Slovak AI hologram project wins EU REGIOSTARS award

Košice-based MATSUKO and Pavol Jozef Šafárik University won the European Commission’s REGIOSTARS 2026 award for an AI system that turns a single camera into a live 3D hologram. The win highlights an Eastern Slovak startup reaching Europe-wide recognition while moving into healthcare, telecom and space applications.

Why it matters: - MATSUKO’s win puts a Slovak startup on the top tier of EU cohesion-policy projects. - The award spotlights Eastern Slovakia as a source of advanced AI, not just outsourced tech work. - The hologram system already has uses in healthcare, telecom and training, which broadens its commercial impact.

What happened: - The European Commission named the AI Holopresence project by MATSUKO and Pavol Jozef Šafárik University a REGIOSTARS 2026 winner. - The project won the category “A Competitive and Smart Europe,” which recognizes innovative projects. - The award was presented on Wednesday, 14 October, in Brussels during the closing gala for the European Week of Regions and Cities. - MATSUKO CEO Mária Virčíková and Head of Strategy Matúš Durkáč accepted the award. - This was Slovakia’s first time reaching a finalist spot in this category. - The project beat entries from Cyprus, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Portugal after a record 274 applications from across Europe.

The details: - AI Holopresence creates a photorealistic 3D hologram of a real person in real time from a single ordinary camera. - The system works without special equipment and lets people meet in extended reality as themselves rather than as avatars or flat video tiles. - MATSUKO’s patented model fills in visual data the camera cannot capture on its own. - The company completed core research from 2020 to 2023 with mathematicians from the university’s Faculty of Science. - The research was funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme Integrated Infrastructure. - The Slovak Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Economy managed that funding. - All three resulting patents have been granted in the United States. - The research has since drawn more than €8 million in additional funding. - The technology has been selected by Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and Telefónica. - The EU-backed 6G-XR project used the system as a flagship use case for 6G network development alongside Ericsson, Nokia and Intel in nine countries. - Orange uses the technology in retail customer service, where an AI hologram greets and assists shoppers. - The mobile version is available at matsumi.ai. - More than 500 students in schools across the Košice Region have completed holographic training.

Between the lines: - The award signals that a university-startup partnership from a smaller region can compete with projects from much larger innovation hubs. - The healthcare use case is especially practical because specialist ADHD diagnosis for children is scarce. - The space-testing interest suggests the technology may work in places where physical experts cannot easily travel. - The telecom and retail deployments indicate the project is moving beyond research and into real-world service delivery.

What's next: - MATSUKO plans pilot use in healthcare in the United Kingdom and Luxembourg. - In the ADHD workflow, a child will visit a mobile clinic van and appear as a hologram in an expert’s office for observation. - The European Space Agency has shown interest in testing holographic communication over a satellite link. - MATSUKO will work with the Technical University of Košice, the Košice Self-Governing Region and the City of Košice on a lifelong learning center. - That center will use holograms for training students and seniors.