MATSUKO’s innovative AI Holopresence project, developed in collaboration with Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, has achieved extraordinary international success – winning the “Competitive and Smart Europe” category in the prestigious European REGIOSTARS 2026 competition. Among a record 274 submitted projects from across Europe, not only did the Slovak technology make it into the top 25 finalists but ultimately won its category. For the very first time in the competition’s history, a Slovak project reached the finals and immediately took the first place. The project was implemented by MATSUKO in close collaboration with UPJŠ in Košice, with support from EU funds totaling more than 604,000€ from the Operational Program Integrated Infrastructure 2014–2020.
A Fusion of Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Augmented Reality
The winning technology uses artificial intelligence for photorealistic 3D reconstruction of people in real time. It enables the creation of three-dimensional representations of people and facilitates remote meetings in an augmented reality environment. The Institute of Mathematics at the Faculty of Science of UPJŠ in Košice contributed to the research and development of machine learning and computer vision technologies, and this collaboration has also resulted in three patent applications.
“This award is a great honor for us and, at the same time, confirmation that world-class technologies can also be developed in eastern Slovakia. It is the result of close collaboration between our team and mathematicians and computer scientists at UPJŠ, and proof that even relatively modest support from the European Regional Development Fund can have a significant impact when the potential of an innovative company and an academic institution are combined,” said Mária Virčíková, CEO of MATSUKO. The project was coordinated by Prof. RNDr. Ondrej Hutník, PhD, on behalf of UPJŠ, with a team of experts from the Institute of Mathematics at the Faculty of Science at UPJŠ, consisting of: Assoc. Prof. Mgr. Jozef Kiseľák, PhD, Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Daniel Klein, PhD, RNDr. Andrej Gajdoš, PhD, RNDr. Lenka Halčinová, PhD, Mgr. Katarína Lučivjanská, PhD., and RNDr. Jaroslav Šupina, PhD. Expert guidance during the project’s implementation was provided by Prof. RNDr. Gabriel Semanišin, PhD., from the Institute of Informatics at the Faculty of Science at UPJŠ.
In the next phase, the developers and research teams will focus on integrating photorealistic holograms with artificial intelligence so that they can communicate naturally with people, face-to-face. This technology has significant potential, particularly in the areas of senior care, customer service, education, and healthcare, and both partners have expressed their interest in continuing this successful cooperation.
Photos: European Week of Regions
