Aalborg University and POET Creator Software announce strategic collaboration
(Denmark) – Aalborg University (AAU), through its Master of Science in Lighting Design programme, and POET Creator Software, developed by Skandal Technologies, have formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), establishing a pioneering academic collaboration focused on real-time, data-driven environments and intelligent architecture.
At the core of the collaboration is the integration of POET Creator software into AAU’s MSc Lighting Design programme – one of the leading interdisciplinary lighting design courses in Europe. The partnership introduces students to real-time systems that combine lighting, media, data, and sensing into responsive spatial experiences, grounded in the concept of Ambient Communication – the design of environments that influence perception, behaviour, and decision-making through subtle, peripheral cues embedded in light and media, rather than explicit interfaces or instructions.
The collaboration includes the development of new teaching materials, project frameworks, and research opportunities, alongside access to POET Creator software for coursework, thesis projects, and experimental design investigations.
The partnership was launched with an inaugural Ambient Communication Workshop, held at Aalborg University’s Copenhagen laboratory, led by David Hernandez, Head of Enterprise Operations and Services at POET Creator Software.
The workshop brought students into direct engagement with real-time systems, exploring how environments can sense, interpret, and respond to human presence and data inputs. Through a series of hands-on experiments, participants developed interactive lighting and media scenarios that demonstrate how architecture can move beyond static form to become adaptive and communicative.
Speaking of the collaboration, Tapio Rosenius, CEO of POET Creator Software / Skandal Technologies, says: “There’s a real opportunity to rethink light as part of active, experiential environments that support people, reducing cognitive load, guiding attention, and nudging behaviour in subtle ways. This shift requires a multi-disciplinary approach, bringing together design, technology, and behavioural science.
“Aalborg University’s MSc in Lighting Design is an ideal partner in this context, with its strong focus on research-led practice, helping to shape a new generation of designers who can test and prove these ideas in the real world.”
Ellen Kathrine Hansen, Head of MSc Lighting Design at Aalborg University, adds: “This collaboration strengthens our commitment to integrating emerging technologies into lighting design education and research. Our transdisciplinary design approach – combining architecture, lighting, and media technology across disciplines – will be further supported through this collaboration. By working with POET Creator, our students and researchers gain direct exposure to advanced tools and methodologies that are redefining the profession regarding both responsive and validated lighting design.”