The European STADIEM project, funded through Horizon 2020, officially launches its 2nd open call. Via the STADIEM piloting programme, start-ups and scale-ups can co-create solutions together with European media organisations, based on the sector’s needs and challenges. The call provides provides access to funding, partners, and know-how for the development of Next Generation Media.

Together with the start-up Soulmade, VRT developed a unique VR experience to make media services more accessible. Through an immersive experience, software developers can get a better view on the challenges faced by blind and visually impaired people. Not only the gaming industry, but many other sectors explore the benefits of virtual reality to immerse viewers in a new world or different reality. By using it as an educational platform, VRT aims to raise awareness about media accessibility.

In today’s everchanging media landscape, new technologies such as artificial intelligence come with great opportunities, but also with significant challenges. With the STADIEM piloting programme, Flemish public broadcaster VRT builds on the strength of its international network to accelerate the impact of innovation. In the coming 6 months, 16 scale-ups will work together with several media organisations across Europe to build solutions for today’s largest media challenges.

In recent years disinformation has caused a lot of damage, both abroad and in Flemish society. The European Commission recognises the relevance of the fight against disinformation and has therefore allocated two million euros to the Flemish-Dutch EDMO project. Within that project, a multidisciplinary hub will be established by and for scientists, fact-checkers, media companies and other stakeholders.

This summer, TV channel één is organising an interactive expo about the weather, called 'Meer Weer' (More Weather). VRT Innovation developed a weather app for Karrewiet together with VRT NWS and students of LUCA School of Arts. The development of the weather forecast is part of a European research project on science communication, in which VRT is partner. Here, we explore how to make data and science more accessible and attractive to a wide audience. 

How can deep learning help media makers create content tailored to the reader's preferences? In NewsTAPAS, a project on the personalisation of news, we discovered the need for strengthening automatic capabilities to better summarize articles. Therefore we started working with Natural Language Processing (NLP) and compared recurrent neural networks (RNN), long short-term memory (LTSM), Transformers and their applications within media. In this article we compile some insights and recommendations.

Are you a deep-tech innovator with solutions for the media and creative sector? Then sign up for this final call of the MediaMotorEurope coaching programme! MediaMotorEurope (MME) supports European startups and scaleups to solve today's most prominent media industry challenges. In collaboration with VRT Sandbox, the network of Future Media Hubs and other European partners, MediaMotorEurope offers you tailored coaching and an ecosystem of notable players in the media and creative industries.

Are you a start-up or scale-up, working on next gen media solutions? Do you want to integrate your technology on the production floor, but still looking for the right connections and resources? Through STADIEM's piloting programme, you will be able to introduce your innovation to an international network and integrate it into a live production environment. You can register now for the first call until the 31st of March.

Imagine if an article would adapt itself based on your preferences. Don't have a lot of time for some in-depth reading? Prefer to directly see the headlines? In today's information overload, we are exploring the technological possibilities to better personalise news, not only in terms of content, but also as a format. In the NewsTAPAS project, we are therefore exploring how we can better inform end users by adapting the presentation of a news article to their preferences and context.

Wondering how citizens can bring the stories of a city to life? With an abundance of data and information sources available in a city, there are many possibilities to tell stories. In the ESSENCE project, we developed new technologies to physically integrate stories to engage citizens in their urban challenges and those of society by extent. After two years, the project has ended and we look back on the results and insights.