Designing the media of tomorrow

This article was written for Uncover magazine - Meaningful Leisure Experiences. 

Author: Marnix van Gisbergen is professor of Digital Media Concepts at Breda University of Applied Sciences. 

Why context matters
At DMC, we explore how new media technologies impact organisations and society. More importantly, we examine how these technologies relate to existing media, and how that context influences their value. We are not just asking, “Does this medium work?” Instead, we are asking: “How is its impact shaped by the context of other media?” For example, Virtual Reality (VR) may be effective for training - but how does it compare to traditional learning tools? What makes it better, or different? How should content be designed for each? That’s why our focus combines research and development (R&D), not only creating innovative concepts but testing and refining them through real-world application.

Focus: immersive media and virtual humans
In the past ten years, our primary focus has been on immersive media (VR, AR, XR, Metaverse) and virtual humans and beings. We explore how these technologies influence experience and behaviour across different domains. Why experience? Because in creative sectors like media, entertainment and gaming, experience is often the end goal. But it is also a powerful tool to drive behaviour, whether that means changing habits, building empathy, or improving skills. Immersive media can create unique experiences, a sense of presence and realism that is difficult to match with traditional media. This unique potential is why we connect our work to the broader BUas research themes of Digital Realities and Experience Research & Design.

Real projects, real impact
Our professorship is hands-on and project-driven. We have collaborated with major brands and organisations ranging in the creative industries (e.g. Samsung, Sony, VodafoneZiggo, DPG Media, Google, Omroep Brabant, Banijay, PSV, De Effenaar, 4DR Studio, Enversed, and several museums), healthcare industry (Novadic-Kentron, Schola Medica and several hospitals) and societal domain (United Nations, EU). 

Here are a few highlights:
- VR and AR apps to help users overcome alcohol addiction or speech anxiety.
- Immersive training tools for safety procedures and emergency protocols.
- AR applications to enhance sports, music, dance, film, and museum experiences.
- Virtual diving simulations promoting sustainable diving experiences.
- Empathy-building VR experiences to support refugee awareness and inclusion.
- Virtual humans to deliver news content tailored to young audiences, train medical professionals in sensitive conversations like delivering bad news or assisting childbirth and support organisational awareness around bias, risk, and even grief.

Looking ahead: a (real) virtual future
The future of digital media is evolving rapidly. AI-powered immersive technologies are becoming increasingly advanced and powerful through quantum computing. Blending with our bodies, brains and senses (cyborgs) it is opening doors to a world that is both exciting and ethically complex. Imagine virtual worlds and digital humans so lifelike that we cannot distinguish them from reality. Imagine having a digital version of yourself or your beloved ones, that lives on after death, already a reality in some parts of the world. Would you want that?

Why this matters to you
With great opportunity comes great responsibility. These technologies offer ways to improve education, inclusion, and sustainability. But they also pose risks around misinformation (deepfakes), desensitisation (violence), and loss of identity. Whether you are a student, teacher, or professional, you will likely work with immersive technologies at some point in your career. That’s why we focus on developing practical skills and critical thinking across disciplines like AI, media, ethics, health, tourism, and law. Together, we explore not only what we can create, but why we create it and what kind of digital future we want to shape. The question is no longer if the media change us, but how we want to change the media. So you can also make an informed decision if you want to spend time in a virtual world as a virtual being, now and after death.