The DigiDemo and CreaDemo grants awarded by AVEK to the creative industries will be cut by half in 2021. Distributed for almost 20 years, these grants are funded from a special appropriation granted by the Ministry of Education and Culture that comes from profits obtained from gaming operations. AVEK’s product development support has helped companies and products such as Supercell, Gigglebug Entertainment, Arilyn and Oikiat Design’s Vaatelaastari (FabPatch) get started. The drastic decrease in the amount of financial support is a new blow to the creative industries and threatens their reform and innovation.

A recipient of both the CreMa and CreaDemo grants, Arilyn creates emotionally engaging experiences with the help of augmented reality. The company’s CEO and co-founder Emmi Jouslehto explains the role that augmented reality can play in cultural experiences.

The Aalto Studios Open Call project seeks audiovisual and gaming productions that create new and interesting content by utilising the specialised technologies of Aalto Studios.