6G-PATH · Open Call #2 · Horizon Europe

It’s not just «more speed»,
it’s enabling the impossible.

Welcome to HoloCast-6G, the leap towards real-time interactive holographic broadcasting of volumetric video. Can you imagine your postcode no longer limiting the quality of the education you can access? We can: we are humanising digital education and revolutionising broadcasting through Beyond-5G and 6G infrastructures.

Book your place at the virtual workshop

Measured on the 6G-PathToVLC testbed · UPV, July 2026

34.41 ms
End-to-end latency
Target <60 ms
2.84 ms
Network jitter
Target <10 ms
55.0 Mbps
Sustained throughput per stream
Target >30 Mbps
0
Session drops in the formal window
Target 0
5 of 7
Technical KPIs met
The other 2, quantified and published

Full dataset and reproduction scripts published under CC-BY 4.0. See the validation results.

Problem and solution

Going beyond the limits of 2D.

The problem

The flat screen has hit its ceiling

Traditional e-learning and conventional videoconferencing tools have served their purpose, but they have hit a ceiling. Studying or working through a flat, two-dimensional screen turns the human experience into a passive role, triggering problems such as isolation and disconnection that weaken the emotional bond between speaker and audience. The digital fatigue of holding attention on static video wears the user down and reduces concentration; and with no spatial depth or volume, complex and technical concepts take longer to absorb.

The solution

Holographic Broadcasting: transporting presence

HoloCast-6G tears down the barriers of physical space, turning passive connectivity into an immersive experience through the disruptive «Holographic Broadcasting» model. We do not stand out for transmitting data, but for transporting human presence anywhere in the world. We go beyond isolated, one-to-one connections: we can capture an expert three-dimensionally in real time and project their hologram with the fidelity needed to sustain the sense of co-presence. Users stop being spectators and start interacting in real time as if they shared the same room. Access to the manipulation of three-dimensional objects and models drives attention and concentration, making possible levels of understanding never seen before.

A flat frame · one fixed viewpoint

A volume · depth, parallax and presence

Schematic view of what changes between conventional video and volumetric capture: a rig of 13 hardware-synchronised depth cameras reconstructs the speaker as a cloud of three-dimensional points.
Benefits and impact

We design technology with a global purpose.

From passive connectivity to active co-presence. The real value is not faster video: it is sharing a three-dimensional space live.

Social inclusion: your postcode no longer defines your access to knowledge

With HoloCast-6G, within the European 6G-PATH consortium, we decentralise talent. Classrooms, laboratories and rural centres, however remote, can experience the brightest minds interactively and in real time, and access the highest-quality education, guaranteeing equitable, world-class education across Europe.

Measurable sustainability: real presence, zero travel

Three-dimensional streaming is the greatest ally of the European green transition: an end to frequent international travel for students, teachers and experts. HoloCast-6G directly reduces the CO₂ emissions associated with academic activity. Thanks to our advanced network architecture we transport talent in real time, protecting our environment while global knowledge expands.

The business case

€20,000-€60,000
Saved every year per institution in travel costs for guest lecturers.
€78 billion
XR media and live events industry, ready to take on a validated blueprint.
TRL 6 → TRL 7
A prototype matured on real infrastructure, not on a simulation.

Figures from the HoloCast-6G business case (6G-PATH Open Call #2 Project Overview).

6G Infrastructure

Enabling a real-time holographic model is not possible without breakthroughs. And 6G is a breakthrough.

For telepresence to be economically viable and realistic in operational scenarios, we need the native capabilities of Beyond-5G and 6G infrastructures, which we validate within the European 6G-PATH consortium.

What the codec does to the payload

−94.8 %

Measured intra-to-GOP saving on real point clouds. Production mode turns a stream that codes at 34-39 Mbps in pure intra into a 2-5 Mbps stream, so the volumetric feed delivered over the slice sits at 3.2 Mbps, well inside the 45.5 Mbps contractual ceiling, on a path that iperf3 shows can carry seventeen times more.

Pure intra coding
34.1-39.4 Mbps
Production mode · 30-frame GOP
2-5 Mbps

Common scale 0-50 Mbps. Each band is the measured range of that coding mode (D4.2 v2.0).

01

Ultra-high bandwidth for volumetric video

Millions of three-dimensional points are processed live every second. 6G can carry continuous 3D video streams without degrading the signal, sustaining the fidelity the sense of co-presence needs. And our own codec is what makes that traffic viable: it cuts the payload by a measured 94.8 %. Image quality is characterised, measured and published: our own dataset shows exactly where the voxelisation ceiling still limits it.

02

Ultra-low latency

In interactive education every millisecond counts. A delay in the hologram’s movement would completely break the sense of co-presence and, with it, the experience. 6G guarantees instant responses, with the same naturalness as sharing the same physical space.

03

Quality of experience

The validation of HoloCast-6G is not limited to controlled environments under ideal theoretical conditions: we demonstrate that it works in real operational scenarios and everyday use situations. That way we secure service performance regardless of external network traffic.

The chain, end to end

01
Volumetric capture
A rig of 13 hardware-synchronised depth cameras
02
Edge codec
Proprietary volumetric compression with a bounded latency budget
03
5G SA / B5G network
Dedicated slice with guaranteed quality of service
04
Hologram in the classroom
AR/MR headsets and XR web client, in several venues at once
Validation results

The campaign has already run. These are the numbers.

Between 21 and 25 July 2026 we deployed the complete system on the 6G-PathToVLC testbed of the Universitat Politècnica de València, with Fivecomm as infrastructure provider. Five of the seven technical KPIs were met, no session was dropped during the formal validation window, and every measurement is published with its raw data and the scripts that reproduce it, including the ones that fell short.

Measured against target, KPI by KPI

Measured Target
End-to-end latency
Target <60 ms
34.41 ms
Network jitter
Target <10 ms
2.84 ms
Sustained throughput
Target >30 Mbps
55.0 Mbps
Colour PSNR
Target >38 dB · not met
20.67-33.67 dB
SSIM
Target >0.93 · not met
0.684-0.816

Each row has its own scale, since the units are not comparable. The two image-quality rows show a range because they were measured on two different real point clouds.

What we did not meet, and why

The two image-quality indicators fell short of their target: PSNR 20.67/33.67 dB against a target above 38 dB, and SSIM 0.816/0.684 against a target above 0.93. The cause is the voxelisation ceiling of the current codec, an effect we have quantified and published instead of leaving it out. The three instrumentation defects found during the analysis are documented as well, together with the evidence that proves them: any experiment measuring latency or jitter on volumetric streams can run into the same ones.

Open data

Open KPI dataset

The complete measurement set behind deliverable D4.2 v2.0, with no personal data and a SHA-256 manifest tying every figure to the exact software version.

  • 165 minutes of telemetry from the testbed and the formal 600 s evidence run
  • Wire-level measurements, codec rate-distortion benchmarks and consolidated KPI table
  • The exact scripts that reproduce every published figure
Licence CC-BY 4.0
Request the dataset
For the press

Press kit

Everything a newsroom needs to publish on the same day, without waiting for us to answer an email during the show.

  • Press release and one-page technical fact sheet
  • Logos in vector format and high-resolution prototype photographs
  • Short b-roll of the system running
Request the press kit
October 2026

Technical white paper

The full architecture, the design decisions and the lessons learnt from the campaign, written for the engineers who will have to reproduce it. To be published on Zenodo.

  • End-to-end architecture and latency budget
  • Volumetric codec: trade-offs and the voxelisation ceiling
  • Measurement methodology and instrumentation pitfalls
Let me know when it is out
Events

Where theory becomes practice.

Milestone 1 · September 2026 Immersive Communications Laboratory · UPV, València

Validation workshop in a real operational scenario

The Immersive Communications Laboratory at the Universitat Politècnica de València will be the stage where theory becomes practice. An exclusive event that will mark the definitive validation of our architecture, leaving theoretical models behind to face a real operational scenario, with an audience of 20-30 local students, teachers and key UPV stakeholders.

  • Experience the capabilities of the complete ecosystem first-hand.
  • Validation of the entire workflow in real time through a live holographic broadcast.
  • Assessment of the Key Value Indicators (KVIs) focused on quality of experience, demonstrating the commercial viability of HoloCast-6G.
Book your place at the workshop
Milestone 2 · 11-14 September 2026 International Broadcasting Convention · RAI Amsterdam Hall 14 · Stand 14.FT20

Meet us at IBC2026: our own stand, with the results in hand

From 11 to 14 September 2026 the HoloCast-6G team will be at the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, the most influential annual event in the sector worldwide, with a stand of our own. Come and see a live holographic broadcast, go through the open KPI dataset with us, and ask the team anything about the architecture.

  • A live demonstration of the full chain: volumetric capture, edge codec, 5G SA slice and XR rendering.
  • The measured results and the open dataset on the table, including the two KPIs we did not meet.
  • A clear roadmap showing the market that investing in B5G/6G infrastructures generates high-value digital assets over the long term.
Book a slot at the stand
IBC2026 · Hall 14 · Stand 14.FT20 · 11-14 September 2026

Come and see a hologram arrive over the network.

Book a slot at our IBC2026 stand, take a place at the validation workshop, or request the open KPI dataset and the technical dossier of the experiment. If you are a member of the press, ask us for the press kit and we will send it over.

Book a slot at IBC2026 Book your place at the virtual workshop