Slovak AI technology wins the “European Oscar”: MATSUKO and Šafárik University take REGIOSTARS 2026

Košice-made AI that turns one ordinary camera into a live 3D hologram wins the EU’s REGIOSTARS award, chosen from a record 274 projects across Europe

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, October 16, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The AI Holopresence project by Košice-based technology company MATSUKO and Pavol Jozef Šafárik University has won a REGIOSTARS 2026 Award by the European Commission, often compared to the Oscars of European projects. It won the category "A Competitive and Smart Europe", which recognises the most innovative projects. Slovakia had never before had even a finalist in this category. The technology, which turns a single ordinary camera into a live hologram, has already made the world's first transatlantic call between two holograms and will help diagnose ADHD in children.

The award was presented on Wednesday, 14 October, at a gala ceremony in Brussels closing the European Week of Regions and Cities, and accepted by MATSUKO CEO Mária Virčíková and Head of Strategy Matúš Durkáč.

Since 2008, the Commission has used REGIOSTARS to recognise the best projects funded by EU cohesion policy. This year's edition drew a record 274 applications from across Europe, and in the final the project won against entries from Cyprus, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Portugal. The award is proof that world-class technology can be created in Eastern Slovakia too, and the result of close cooperation between the startup and university teams.

A real person, not a cartoon avatar
AI Holopresence is a generative artificial intelligence that creates a photorealistic 3D hologram of a person in real time, without any special equipment. People can meet in extended reality as their real selves, not as cartoon avatars or flat tiles in a video call. Competitors rely on depth cameras and capture studios full of sensors. MATSUKO's patented model fills in everything the camera cannot see on its own.

Three years of research funded by Europe
MATSUKO carried out the fundamental research between 2020 and 2023 with mathematicians from the university's Faculty of Science. The work was funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Operational Programme Integrated Infrastructure, managed by the Slovak Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Economy. All three resulting patents have since been granted in the United States, and the research has been followed by more than €8 million in further funding.

From healthcare to space
The hologram from Košice will be piloted in healthcare in the United Kingdom and Luxembourg. Because specialists who can diagnose ADHD in children are scarce, a child visits a mobile clinic van and appears as a hologram directly in the expert's office, where the expert can observe the child's behaviour.
The European Space Agency has also shown interest: MATSUKO will test holographic communication over a satellite link, so experts can reach places they cannot physically be sent.

The technology has been chosen by telecom operators Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and Telefónica. The European research project 6G-XR used it as a flagship use case in developing 6G networks, together with Ericsson, Nokia and Intel across nine countries.

Orange has also implemented the technology in customer service in its retail stores, where an AI hologram welcomes and assists customers.

Anyone can request the mobile version at matsumi.ai and have a conversation with a hologram themselves.

At several schools in the Košice Region, more than 500 students have completed holographic training. MATSUKO will also work with the Technical University of Košice, the Košice Self-Governing Region and the City of Košice on a lifelong learning centre, where students and seniors will learn through holograms.

MATSUKO
Matus Kirchmayer
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