycles. Based on available project data, specific accuracy metrics are not published in the deliverable titles.

Consortium

Who built it

The consortium of 7 partners across Germany, Greece, Spain, and Italy brings a solid mix of research and industry. With 3 out of 7 partners being SMEs and a 43% industry ratio, the project was designed with commercial viability in mind — not just academic publishing. The coordinator is a Greek national research center (CERTH), which is a major European technology organization. Having 3 industry partners alongside 1 university and 1 research institute means the tools were built with real-world users in the room, not just researchers. The 4-country spread across Southern and Central Europe covers key markets for both disaster management and media production.

ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXISCoordinator · EL
UNIVERSIDAD POMPEU FABRAparticipant · ES
DEUTSCHE WELLEparticipant · DE
UP2METRIC IDIOTIKI KEFALAIOUCHIKI ETAIREIAparticipant · EL
NUROGAMES GMBHparticipant · DE
SMARTEX SRLparticipant · IT
AUTORITA' DI BACINO DISTRETTUALE DELLE ALPI ORIENTALIparticipant · IT

How to reach the team

ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS (CERTH), Greece — national research and technology center. Use Google AI Search to find the project coordinator's direct contact.

Order a report on this consortium See ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

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