CORTEX2: Real-Time Collaboration in Extended Reality
Our team was the only Polish finalist selected within the Open Call 2 of the EU's CORTEX2 program, a €4 million initiative under Horizon Europe focused on building an integrated platform that enables seamless collaboration across Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) environments. The project targets industrial use cases, such as remote maintenance, training, and digital twin applications, by making XR more accessible, secure, and interoperable.
We were selected with 30 other teams of innovators, committed to shaping the future of XR technologies and developing inclusive, efficient, and immersive experiences. The selected projects will contribute to the co-development of the CORTEX2 platform, tackling key challenges in XR, such as sign language translation, immersive 3D collaboration, and anonymisation of data in XR environments.
VEM: Total Privacy of Virtual Meetings
VEM is a team effort - we have collaborated with a group of academics from Nicolaus Copernicus University on the project.
The 9-month VEM project created the first privacy-by-design SDK for VR communication, specifically designed for sensitive use cases in immersive environments. The system employs a PrivMX zero-knowledge architecture, ensuring that no raw data can be accessed by third parties, including platform administrators. The modular toolkit comprises three components: Threads (secure messaging), Stores (encrypted file storage) and Streams (real-time data transfer).
The solution encrypts all VR data types—text, voice, gestures, and shared files—with only authorized users able to decrypt the data, even in case of a security breach.
The VEM project addresses a critical gap in virtual reality security by providing developers with an accessible SDK for integrating end-to-end encryption directly into VR applications built on Unity3D. The solution enables secure, encrypted communication within XR environments without compromising performance or user experience. It also creates a comprehensive security layer for behavioral, biometric & spatial data, including user movements nad gestures, interactions and cross-platform data streams.
What’s next?
During the two-sprint development phase, SIMPLITO built the core architecture, implemented end-to-end encryption libraries in Unity3D, and integrated with the Rainbow communication platform. The project has achieved system stability and smart key distribution capabilities, positioning it for broader deployment.
It’s the first complete End-to-End Encryption framework for VR
Meanwhile, the European XR collaboration market is valued at €35-65 billion in 2025, with data privacy remaining a primary concern for enterprise adoption. SIMPLITO's privacy-first approach, developed over several years, directly addresses these market requirements through purpose-built VR encryption solutions.