Voices from the field: Silvia Van Aken
As part of the Belgian XR Report 2025, we’re giving the floor to voices from the field. Professionals from across XR Valley’s key sectors share their views on the current state and future potential of XR in Belgium. From education to industry, culture to healthcare — where do we stand today, and where could we be headed next?
This edition: Silvia Van Aken (AP Hogeschool) from the perspective of Entertainment & Media
“With my PhD in visual storytelling (KU Leuven | LUCA School of Arts), I gained insights in complex storytelling techniques and audience strategies. I have written my PhD about the stylistic and narrative characteristics of Jaco Van Dormael’s mindfilms (films that enlighten character’s modes of consciousness, such as memories, dreams or hybrid modes) and compared them to the work of e.g. René Magritte. Besides, I have project and change management experience with technological implementations within creative industries (from media to the cultural and event sector).”
“I am the research coordinator of Immersive Lab (AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Antwerp), which conducts practice-oriented research on immersive technologies. Our creative, technological and user research team is doing R&D about production workflows for XR and generative AI, immersive storytelling techniques, and their impact on users. We share our knowledge and infrastructure (XR studio and Creative AI Sandbox with GPU cluster for efficient XR and AI workflows), and work interdisciplinary together with companies and students. Our team also developed a Promptable AI Camera (spin-off) for direct visual control of livestreams, events and AV productions, without the use of greenkey, mocap or VFX.”
“The AI revolution has taken a huge leap forward in recent years. Where in 2024 we often associated AI with unrealistic and error-prone videos and animation, today we see models that produce stunningly realistic videos. The latest General World Models can even create more realistic videos, (3D) animations and interactive worlds. Yet companies in the creative industries slowly started to integrate genAI in the production phase: “40% in comparison to 20% last year” (Video Experience Day, 2025). I hope the vertical Entertainment can tackle these obstacles of the sector, that it can inspire others and share knowledge on a larger scale, in order to let the Belgian creative industries grow faster.”
Curious to learn about all insights, data, and real-world cases from Belgium’s XR ecosystem?
Check out the Belgian XR Report 2025