Read the interview with Damian Ciachorowski, Uri Noy Meir, Dr. Anne-Marie Voorhoeve, and Sebastian Jung and their winning proposal: Embodied Dialogue

Damian Ciachorowski, Uri Noy Meir, Dr. Anne-Marie Voorhoeve, and Sebastian Jung from Answer42 Sp. z o.o.
Damian Ciachorowski is expert in digital transformation and AI; Uri Noy Meir is facilitator of embodied practices; Sebastian Jung is awareness-based organisational change consultant; Drs. Anne-Marie Voorhoeve is strategic connector and social architect. Answer42 is a company working at the intersection of technology and human-centred innovations. The team includes system thinkers, tech-experts and digital strategists. Together with the Global Artificial Intelligence Alliance Foundation, they explore the ethical aspects of future technologies. The core mission is to make emerging tech more inclusive, reflective, and meaningful. With background in technology projects and EU-funded innovation, they specialise in creating tools that support sustainable digital transformation.
Can you give a brief overview of your winning proposal?
What are its key objectives and innovative aspects?
Our winning proposal, Embodied Dialogue, aims to phenomenologically assess and test SPIRIT, a Scalable Platform for Innovations on Real-time Immersive Telepresence. Our key objective is to develop a testing framework and an embodied presence feedback tool specifically designed for SPIRIT’s mesh technology. This will involve collecting user experience data on SPIRIT’s ability to simulate physical presence in multi-participant conversations. Innovative aspects include our focus on user-centred evaluations, the integration of embodied methodologies like Systemic Constellations and Social Presencing Theater, and the creation of a modular feedback tool for the SPIRIT ecosystem. By building scalable feedback mechanisms, we aim to help developers, designers and users co-create more authentic, grounded, and empathic virtual interactions.
What motivated you to apply for the SPIRIT Open Call?
Our motivation for applying for the SPIRIT Open Call stems from our shared interest in the challenge of replicating embodied presence in virtual interactions to foster trust and connectivity among remote individuals. We recognise SPIRIT’s potential to offer a scalable, low-latency solution for real-time immersive telepresence. We are keen to bridge the gap between SPIRIT’s innovative technology and the human experience it intends to enhance by employing our expertise in translating physical embodied practices into virtual formats. Furthermore, we aim to contribute to the broader academic and practical discourse on human-to-human interaction in virtual spaces. The project gives us a perfect chance to test high-end telepresence tech while contributing our unique approach connected with empathy.
How do you envision this project making an impact?
We envision this project making a significant impact by providing phenomenological and human-centric design insights into how SPIRIT could support realistic and embodied virtual experiences, providing user and expert feedback to refine the platform for broader adoption. The developed evaluation tool will offer user-led suggestions for improving human-centric features in SPIRIT-based applications. We expect to identify key application potentials for SPIRIT in hybrid and remote work and learning environments, focusing on enhancing trust, openness, and coherence. What’s important – our tools will help developers measure “felt sense” of connection, not just technical metrics. Beyond tech, Embodied Dialogue is a statement that digital interaction should not strip us of our bodies, but invite us back into them.