Food for Thought: CTRL + ALT + CONNECT

Schuif aan bij de twee-maandelijkse live lunchbijeenkomst van het Kenniscentrum FDMCI en CoE Creative Innovation, voor onderzoekers, docenten en studenten. Diverse sprekers praten je bij over onder andere actueel onderzoek, nieuwe inzichten en hun lessons learned.

De voertaal is Engels.
The event will take place in English.

During this edition we look back and ahead: we spotlight two projects from the CoE CI Call 2025 and officially launch the new Call 2026, for which researchers, lecturers, and programme managers can once again submit project proposals. Out of the eighteen projects awarded in 2025, we highlight two today – one seed-funded project and one harvest-funded project – together illustrating the breadth and inspiration these themes can bring.

How can we design technology that not only thinks, but feels—technology that invites humans into connection, imagination, and awareness? Lecturer-researchers Stephanie Kramer and Yuri Westplat each explore, in their own way, the boundaries between humans and technology. Their work shows how digital systems—ranging from biofeedback to AI—are not only analytical tools, but also creative and sensory materials through which people can reshape their relationship to their bodies, environments, and society. 

HeartSpace (Stephanie Kramer)

HeartSpace is an immersive biofeedback environment that helps people reduce stress by linking their physiology to digital projections, sound, and light. In this mixed-reality experience, heart rate and breathing are translated into sensory stimuli, allowing participants to literally feel how relaxation emerges. The project investigates how technology can support embodied self-regulation and how designers can create environments that promote health, calmness, and reconnection with the body.
HeartSpace is being developed within the Digital Life research group at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS), with support from the Centre of Expertise Creative Innovation (CoE CI).

AI als Ambacht (Yuri Westplat)

AI als Ambacht is a research project and practice guide that invites artists, designers, and students to engage creatively with artificial intelligence. By “hacking,” manipulating, and playfully experimenting with AI, participants develop a deeper understanding of AI as a material—less as a black box and more as a creative tool. The guide, titled ai, ai, ai—developed with platform The Hmm and the Responsible IT research group—offers accessible exercises and is supported by an open online environment. The project strengthens AI literacy within creative education and encourages a critical, inquisitive approach to technology.

Together, Kramer and Westplat demonstrate how design, technology, and imagination can reinforce each other—not to replace the human, but to place the human firmly at the centre.

HvA Creative Innovation Call 2026

At the end of the session, the moderator introduces the Call 2026, with seed and harvest funding available for research group leaders, lecturer-researchers, and programme managers at the AUAS. For 2026, each thematic line includes targeted calls, with distinctions between seed and harvest funding to help projects contribute more precisely to the three CoECI themes.
The CoECI Call stimulates practice-based research and collaboration across three thematic lines:

1. The creative possibilities of new materials and technologies.
2. The use of artistic and design-driven methods for societal challenges.
3. The impact of new media on society.

Whether you are a designer, researcher, technologist, or dreamer—everyone is welcome! Come listen, ask questions, and share ideas on how we can use AI as a human-centred, creative, and sensory tool.

Speakers

Stephanie Kramer
Lecturer-Researcher

Stephanie is a lecturer-researcher at the Faculty of Digital Media and Creative Industries (FDMCI) at the HvA. She is currently working on the projects So Nuts and the seed-funded project HeartSpace, Immersive Biofeedback Environment for Deep Relaxation within the Digital Life research group. In September 2025, Stephanie began the faculty’s pre-PhD programme and is developing a research proposal for the NWO Teacher Grant focused on digital innovations for gifted children.

Yuri Westplat
Lecturer-Researcher, Responsible IT Research Group

Yuri Westplat is a designer and lecturer-researcher at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, specialising in Human-AI Interaction and creative research methods such as Research Through Design. He leads the Responsible IT Lab, where he facilitates collaborations between researchers, study programmes, the creative industry, and government. An experienced educator and innovator, he develops and coordinates transdisciplinary curricula such as the minors Disinformation and Misinformation and AI for Creative Thinkers and Designers.