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Wissenschaft
Disinformation in the Future
FoUnD-VR aims to investigate how disinformation influences perception and decision-making in immersive spaces
With the call for proposals published on April 29, 2026, for the research program “Research Platform for Investigating Disinformation in Virtual Reality (FoUnD-VR),” the Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH (Cyberagentur) is addressing another security-relevant topic of the future. The aim is to establish a research and testing environment that enables the analysis, understanding, and classification of novel forms of targeted influence in immersive XR spaces.
The FoUnD-VR program focuses on a field of research that is gaining significant relevance with the growing prevalence of immersive technologies: the targeted manipulation of perception, interaction, and decision-making behavior in virtual environments.
Virtual, augmented, and extended realities are increasingly evolving into digital spaces where people communicate, work, learn, and decide. This creates new contexts for social, economic, and, in the future, political influence. While disinformation has so far been studied primarily in the context of social networks, messaging services, and traditional online media, XR applications open up an additional dimension of influence. In three-dimensional, immersive environments, visual, auditory, and potentially other sensory stimuli converge into an experience that can make manipulation and deception particularly effective.
FoUnD-VR therefore aims to create a virtual research and testing environment in which new forms of disinformation in XR spaces can be systematically investigated. The focus is on digital worlds such as Metaverse, Omniverse, or Citiverse applications, in which individuals, organizations, and institutions interact with one another. The research program aims to establish the conditions necessary to identify forms of disinformation that have not yet been sufficiently understood, to scientifically classify their dynamics, and to gain reliable insights into their mechanisms of action.
Among other things, the research will examine lifelike avatars, deepfake interactions, manipulatively altered virtual environments, and other technically generated influences on perception and judgment. The aim is to develop scenarios, methods, and analytical approaches that take into account the specific conditions of immersive technologies. Precisely because of the high level of emotional engagement and the additional sensory modalities in virtual spaces, there is a significant need for research to identify future risks early on and develop scientifically sound countermeasures. Since the research question lies at the intersection of technology and society, an interdisciplinary approach is particularly relevant.
Dr. Andreas Schönau, Research Officer in the department Secure Society at the Cyberagentur, explains: “FoUnD-VR addresses a field of research that is of considerable importance for the cybersecurity of the future and at the same time still exhibits significant knowledge gaps. The high level of interest we’ve seen from the scientific community before the call for proposals was published shows that there is not only a great need for analysis, but also a willingness to develop viable research and implementation approaches based on this issue.”
The partnering event took place in the run-up to the call for proposals, during which the program’s objectives, research framework, and potential collaboration models were presented. The response underscored the strong scientific need for in-depth research of disinformation in immersive virtual spaces.
The call for proposals has been published on e-Vergabe under contract notice number 312 CAEU IP 2025 (https://www.evergabe-online.de/tenderdetails.html?0&id=849108&cookieChec...). The deadline for submissions is June 24, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. Interested research institutions, companies, and startups may express their interest in participating immediately. Participation is possible both individually and as part of a consortium.
Further information:
https://www.cyberagentur.de/en/programs/found-vr
Contact:
Agency for Innovation in Cybersecurity GmbH
Große Steinstraße 19
06108 Halle (Saale)
Michael Lindner
Press Officer
Phone: +49 151 44150 645
Email:presse@cyberagentur.de
Background: Cyberagentur
The Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH (Cyberagentur) was founded in 2020 by the German Federal Government as a wholly owned in-house entity of the German Federal Government under the joint leadership of the German Federal Ministry of Defence and the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, with the aim of adopting an application-strategy-oriented and interministerial perspective on internal and external security in the field of cybersecurity. Against this backdrop, the work of the Cyberagentur is primarily aimed at the institutionalized implementation of highly innovative projects that carry a high risk with regard to achieving their objectives but, at the same time, have the potential to cause significant disruption if successful.
The Cyberagentur is an integral part of the National Security Strategy of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Cyberagentur is led by Prof. Dr. Christian Hummert, who serves as Scientific Director, and Bettina Bubnys, who serves as Commercial Director.
Dr. Andreas Schönau, Research Officer in the department Secure Society at the Cyberagentur
https://www.cyberagentur.de/en/press/desinformation-in-der-zukunft/
https://www.cyberagentur.de/en/programs/found-vr
https://www.evergabe-online.de/tenderdetails.html?0&id=849108&cookieChec...
With FoUnD-VR, Cyberagentur launched a research programme call to systematically investigate disinfo ...
Source: magnific/Cyberagentur
Copyright: Cyberagentur
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