Meta Platforms agreed to invest €5 million in a four-year R&D programme at Republic of Ireland-based University College Cork covering core technologies to spur broad adoption of AR platforms.

The research programme will be led by Tyndall National Institute Professor Paul Hurley, who Meta Platforms appointed as industrial chair in semiconductor technologies.

Hurley will appoint a team of PhD students to work with Meta Platforms to research technologies including miniature light displays.

Tyndall National Institute CEO Professor William Scanlon stated the work with Meta Platforms will further its semiconductor research programme and “hopefully lead to new advances in display technologies and product innovations for the AR sector”.

AR is a key element of the company’s metaverse plans, though it faces growing investor unrest about the strategy.