FoUnD-VR aims to investigate how disinformation influences perception and decision-making in immersive spaces
With the call for proposals for the research program “Research Platform for the Investigation of Disinformation in Virtual Reality (FoUnD-VR)” published on 29 April 2026, the Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH (Cyberagentur) is addressing another security-relevant topic of the future. The aim is to set up a research and test environment that can be used to analyze, understand and classify new forms of targeted influence in immersive XR spaces.
The FoUnD-VR program focuses on a field of research that is gaining considerable relevance with the growing spread of immersive technologies: the targeted manipulation of perception, interaction and decision-making behavior in virtual environments.
Virtual, augmented and extended realities are increasingly developing into digital spaces in which people communicate, work, learn and make decisions. This is creating new contexts for social, economic and, in the long term, political influence. While disinformation has so far mainly been studied in the context of social networks, messenger services and traditional online media, XR applications open up an additional dimension of influence. In three-dimensional, immersive environments, visual, auditory and, in perspective, other sensory stimuli are condensed into an experience that can make manipulation particularly effective.
FoUnD-VR is therefore intended to create a virtual research and test environment in which new forms of disinformation can be systematically investigated in XR spaces. The focus is on digital worlds such as Metaverse, Omniverse or Citiverse applications in which individuals, organizations and institutions interact with each other. The research program is intended to create the conditions for identifying forms of disinformation that have been insufficiently understood to date, classifying their dynamics scientifically and gaining reliable insights into their mechanisms of action.
Among other things, deceptively real avatars, deep-fake interactions, manipulatively altered virtual environments and other technically generated influences on perception and judgment will be investigated. The aim is to develop scenarios, methods and analytical approaches that take into account the special conditions of immersive technologies. Precisely because of the high emotional involvement and the additional sensory modalities in virtual spaces, there is a considerable need for research in order to recognize future risks at an early stage and to develop scientifically robust counter-perspectives. As the issue lies at the interface between technology and society, its interdisciplinary treatment is particularly relevant.
Dr. Andreas Schönau, Research Officer for Secure Society at the Cyberagentur, explains: “FoUnD-VR addresses a field of research that is of considerable importance for the cyber security of the future and at the same time still has significant gaps in knowledge. Even before the call for proposals was published, the great interest in the specialist environment showed that not only the need for analysis is high, but also the willingness to develop viable research and implementation approaches from this issue.”
A partnering event was held in the run-up to the call for proposals, in which the objectives, research framework and possible cooperation constellations of the program were presented. The response illustrated the great professional interest in an in-depth scientific examination 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&cookieCheck). 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 and registration: