Interview with Advisory Board Member Natasja Paulssen: 'Immersive experiences make the world a little more beautiful'
The Advisory Board of CIIIC consists of 21 carefully selected members who provide solicited and unsolicited advice to our program team on substantive main issues. 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 7 ir. Natasja Paulssen, creative director and founder of Dutch Rose Media and 4DR Studios
‘That's what makes CIIIC special; it's a program that doesn't support the underlying technology, but the creation of applications – it's about the content’
‘In the second wave of digitalization, that of social media, we missed the boat in Europe’
‘I see it as an opportunity to understand each other better so that we make better decisions’
Who are you, what do you do?
‘I am Natasja Paulssen, founder of Dutch Rose Media and 4DR Studios. I am constantly in conflict: am I a creative or a technician, am I a driven entrepreneur or a passionate world improver. Do I love cool applications or scalable solutions the most?
At Dutch Rose Media, we create Immersive experiences. We started with Augmented Reality 14 years ago, but the line to other techniques is increasingly blurring. We work in various markets, from living history to fan engagement to gamified training. And almost always for people who are looking for something new.
For the stories you tell in IX, you need people in 3D, lifelike with all imperfections and emotions. 4DR Studios creates those people with volumetric video.’
Why ‘immersive,’ what is your connection to new content/technology?
‘Immersive experiences make the world a little more beautiful. And the world can sometimes really use that. Working, learning, or relaxing in an immersive environment gives us an experience in which we can determine the number of stimuli we receive ourselves.
We have more control over our environment than ever before, which allows us to work more efficiently, learn more effectively, and relax better. Do you need any more reasons?’
Why did you want to join the Advisory Board, what specifically appealed to you about the program?
‘The big challenge for IX is that we don't have the message clear yet. There was once a TV commercial of an old man (I would say: now my age:-)) who said: ‘We’ve got to be on the internet!’ He is asked why and responds: ‘I don’t know…’ Looking back, it was of course a good idea to invest in internet applications. But CIIIC has to provide this answer for IX. What does IX bring, for whom, and what does it deliver?
How are we going to achieve that, you ask? By validating all the beautiful things that have already been made: where is the added value, what was missing? In recent years, an incredible amount has been invested by creative innovators. Gather that knowledge, learn from it, improve the experiences, make it scalable, and deploy it again.’
What is your IX dream/mission?
‘I want a healthy immersive market, where clients understand why they are using IX, where creators offer sustainable IX solutions, and where there are opportunities for continuous innovation. I have a healthy resistance to large companies, due to all the delaying bureaucracy and politics that play there, but an important advantage is the investment capacity. You miss that in a market with mainly small companies. And we also don't have an IX startup ecosystem with dozens of investors and 6-12 months or more ‘runway.’
In my view, such a startup ecosystem does not fit well with the problem IX is struggling with, although you don't have to agree with that. Investors are looking for scalability, and we lack validated applications; in other words, we do not yet know which platforms need to be made. And the approach of the creative industry in such a case is to ask the users; we design it together. We do not want to ‘just’ come up with a platform and then hope that you can create experiences that appeal to people with it.
That is also what makes CIIIC so special, a program that does not support the underlying technology but the creation of applications. This requires a different approach than many other growth funds, an approach that explores what IX can bring to people. The creative industry is perfectly organized to innovate by doing. So: create ‘best guess’ solutions, measure the effect, and then improve. And the scaling plans that follow lead to investment opportunities. In my view, that is the right order. And that is also how we successfully did it, for example, with Chronosphere (R&D program around volumetric video).
But do keep in mind that the companies that create ‘best guess’ solutions often do so as their livelihood and lack deep investment pockets. They generally do not have the DNA nor the desire to become a product-oriented company. They are the creatives.’
Which developments in the field do you see as important to strengthen and why? Or: what is, in your opinion, the most important development in the IX field (as part of the creative industry)?
‘I see more and more good applications of IX. Not world-shattering things, or killer apps, but good integrated applications, such as the head-up display (that projects important driving information in your field of vision, ed.) in my car. Super practical. At the same time, also very beautiful magical things that make the world a little more beautiful. I am personally very pleased with our HYMNE project in collaboration with Effenaar and cutting-edge platform CORTEX2 that recently premiered: immersive music experiences created with artists and technicians.
So, looking through my eyes, I would say that all the immersive experiences I see are becoming more serious, without losing creative strength.’
Public values play an important role at CIIIC, how do you view that? Extra stimulating or a potential obstacle?
‘In the second digitalization wave, that of social media, we missed the boat in Europe. Information bubbles, clickbait algorithms, all to keep people's attention as long as possible so that we can serve them well-targeted advertising or influence their opinion for other purposes. It feels so incredibly fake.
In the third digitalization wave, with AI and IX, that risk becomes even greater if we are not careful. And yes, AI and IX are on equal footing in this! The level of empathy you can evoke in IX is unprecedented, and thus the possibility to manipulate people.
I choose to see this as an opportunity, not as a threat. I see it as an opportunity if we can bring our norms and values to the virtual worlds. An opportunity to create a better environmental footprint because we can travel without physically moving. An opportunity to understand each other better so that we can make better decisions. And an opportunity to have many beautiful experiences. Bringing soul to digital is not for nothing the motto of 4DR Studios.’
Finally, the Advisory Board gives advice – what is your message to the community? And how can they find and ‘use’ you to potentially share their ideas with the community?
‘How are we going to ensure that we can earn a good living for the next 50 years by creating IX, and not just the 5 years of CIIIC? That is also my concern towards CIIIC: how are we going to ensure that we cover the missing investment capacity among the creators for the next 5 years?
You can most easily reach me via natasja@dutchrosemedia.com. Otherwise, I am reachable via LinkedIn for questions, or otherwise via CIIIC adviesraad@ciiic.nl.’
Photography: Ben Houdijk