Reshaping media content creation with audience emotional insight

Excitement, joy, sadness, fear, boredom… we can feel many things when watching a video. Imagine if media and entertainment companies could create and adapt content based on the viewers’ emotional responses. This is already a reality, thanks to the tech start-up Cinematronic.

Established in 2021 within Aalborg University, Denmark, Cinematronic developed a cutting-edge software solution that assesses and analyses media content, using galvanic skin response sensors that capture viewers’ emotions. These biosensors can detect changes in skin conductance, which correlate with emotional arousal, such as excitement or stress. In addition, the solution has a questionnaire that allows respondents to give qualitative feedback on the video watched.

With a background in gaming, film theory, communication, experience design and software architecture, the team needed an academic input to bridge the gap between neuroscience and psychology and to take the start-up to the next level. Enterprise Europe Network was ready to help them out.

"They contacted us regarding EU funding for technology development, test and validation on a transnational scale. They were eager to participate in brokerage events to meet investors and production companies, film schools and project cooperation partners," said Aija Konisevska Azadi, adviser at the Enterprise Europe Network branch in northern Denmark.

Comprehensive business support

Enterprise Europe Network immediately worked on a plan identifying opportunities for funding and partnerships to meet the needs of Cinematronic. The Network supported the start-up in finding relevant funding calls, crafting applications, developing work packages, and drafting activity and budget plans.

"Since we began working with the Network, we have received tremendous support and help with all aspects of creating exciting EU projects," said Rozalia Godsk, CEO of Cinematronic. "The support included reaching out to existing networks and helping create new cross-disciplinary consortiums where knowledge and know-how from industry, education and scientific institutions enabled us to create innovations that would not be possible individually."

With the help of the Network, Cinematronic participated in important events, such as the Lisbon Beyond Summit 2022 and the Creative Industries meet Industry 2023, holding successful meetings with technology and production companies, venture partners and investors.

Together, they also developed a partner search profile to apply for the Creative Europe Innovation Lab in 2022, for which they received 16 letters of interest from 10 European countries and selected BrainSigns as a partner.

Integrating competences with BrainSigns

A spin-off company of the Sapienza University of Rome, BrainSigns is an expert in recording and performing high-quality analysis of brain and other biosignals in different fields. Their response to Cinematronic’s partner search was also supported by the Enterprise Europe Network.

"The submission to that 2022 call was unsuccessful, but it was the right opportunity to exchange ideas and expertise towards a synergic collaboration," stated Claudio Testani, Technology and Innovation Manager at the Enterprise Europe Network branch in Rome, Italy. "BrainSigns, through its deep expertise in neuroscience, is opening new frontiers and enabling an innovative development of Cinematronic technology. On the other hand, Cinematronic is driving BrainSigns into a new market, the film industry."

Assisted by the Network, both companies received funding from Erasmus+ with the project 'KREA-TECH – Innovative learning and teaching practices for implementing new technology in the creative media processes', which started in September 2023.

With joint efforts, Cinematronic and BrainSigns also applied for the Culture and Creativity Call 3 Breakthrough Lab of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology and for the Creative Europe Innovative Business Models call.

Achievements and future vision

Since its beginning, Cinematronic has secured numerous scholarships and grants, participated in various accelerators, and successfully developed the alpha, beta and final versions of its solution Cinemetrics. The start-up expanded the team and estimates an annual increase in revenue ranging from 130 % to 240 %.

"We have formed vital partnerships and collaborations with key players in the industry. This includes renowned names like Nordisk Films, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, the National Film School of Denmark, Danish film schools as well as locally and internationally recognised film institutions. The Enterprise Europe Network has played a crucial role in facilitating connections with major industry stakeholders," said Godsk.

Currently, Cinematronic’s solution works with one respondent at a time, but the plan is to scale the business and develop the software to support an entire cinema audience. For this, the team is also developing their own hardware for collecting biodata from multiple respondents.

The company is also pursuing funding for its Interactive Adaptive Media System, which can moderate and personalise entertainment experiences to fit viewers’ emotional needs. "This innovation will be particularly relevant in conjunction with the ongoing development of text-to-video systems and other disruptive technologies that influence film production pipelines," claimed Godsk.

"The Enterprise Europe Network continues to be a key player in our future. We envision that they will continue to support us in strengthening partnerships and projects across borders inside the EU and internationally," she added.