The symposium will take place in the Bibliotheek Neude and is part of the programming for HKU Exposure 2025. Below you can find the programme, as well as more detailed information for each of the sessions.
Note: The whole symposium will be spoken in Dutch!
Visit Immersive student works during Exposure. Here you van find a list of student projects with a focus on Immersive and/or AI.
Space is limited for each session: you can join one of the sessions by collecting the card for that specific session at the entrance.
Timeslot 1: 13:00-13:45
Panel discussion – Creating immersive experiences with XR technology
Celine Daemen, Steye Hallema en Nienke Huitenga.
Moderator: Caspar Nieuwenhuis
Technological advancements in extended reality (XR) present new opportunities and challenges for creating and producing immersive experiences (IX). This panel comprises three experienced creators with international recognition for their work in innovative and meaningful IX productions. Celine Daemens’ VR opera, “Songs for a Passerby,” won the 2023 Venice Immersive Grand Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Steye Hallema innovates interactive immersive storytelling with award-winning experiences like “The Smartphone Orchestra” and “The Imaginary Friend”. Nienke Huitenga received rave reviews for her documentary XR production “Lacuna” at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. But can IX/XR be compared to an opera in the theater? Is VR a game you are playing in? Or is it still most like an immersive film? Caspar Nieuwenhuis, director of HKU Theatre, will discuss with these leading creators how the creation processes and dramaturgies familiar from the traditional arts are relevant to this new interdisciplinary field.
Workshop – Finding the Spark: Resonance in Immersive Media
Christian Roth en Joanneke Weerdmeester
“Transformation starts with resonance, resonance begins with a SPARK”
What makes a piece of immersive media truly resonate with you? In this interactive workshop, we invite you to reflect on a personal experience with immersive media; something that stayed with you, moved you, or shifted your perspective. How did it affect you emotionally, cognitively, or physically? In other words: what was it about that experience that ignited a spark? Through group discussion and collaborative mapping through the lens of the SPARK model, we’ll unpack what contributes to a resonant experience and examine how this way of thinking can inspire future design practices.
Lecture & Discussion – Digital autarky
Arnaud Loonstra en Mikal van Leeuwen
Our society is becoming increasingly dependent on digital technology, and Big Tech in particular. This not only affects how and what we create and do, but also how we think and live. What choices do we have, and what choices does HKU make in this regard? In this session, we will explore our digital choices and map out their consequences. Are we getting (dis)connected, (dis)empowered, (dis)organized, (dis)trusted? Read the open letter to the CvB of HKU.
Showcase – ROBOTSTORIES: Expanding narratives
Jorrit Thijn
As Artificial Intelligence becomes increasingly capable, we ask ourselves whether it can also be a storyteller. Can we have a conversation with a character? Can we give AI an identity? Together with Creative Writers, we are developing robot identities and stories for interaction with vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly.
Timeslot 2: 14:00-14:45
Panel discussion – Public values and technology
Luuk Ex, Paulien Dresscher and Jaïn van Nigtevegt
Moderator: Mir Wermuth
In this panel discussion, we will dive deeper into public values and technology. The Rathenau Institute will first provide some insights on: what do we mean by public values and how do (immersive) technologies relate to this? In addition, we will talk to experts from the film and game industry to explore the consequences of these technologies, for both production processes and for society as a whole.
Workshop – Exploring creative technology in education
Machiel Veltkamp
In this hands-on workshop, you’ll playfully explore a range of creative technologies—from Leap Motion to projection mapping—through interactive stations designed for experimentation and discovery. No technical background is needed—just curiosity! Alongside trying out these tools, we’ll also reflect together on the mindset needed to embrace technology in education and discuss the challenges of engaging students in learning through emerging creative mediums.
Lecture & Discussion – Imagining the Immersive Internet
Aaron Oostdijk
What is the immersive internet, and what might it look like? What trends, in the development and adoption of XR technologies, are relevant in this context? Is there anything that prevents us from being able to decide the way forward? Through a bundling of my own experience with XR projects and research, in which a variety of questions and dreams about the meaning and possibilities of XR and immersive technologies emerge, I invite you to join me in questioning if and how an immersive internet should and could take shape. Following this we will have a short discussion in groups about your questions, thoughts, dreams, or perhaps even fears.
Lecture – Gamefully exploring communities
Karel Millenaar
What does it mean to view your local community through the eyes of a game designer? Who takes on which roles, how are connections formed, and what dynamics define these relationships? In this workshop, PD candidate, Karel Millenaar invites participants into an open exploration of community structures and social roles.
This session is part of the initial phase of Millenaar’s upcoming research project, _Skin in the Game_, which investigates how game-making can be used to cultivate social resilience. Rather than presenting conclusions, the workshop offers a space to share preliminary insights and design observations, while collectively reflecting on the role of play and design in understanding community dynamics.