Programme

Ambient Care

Ambient Care explores a future in which healthcare is fully integrated into responsive, almost invisible infrastructures. Care is no longer something you go to; instead, it continuously takes shape around you.

At the center of this vision is the Organome: a living, biological copy of yourself, cultivated from your own cells. Floating above you, it functions as an extension of your body. It continuously collects health data and shares it with the surrounding environment as you move.

The Organome also acts on your behalf. Instead of you visiting the hospital, your Organome does. It docks into different healthcare environments, performs analyses, and anticipates your needs. Based on these insights, appropriate actions are automatically initiated, often without requiring any intervention from you.

Installation for Dutch Design Week 2025
Designers: PLECTRUM (Dani Clode & Lisa Mandemaker)
In collaboration with Fontys Centre of Expertise Health, Máxima Medical Center, and PoZoB.

Circolab

Laboratories often work with single-use plastics, including pipette tips. This is safe and efficient, but also creates large amounts of plastic waste. The pipette tip is used millions of times every day in laboratories and hospitals. Within Circolab, research is done into how pipette tips can be safely washed, disinfected and reused.  

Together with students, we will design the machine, investigate logistical and legal aspects and draw up a business plan.

Crossing oceans, chasing dreams

Crossing Borders, Chasing Dreams is a film about how challenging it is to study in the Netherlands when you come from another part of the Kingdom. 

It is an honest, realistic, yet hard portrayal of the difficulties students face. Highly educational for anyone working in education. Joep Houtermans said he is proud of the documentary, as well as of its creators and main protagonists, for how openly they have shared their experiences. 

The screening of the film and the panel discussion that followed had a deep impact. Organizations such as NUFFIC and SEA are interested in sitting down with the creators and main protagonists for a panel discussion, so that policies can be developed and processes improved based on their stories and experiences. 

The VRW-clause

Man, oh man. It’s 2026 and our healthcare system is still designed around men. Women are diagnosed too late, incorrectly, or not at all, and treatments are often not tailored to their bodies. Because of this knowledge gap, symptoms related to menstruation, pregnancy, hormones and menopause remain misunderstood, exactly during the years when women are expected to perform, work and keep going. 

The result: missed promotions, lower performance and sometimes even burnout or dropout. It costs women their health and employers their people. Yet real change remains optional. 

That’s why we’re launching the VRW Clause: a new employment condition that makes women’s health concrete in the workplace. One sentence in the employment contract forms the basis for a commitment from employer to employee. This shifts women’s health from a personal issue to a collective responsibility, creating structural impact for millions of women.

Dementia Compass

The Aumens Compass is an innovative navigation tool that supports people living with dementia to keep going outdoors independently and with confidence. Many people with dementia still want to walk, visit familiar places or run small errands, but the fear of getting lost can limit their freedom and participation in everyday life. The Aumens Compass offers simple and intuitive support: instead of complex maps or step-by-step route instructions, it points continuously in the direction of home. 

The project is grounded in design-oriented research and developed together with people with dementia, informal caregivers, care professionals, designers and researchers. The central question is not what technology can do, but how technology can contribute to autonomy, safety, dignity and quality of life. 

For students, this project shows how societal challenges call for human-centred innovation. It connects care, design, technology, ethics and implementation, and invites students to explore technologies that support people rather than take over. 

EarlyWarningScan

EarlyWarningScan BV is an organization that conducts research into developing a new method for the early detection of breast cancer. By analyzing the movement of breast tissue, it is possible to detect unusual movements that could indicate the presence of potentially abnormal tissue. 

This project aims to support the development of the EarlyWarningScan project by providing mathematical expertise in detecting breast tissue movement from photographic images. It utilizes neural networks, photogrammetry, filtering, and point cloud registration to investigate which methods will be most valuable for the future of the EarlyWarningScan project.

Electric DAF car

Students rescue a rusty 1975 DAF from the scrapyard and convert it into an electric car.

Experiential Theory for Dance Theory Education

This project explores embodied, experiential learning as a way to reimagine theory pedagogy, addressing the gap between text-based instruction and embodied learning in dance education. As a starting point, the project asks: what happens when we align theory learning with inviting students to leave the theory classroom chair and engage physically and sensorially with theory? 

Drawing on key teaching moves — experience before concept, knowing through movement, doing as questioning, reading texts otherwise — this course invites first-year Dance Arts in Context students to bring their own embodied perspective to theoretical material, fostering a fundamentally different relationship to theory learning. 

In this process, theory becomes matter when it passes through the body: it sticks, settling into muscle and memory; it lingers, returning later through the thinking body; it travels, transformed by the porous bodies that carry it forward. 

Conversation techniques with VR - PITCH

Within PITCH (Platform to Innovate, Test & Connect), students, lecturers, healthcare professionals, and companies work together to develop and implement innovations in healthcare. Enhancing student learning is at the heart of this collaboration. 

During the Fontys for Society event, PITCH and The Simulation Crew showcase how VR combined with AI-powered role play scenarios can be used to train communication skills in a safe yet realistic setting. As a (future healthcare) professional you can explore different approaches, reflect on your performance and receive real-time feedback on your actions. 

In this collaboration, students play an active role as testers and co-developers, providing valuable insights that help further refine and improve the technology. 

This approach creates a dynamic learning environment where education, professional practice and innovation come together. Students engage with real challenges while companies and healthcare organizations gain insights that contribute to more effective and applicable healthcare innovations. 

Curious? Come and experience firsthand how this innovation can support your personal development or enhance your teaching practice!

LUME

LUME is a startup concept focused on women’s safety in everyday life. Many women consciously or unconsciously make decisions to feel safer when they are alone on the move: choosing a different route, calling someone, sharing their location, or being extra aware of their surroundings. LUME explores how safety can become more accessible, discreet, and better integrated into women’s daily lives.

The concept is a stylish safety bracelet that looks like jewelry, but can offer support in moments where someone feels unsafe. The project is currently focused on problem and product validation: what do women actually experience, which situations feel uncomfortable, and what kind of solution would create real value? With LUME, I aim to contribute to more freedom, confidence, and mobility for women.

RestNest

RestNest is an alarm clock with a phone compartment and cover, keeping your phone out of sight. The product was developed by the student company Rest For More and helps people consciously put their phone away in the evening. This reduces the temptation to keep scrolling and helps them experience more peace before going to sleep. Many people use their phone until late at night, which can affect sleep, focus and mental wellbeing. With Rest For More, we want to contribute in an accessible way to healthier habits around phone use. RestNest combines an alarm clock, lamp, Bluetooth speaker and phone compartment into one practical product for your bedside table. 

RevSim

Introduction of a Rehabilitation Simulation Chair for chronic patients, who like to exercise with variation and motivation and combine this with therapeutic training. With a unique combination of a Simulation Chair, VR-technology, Serious Gaming and therapeutic exercises.

Unlocking Caribbean Mental Strength

The goal of this course is to make mental aspects within sports and daily life open for discussion within Caribbean culture. The course offers techniques from sport and performance psychology that can be applied to broad groups as well as to individuals who want to strengthen their mental resilience. Because mental health is still not often openly discussed in the Caribbean region, there is a need for professionals who can guide this in an accessible and practical way. In collaboration with the Churandy Martina Foundation, this has been achieved. 

A method was chosen in which practical tools are combined with theory, allowing future mental coaches to apply them immediately. The first five mental coaches have now been trained; they hold key positions on the island and play an important role in increasing awareness of mental health. 

Fontys is making an impact in the Netherlands and is a pioneer in the Caribbean region: Fontys for Society goes international!

Virtual Humans

This is (not) a person
Research groups in Design for Journalism, Human & Technology, and Interaction Design.

This interactive multimedia experience explores the evolving relationship between humans and virtual beings. Visitors engage with AI-powered digital humans in realistic contexts such as healthcare, education, and media, discovering how these virtual characters challenge our understanding of trust, empathy, and human interaction.

Fancy a coffee

In Fatima-Oost, a local community in Tilburg, residents work together to remain independent and self-supporting. This concept of community self-reliance is made possible through a social network where people stay connected and help each other when needed. 

To support this initiative, students from Fontys ICT developed the “Bakkie Doen” app. Through the app, residents can share activities, offer support, and post requests for help, making it easier to connect with others in the community. 

Bakkie Doen is part of the KwilT project, a collaboration between the Municipality of Tilburg, TBV Wonen, De Wever, Fontys Centre of Expertise Health, and Fontys ICT.