As a proof-of-concept project the Network Institute Tech Labs has created a modular conversational avatar using state-of-the-art speech and AI. This is meant to serve as a demonstrator for researchers who are interested in using: Conversational agents Realistic humanoid avatars … Continue reading
Author Archives: Marco Otte
Emotion Contagion from virtual humans
Emotion contagion in groups via virtual representatives Emotions are known to be infectious when people meet in person. By interacting with each other, a group tends to become more similar in the emotions they express, resulting in the display of … Continue reading
NIAA call Research Lunch
The next research lunch organised by the Network Institute is dedicated to the Call for the Network Institute Academy Assistant Projects! What? NIAA information & match-making When? 11th of May, 12:00-13:30 Where? MF-A311 Do you have an idea for a … Continue reading
TED Talks Training
Communicating your research is one of the essential career skills to enhance your scientific and societal impact. Learn how to tell your story with the Network Institute’s exclusive TED Talk Master Class! Participants will practice public speaking and learn how … Continue reading
Using VR to Train Decision-Making Behavior of Police Officers
Two of our researchers from the Human Movement Sciences department, Vana Hutter and Lisanne Kleygrewe, have been working (along with others) on the project SHOTPROS: Using Virtual Reality (VR) to train the decision-making behavior of police officers in stressful situations. … Continue reading
Preventing Cybersickness in VR: Insights from Jelte Bos
Cybersickness is a common issue experienced by users of virtual reality. At the university, Jelte Bos is conducting research on this topic to further our understanding. In a recent interview, he discussed the causes of cybersickness and potential prevention methods … Continue reading
Interdisciplinarity, explained
The Amsterdam Young Academy (AYA) is an initiative of the University of Amsterdam and the Vrije Universtiteit where talented young scientists from different disciplines meet to develop views on science, scientific policy and how to build bridges between science and … Continue reading
Embodied Experiences
How to improve diversity and inclusion policies by reading the body? The Connected World conference “Embodied Experiences” invites participants to use Corpoliteracy, as proposed by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, as a tool to explore the intersections of identity and body … Continue reading
Exploring Attention and Memory with VR
If you haven’t visited the VR Labs at the MF Building, you might not have met Freek van Ede and Babak Chawoush: Part of the team at the Proactive Brain Lab (www.proactivebrainlab.com). They’re using VR to revolutionize their cognitive psychology … Continue reading
Emotions are contagious
When we see someone smile from ear to ear, most of us can’t help but smile along. Emotions are infectious, and under some circumstances this can be problematic. Think about stampedes, riots, bullying or depression. A computer model of how … Continue reading
From Nothing to Simon: First Time Utilizing VR
When working with caregivers of individuals with mental disabilities, it’s important to create a safe space for practice. Veerle Andries, a researcher at the VU, chose to use VR as a way for support staff to practice interacting with individuals … Continue reading
Showcasing your work to students
When an application is built, we have the possibility to showcase this to students of the VU. Letting students experience your work in VR, AR or Mixed Reality has great value for education because of its immersive qualities. Students can, … Continue reading
Neurofilament Light application popular
The Neurofilament Light (NfL) online application developed by the Tech Labs of the Network Institute together with Eline Willemse and Lisa Vermunt of the Amsterdam UMC, is gathering momentum as more doctors are using this tool in diagnosing neurodegenerative diseases. … Continue reading
Network Institute members in Stanford’s top-cited scientists!
21 Network Institute members included in Stanford’s list of the world’s top-cited scientists! The annual study performed by Stanford University aims to identify the world’s top 2 percent of scientists in their field. Scientists from across the globe were classified … Continue reading
Ancient Egypt Exploration in VR
As part of the Artificial Intelligence Honours Programme at Vrije University and the course “Discovering Nature” from the University of Amsterdam, Tommasso Mencattini and L. Tisci had the opportunity to work on an interdisciplinary project inspired by the “Description de … Continue reading
European Funding for XR Research
Have you heard about the European Media and Immersion Lab (EMIL)? Their mission is to accelerate the development of virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality technologies and applications. They might be of interest to you as they are providing funding for exciting … Continue reading
The first Art Installation of the Network Institute is live!
The title of the art installation is (re)think the role of smart sensors in the digital age There are smart cameras all around us in the public space. From the police, the city government, big and small companies, and from … Continue reading
Academy Assistants 2022 Kick-Off
From #CloudComputing to #gender, identity, #facialrecognition algorithms, #privacy, #music, #VirtualReality , #art, #Bioinformatics, this year’s Academy Assistant projects are exciting and impactful at the same time. We had the kick-off event yesterday, here is how it went: First of all, … Continue reading
Network Institute Research Lunch
Dear colleagues, We would like to invite you for the first monthly VU’s Network Institute Research Lunch on Thursday October 20th from 12h-13.30 in room 5A47 of the NU Building. The research team of the Network Institute would like to foster more professional and colloquial interactions … Continue reading
The Network Institute funds 8 research visits at the VU
The Network Institute initiated a new “NI Research visits” program. With this program, the Network Institute offers scholars an opportunity to spend up to one month at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam to conduct research on the themes of digital society … Continue reading
Connected World Senior Fellowship 2022 -2023
Connected World is one of four central profile themes of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. To promote research and education in this theme, we have now set up the CONNECTED WORLD SENIOR FELLOWSHIP, starting in the academic year of 2022/23. We are … Continue reading
Training mentalization in Virtual Reality
For our Mentalizing project (see here) we’ve recently created a nice promotional video to tell people about the application. Enjoy!
Facial Motion Capture for realistic humanoid characters in VR
It has becomes even easier to add realistic humanoid characters in your research VR with the latest release of the Reallusion software Character Creator 4 and iClone 8. Together with the Motion LIVE plug-in it’s possible to easily record facial … Continue reading
Network Institute End-of-the-Year Event 2021-2022
On 6th July 2022, we had the Network Institute End-of-the-Year Event 2022. The event was chaired by Victor de Boer. The event started off by introducing various initiatives, and vision of the Network Institute. All the events and activities of NI … Continue reading
Aurora workshop on “Digital nomads: living in a society of digital enterprises”
The workshop on Digital Nomads – Living in a Society of Digital Employees will discuss how society, employers and employees may deal with the new way of working in the digital society, and how to contribute from a scientific perspective. … Continue reading
XR ON TOUR!
SURF and the Network Institute will co-host XR ON TOUR event. The Network Institute will have VR-demos ready at the venue location and in its Game Cella’ Lab where you can take a look at the XR-facilities the Network Institute … Continue reading
Call for Network Institute Academy Assistant Projects 2022
The Network Institute’s (NI) Academy Assistants program (NIAA) is now entering its 13th year. Initially funded through a KNAW grant and aimed at combining social sciences and computer science research, it has since been adopted by the Network Institute and … Continue reading
Connecting Worlds Conference: 1st Announcement
Please join us at the Connecting Worlds Conference on 30th June and 1st July 2022. The Connecting Worlds Conference brings together VU researchers in the broad theme of the Connected World with guests from abroad from VU’s many international cooperation … Continue reading
Two new calls for funding on the Connected World profile theme
As you probably already know, the Network Institute operates in the context of the Connected World profile theme of the VU. To encourage Connected World research, VU Amsterdam makes additional resources available to its staff each year by organising internal … Continue reading
Launch event of the Use-Me Art and Science projects!
Last week was the launch event of the Use-Me Art and Science project. The project challenges the VU community to think critically about the recursive relationship between technology and society. For example, what are the opportunities and threats that technology … Continue reading
TED talks training sessions at the Network Institute
The Network Institute is organizing TED Talk training sessions in May in which participants will learn how to make their message more accessible and convincing when speaking in public. The presentation skills you will gain are immediately useful for several … Continue reading
Use-me launch event on April 13th at NU!
We are very happy to announce the Use-me project launch event On April 13. This event is a must-attend for everyone interested in digital society, artificial intelligence, creative coding, and interactive art. We have a stellar lineup at the event … Continue reading
Poster Presentation Session: Academy Projects 2021
Yesterday (23/03/2022), we had a ‘Poster Presentation’ session by the Academy Assistants for their projects. We had 7 enthusiastic teams, each with two Academy Assistants and two Supervisors who presented the progress in their interdisciplinary work using amazing posters. Many … Continue reading
The Use-me project update: Interactive screen placed
Last week we placed a Interactive screen with sensors in the main hall of the NU building at Vrije Universiteit (VU). What could be displayed on the large interactive screen you are seeing in the main hall of the NU … Continue reading
Virtual Reality helps Crime Research
Last Monday on 07/02/2022, Iris van Sintemaartensdijk defended her PhD thesis about preventing burglaries in urban neighborhoods. One part of her study is to use a virtual environment (VE) to study the effects on criminal behavior when using special signs. … Continue reading
Seminar “Cyber Security in and for the Global South”
Cyber Security research and education in the Global South, for example in Indonesia, has many (research) challenges. The legal, political and technological landscape in Indonesia is different from the European. Design of Cyber Security education in Indonesia, raises many questions, … Continue reading
Tech Labs opening at the NU-building
In the beginning of October the Network Institute Tech Labs will finally open its doors at its new location in the NU-building. At our new location we are proud to present two brand new lab spaces and a workspace for … Continue reading
Advanced tracking at the Tech Labs
Recently the Tech Labs have installed a professional high-level tracking system for multiple use. The system is an OptiTrack system using multiple (18) highly accurate cameras that can track multiple persons and objects in our large lab space. Due to … Continue reading
Towards better police interviews with autistic people
Being questioned as a police a witness or a suspect can undoubtedly be a socially and cognitively demanding experience for anyone. For people on the autism spectrum, which is associated with a range of socio-cognitive differences, police interviews may be … Continue reading
Relaxing in Virtual Reality
Stress is a widely known phenomenon in all societies. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, stress and anxiety issues are becoming more severe for a wide number of people. At the same time, relaxing becomes more challenging, because of working … Continue reading
Ivano Malavolta appointed Director Network Institute
Last week Ivano Malavolta was appointed by the Board of Deans as the new director of the Network Institute, thus succeeding Ivar Vermeulen (Communications department, VU). Ivano is Assistant Professor at the S2 (Software and Sustainability) research group. He will strive to … Continue reading
Practicing Mentalization skills in VR
In the treatment of people with intellectual disabilities, remedial educationalists are involved. To organize care what the person feels comfortable with, a relationship of trust is essential. By using mentalization-based skills persons with intellectual disabilities’ information processing can be supported, … Continue reading
Virtual Reality meet Machine Learning
In VR it is normal for users to use handheld controllers to interact with their virtual environment. However, sometimes using these controllers can interfere with other equipment such a physiological sensors or sometimes a user might not be able to … Continue reading
Credibility of DeepFake
Credibility of Deepfakes Deepfakes, i.e. videos merging images and audios from different sources, blending them so as to generate a fully plausible clip, initially generated attention for their entertainment purposes: finally, it was possible for anyone to appear superimposed on … Continue reading
Getting rid of Cyber Sickness
The VU Network Institute has recently been asked by the VU Department of Human Movement Sciences for help with the development of two VR based tests to measure “visual dependency” in relation to motion sickness susceptibility. Motion sickness is gaining … Continue reading
Use advanced Eye Tracking in Virtual Reality
Since about a year the Tech Labs are in possession of the HTC Vive Pro Eye virtual reality headsets. These top-level VR headsets have integrated eye tracking that offers all sorts of new possibilities for research. Already we’ve created several … Continue reading
Linked Data projects at the Network Institute
The Network Institute is featured in a recent blog on DBpedia! It explains our Academy Assistants program and shows a couple of examples that fit in the Linked Data area of research. “Network Institute Academy Assistant (NIAA) Through a variety … Continue reading
Flood risk communication in Virtual Reality
Many individuals experience problems understanding and preparing for low-probability impact risk, like natural disasters and pandemics – unless they experience these events, yet then it is often too late to avoid damages. Individuals with recent disaster risk experience are, on … Continue reading
Helping householders to better understand burglary risks using VR
Several years ago our Tech Labs collaborated with researchers (lead by Claire Nee) at the University of Portsmouth in building one of the first ever Burglary simulations in Virtual Reality. This year we decided to reuse that virtual environment and … Continue reading
Neurofilament Light application online
The Neurofilament Light (NfL) is a biomarker for axioanl damage which is an indicator for neurodegenrative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. To help doctors in diagnosing neurodegenerative diseases, the Amsterdam UMC together with other research groups gathered a large set of … Continue reading
Researching Online Data Platforms
At the end of 2019 the Network Institute’s Tech Labs started collaborating with Giulia Ranzini (Communication Science). The experiment was carried out thanks to the Idea Generator grant. Our goal was to understand which of the (few) elements on dating … Continue reading
Tech Labs moved to NU
As of September the Tech Labs of the Network Insittute have moved to the NU building on the VU campus. Our brand new location is situated on the 7th floor of this magnificent buidling overlooking the campus square in all … Continue reading
Academy Assistants Papers online
For the first time we proudly present the Academy Assistants papers of the 2018-2019 project. The papers are available online via Zenodo. Click here to read them!
Tech Labs Corona Protocol
In our efforts to open up the Tech Labs sometime September, we have setup a Corona Protocol. This protocol outlines the specific issues and needs in the Tech Labs. With this protocol we hope to be able to resume a … Continue reading
Preventing Criminal Behavior
As we reported earlier the Tech Labs have been working on the Virtual Environment (VE) of a part of Rotterdam. The VE will be used to study the effectiveness of deterring potential criminal behavior in a normal neighborhood. Using the … Continue reading
Tech Labs busy in Corona lockdown
Even though the University’s campus has been closed down and the physical Tech Labs are closed, the workload has not slackened! We are of course not able to perform and support any lab-based research, such as Virtual Reality based-research. However, … Continue reading
VR in education
The VMBO college Horizon in Alkmaar are looking for additional methods in their educational program. For their security trainings they want to try to use virtual reality as a training method as this will not only give the students a … Continue reading
Rebuilding a real neighborhood in VR
For our Tech Labs project “Burglary Free Neighborhood” we have finished recreating a part of the actual real neighborhood Lombardijen in Rotterdam. Using the latest High-Definition options available in Unity Pro, we are able to create very realistic virtual environments … Continue reading
VR symposium: Let’s get virtual!
Successful VR symposium hosted by Network Institute “Let’s get virtual!” showed the fascinating diversity if VR research at the VU Virtual Reality (in VR) is an exciting new medium that provides a compelling new user experience. Unlike other existing media, … Continue reading
Virtual Reality research at the Fieldlab Rotterdam
Virtual Reality research at the Fieldlab Rotterdam The Fieldlab Burglary Free Neighbourhood uses smart sensors to detect suspicious sounds and movements. In the Rotterdam Fieldlab we’re experimenting with sensors and subsequent measures to determine their effectiveness in sensing and preventing … Continue reading
VR Symposium @ VU
The Network Institute’s VR group invites to to join our morning symposium on VR in research and education at the VU. We have an interesting list of speakers introducing you to their take and use on Virtual Reality in academia. … Continue reading
Inter-Ethnic online dating
The last decade has seen both an increase in the diffusion of online dating and an uptick in the number of inter-ethnic marriages. Could users’ participation on online dating contribute to the formation of more heterogeneous couples ? The awarded … Continue reading
Preventing burglary in Virtual Reality
Burglaries are a continuous threat to our safety and society. Increasingly we are trying to understand how the typical burglar thinks and works to try to prevent this type of criminal behavior. What is needed to deter a burglar from … Continue reading
NWO Veni awards
Political scientist Mariken van der Velden and communications scientist Kasper Welbers have each been awarded a prestigious Veni grant in recognition of their work, the Dutch Research Council (NWO) has announced. A Veni grant is worth up to 250,000 … Continue reading
Gravitation Grants 2019 – Hybrid Intelligence
Hybrid Intelligence: augmenting human intellect Professor of Computer Science Frank van Harmelen (member of the Network Institute) leads a team of scientists from six Dutch universities with the aim of combining human and artificial intelligence. The goal is to enrich, … Continue reading
Network Institute End-of-the-year Event – July 2 @ 15:00
Dear members of the Network Institute, You are invited to the annual, traditional, original, nutritional, but above all unmissable Network Institute end-of-the-academic-year event, taking place: *** Tuesday July 2nd, 15.00 hrs, Tuinzaal (W&N) *** We have a very interesting program … Continue reading
Network Institute Promotional Video
Call for Academy Assistant Proposals
The Network Institute’s (NI) Academy Assistants program (NIAA) is now entering its ninth year. The Academy Assistants program aims at promising high-potential master students who want to conduct scientific research and possibly pursue an academic career. As in previous years, … Continue reading
Upcoming VR meetings
We are pleased to inform you about the upcoming VR meetings with three special hosts in the field of VR: Unfortunately cancelled – April 25th from 15:00 – 16:00, with Tara Donker Currently, her main focus of research is investigating … Continue reading
VR for rehabilitation following stroke or brain injury
Faviola Dadis, PhD candidate within the Department of Clinical Neuropsychology at the VU, is working in collaboration with prof dr. Erik Scherder and dr. Tilo Hartmann on her VR game “Koji’s Quest,” which aims to change the way people approach … Continue reading
Immersive Virtual Reality for Experimental Economics
Jantsje Mol from the VU Institute for Environmental Studies wrote an overview article about the possibilities of immersive virtual reality for experimental economics. The review explains essential terminology, gives practical guidelines and describes the currently available high-immersive VR experiments on … Continue reading
MediaLab open again
As of March 1, 2019 the MediaLab (11th floor Main Building) with 8 cubicles is open for research again. After a few months closure the cubicles have new computers installed with Windows 10 and are ready for use. The MediaLab … Continue reading
360 Video journalism
Dr. Miguel Barreda-Ángeles (Fundacio Eurecat Barcelona, Department Data Science & Big Data Analytics, see Google scholarprofile) and Tilo Hartmann from the VU Department of Communication Science (as supervisor) worked out a EU Marie-Curie Individual Fellowship proposal that was just accepted. … Continue reading
Embodiment in VR
As of Monday February 25th, Associate Prof. Jesse Fox (Ohio State University, see here or here) will start a 6-month sabbatical stay at the VU Department of Communication Science (Faculty of Social Sciences) to collaborate together with Tilo Hartmann – … Continue reading
Weston Brain Institute grant project starts in collaboration with the Tech Labs
Professor Charlotte Teunissen and her team at the NeuroChemistry group at the VUmc, received a grant from the Weston Brain Institute to further develop a biomarker helping in the detection of a large number of neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer’s … Continue reading
Proceedings of the NIAA program 2017-2018 published under Open Access
We are pleased to announce that the results of last year’s Network Institute Academy Assistant program are now available online. The proceedings consist of research reports of the individual projects which were collected in these proceedings after having undergone a … Continue reading
Tech Labs at the AI Field Trip 2018
Last November (2018) the first year students of Artificial Intelligence had their annual Field Trip. During these two intensive days they learn to translate a societal problem into a technological solution and build an actual proto-type to show how it … Continue reading
Tech Labs at ‘VR for Justice’ conference
On December 14, 2018 the University of Twente organised a short conference on the use of XR-technology by anyone working at legal organisations like the Justice department, police, probation offices, criminology and law researchers, etc. The goal was to exchange … Continue reading
Tech Labs Mobile App scores Best Demo at BNAIC 2018
The Babbeltruc app (see here for more) made by Computer Science VU and the Tech Labs of the Network Institute, won the Best Demo at this year’s Benelux AI Conference!
Using Virtual Reality to train bus drivers
In collaboration with the Rotterdam public transport organisation (RET), Allerto and the Artificial Intelligence group (Tibor Bosse & Romy Blankendaal) at the VU, the Network Institute developed a virtual reality training application to help bus drivers cope with aggressive passengers. … Continue reading
Anti-scam training app in the news
Over the past two weeks there’s been a lot of media attention about the Babbeltruc App. This tablet app was created by the Network Institute in collaboration with Artificial Intelligence (Tibor Bosse & Laura van der Lubbe) at the VU … Continue reading
Eep Talstra Center nominated for Nationale Dataprijs 2018
Two VU projects are nominated for the Dutch National Data Price 2018. One of these is the Hebrew Bible Database of the Eep Talstra Centre, a member of the Network Institute. The two projects were selected from 47 submitted projects … Continue reading
Fall 2018 Newsletter Tech Labs is out!
After a very busy period here at the Network Institute Tech Labs, we’ve finally been able to create an other newsletter. The newsletter offers some insight in the projects being done at the Tech Labs and gives you all the … Continue reading
Europe lagging behind in AI
Network Insittute member Frank van Harmelen was interviewed on the Dutch radio NPO1 about the state of European AI research. Read the excerpt (Dutch) and listen to the interview (also in Dutch) on NPO1.
Tech Labs: Ons Tweede Huis Festival & Virtual Reality
Health care organization “Ons Tweede Huis” (Our Second Home) held a fun and informative festival in order to celebrate their 50th anniversary. To show what the future could hold for engaging, entertaining and caring for their patients, the Tech Labs … Continue reading
The Network Institute hosts WebSci’18 at VU from 27-30 May 2018
The Network Institute hosts the 10th ACM Conference on Web Science, 27-30 May 2018. It is a wonderful opportunity and a great pleasure for the Network Institute to be able host the 10th ACM conference on Web Science, WebSci’18, at … Continue reading
Call for Network Institute Academy Assistant projects
Apply for interdisciplinary research projects with 2 student assistants Deadline 8 June 2018 at 12.00 pm The Network Institute’s (NI) Academy Assistants program (NIAA) is now entering its eighth year. Initially funded through a KNAW grant and aimed at combining … Continue reading
Ministry of Interior pays visit to the Network Institute
On Friday 26 Jan the Network Institute received a visit from a high ranking delegation of the Ministry of the Interior (“Binnenlandse Zaken”), headed by Mevr. Simone Roos, one of the highest ranking civil servants in The Hague. Mrs. Roos … Continue reading
Training the Elderly
Doorstep scams are scams in which a con artist has a convincing, but fraudulent, story with the purpose of coming into your house and/or stealing money. Often these scams appear at the doorstep, for example when somebody wants to enter … Continue reading
VU voorop met interdisciplinair onderzoek
Michel ter Hark, decaan Geesteswetenschappen, vindt dat nergens zo gemakkelijk interdisciplinaire vraagstukken lijken te ontstaan als aan de VU. De organisatie van het onderzoek in de vorm van iOzi’s draagt hier zeker toe bij. Maar het aantal iOzi’s dat behalve … Continue reading
Piek Vossen en Frank van Harmelen lid van de KNAW
Piek Vossen, prominent lid van het Netwerk Instituut, en Frank van Harmelen, lid en voormalig directeur van het Netwerk Instituut zijn beiden benoemd als leden van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen. De KNAW telt 550 leden uit alle geledingen … Continue reading
Virtually Bad
This project introduces the concept of “virtual bad guys”: intelligent virtual agents that take a negative or even aggressive stance towards the user. Although they pave the way to various interesting applications, it is hard to create virtual bad guys … Continue reading
Can VR help autistic children?
In this study a virtual environment was build to see if a virtual training agent could help autistic children in trying to relate to other children. The idea was that a virtual environment feels safer and the children will more … Continue reading
Frank van Harmelen in Universiteit van Nederland
The TV lecture that Frank van Harmelen gave for the Universiteit van Nederland on semantic technologies and knowledge graphs was available for viewing on cable TV last week, and is now available on the Web. Click here to watch.
Network Institute VR at IDFA 2017
Take a look at this short impression of the VR display at the IDFA this year.
Tech Labs VR featured in Discovery Channel documentary
As most of you have probably seen in the Tech Labs Newsletters, the Tech Labs have been working on a virtual neighborhood for studying burglary. These studies are a collaboration between the NSCR (Jean-Louis van Gelder), the University of Porstmouth … Continue reading
VU Regreening research exhibited at the Museon
The VU research on Regreening features in the new permanent exhibition of the Museon in The Hague. The exhibition interactively visualizes the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. As content partner of the Museon, the W4RA programme … Continue reading
Web Science Trust celebrates 10 year anniversary
2016 marks the tenth anniversary of the academic discipline of Web Science. The authors called for the new discipline of Web Science to be inherently interdisciplinary, to tackle research challenges around ownership and access to data, and to provide better … Continue reading
Course High Performance Computing @VU
Is modelling on your pc taking longer than getting a cup of coffee? Take now this four day course on High Performance Computing from 3-20 October at the VU. The objective of this course is to learn how to use … Continue reading