Interview with Advisory Board member Remco Hoogendijk: ‘I am curious about what the creative industry has to offer and conversely, I hope to be a gateway to the large healthcare market.’

The Advisory Board of CIIIC consists of 24 carefully selected members who provide solicited and unsolicited advice to our program team on key content areas. As representatives of the IX community and ambassadors of IX in the Netherlands, they are crucial for the connection with the industry. But who are these members, what do they do, and – most importantly – how do they view IX?

In part 20 Remco Hoogendijk of the Sint Maartenskliniek ('for nearly 90 years the specialist in the field of movement – we focus on orthopedics, rheumatology, rehabilitation, and pain management') in Woerden.

Who are you, what do you do?

'I am Remco Hoogendijk and I work as an Innovation Manager at the Sint Maartenskliniek, a specialized hospital focused on movement disorders. In my work, I try to improve our healthcare services, services, and operations through the use of new technologies. It is exciting to see how technology can truly make an impact. By bringing the outside world in, what the economist Joseph Schumpeter would call 'neue Kombinationen' arises, and that's where real innovation happens.

In addition to my work at the Sint Maartenskliniek, I am the chairman of XR4REHAB, an international network focused on XR in the rehabilitation sector, I am a supervisor at Huize Rosa, an elderly care organization, and I am the chairman of The Moraine Foundation, a creative organization focused on art, culture, and nature.'

Why 'immersive', what is your connection with new content/technology?

'Immersive technology gives us new opportunities to treat patients, allow them to practice, and inform them, and we are only at the beginning. Through hackathons, game jams, challenges, and the like, we have built apps, games, and training in VR and conducted a lot of research on the effects and impact. The European subsidy projects VR4REHAB (2017-2023) and Scale-Up4Rehab (2023-2028) gave us a tremendous boost to work on this through a large consortium. The scaling up of XR technology is now receiving full attention; a certain mass is needed to bridge the economic Valley of Death.'

Why did you want to join the Advisory Board, what specifically appealed to you in the program?

'I am extremely curious about what the creative industry has to offer and would like to learn and experience more about it, and at the same time, I hope to be an access point to the large healthcare market. Hopefully, I can contribute to bringing those two worlds a bit closer together.

What appeals to me in the program is that it is truly a robust boost for a sector that is rapidly developing, an opportunity for our country, an opportunity for the creative sector, but also an opportunity for other major sectors such as healthcare, but also education, construction, defense, etc.'

What is your IX dream/mission?

‘IX enables us to stimulate and influence the senses in a targeted way. In healthcare, it can help alleviate pain or anxiety, motivate patients to maintain their training, and contribute to effectively conveying complex information. Above all, in beautifully crafted experiences where art, beauty, and play can fully flourish.

My dream is that IX can help make health and care more accessible, affordable, and above all, much more beautiful. That is easy to say, but it means working hard to achieve scaling and funding, building infrastructures, creating support, and providing scientific evidence that it works!’

Which developments in the field do you see that you find important to strengthen and why?

‘Amidst the immense force of the AI hype, which we are in the midst of, I believe it is still about ideas. Let's strengthen the development of IX ideas by bringing people from different worlds together. The world needs creativity to tackle daily complexity.

At the same time, we need to follow technological developments and translate them to the IX community. IX enables us to create things that were previously unimaginable; for me, the most important development is that the experience can truly be personalized, making the impact much greater than, for example, through video.’

Public values play an important role at CIIIC, how do you view this? Extra stimulating or a potential obstacle?

‘For someone from the healthcare sector, public values have long been a reality. The beauty of our healthcare system is that it mainly consists of a large solidarity system to which everyone contributes, and a small group (who actually need care) benefits. Matters such as privacy, self-determination, accessibility, sustainability, inclusivity, and diversity are also commonplace in healthcare. I am quite neutral about it. You should always take these into account here.’

Finally, the Advisory Board gives advice – what is your message to the community? And how can people find you and ‘engage’ you to possibly share their ideas with the community?

For the community, I hope, as mentioned, that I can build bridges between the creative industry and the healthcare market. If we connect the best app developers, game developers, and directors with the best doctors, paramedics, and nurses, then the Netherlands can lead the world in the field of IX in healthcare. Bring it on!’

*Remco can be reached, like all other Advisory Board members, via: adviesraad@ciiic.nl.*

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Composition: Nils Adriaans

Photography: Ben Houdijk