After game testing comes film testing? Not at all unlikely. With their innovative technology, Philipp Zent, Vladislav Samoilov and Tim Meinhardt have set themselves the goal of revolutionizing not only the gaming world, but also other industries. With their start-up Brainamics, they offer video game developers a unique and objective method to test and improve their products. Using artificial intelligence and electroencephalogram (EEG), the founders' technology can measure gamers’ emotions directly from their brain activity. What is beneficial for game developers could also open up entirely new possibilities for other industries in the future.  Over the past few months, the founders have traveled all over Europe to promote their idea. We spoke to Philipp, a student at TUM School of Management, about their experiences on the road, new developments in the young company since our last interview, and where things are headed for Brainamics in the future.

A summer full of gaming conferences

After many exhibitions and gaming conferences were only virtual or even canceled during the last years of the pandemic, the founders were finally able to get up close and personal with their community this summer. From Malmö in Sweden to Vilnius in Lithuania and Brighton in the south of England, Philipp and his team have traveled to several countries over the past few months. According to him, the gaming conferences are not only fun, but also very beneficial for the company's development. After all, these events offer more than just a chance to network with like-minded people and other founders. They also serve to present the technology to potential customers. At a conference in Brno in the Czech Republic, for example, the team was able to acquire a new customer right at the booth. 

Learnings from dozens of attended conferences

Every conference is a new adventure: you get to meet all kinds of people from the industry and, more importantly, potential customers. "We met many incredible studios and publishers who showed interest in our technology," says Philipp. That’s fun, of course. "Building a personal relationship with potential customers is also immensely important," he clarifies. Being on site at such events pays off: Since the founders have been able to attend the gaming events in person, they have seen a significantly better conversion rate on their product sales.

Another learning for Philipp: Attending conferences and traveling from country to country in a very short time is much more exhausting than one would expect. You see very little of the cities and countries. Most of the time, according to Philipp, "you just move from the airport to the hotel or client and back." Even though the past few months have been exciting, he is looking forward to spending more time with his colleagues in their new office in Munich. Because here, too, things have changed: The Brainamics team has grown. But more on that in the next article!

What’s next?

The three founders are attracting a lot of interest with their game-testing technology. However, the vision of the three entrepreneurs is to make their innovation available to other industries as well. To this end, they aim to explore further use cases in the future. And the entrepreneurs have many ideas: They could certainly imagine their technology being used in the film industry. Films or series are usually screened to a test audience before release. “Marvel, for example, tests films around 20 times with real audiences before the movie hits theaters,” explains Philipp. Most of the time, feedback is gathered through questionnaires. With their technology, the experience of the test viewers could be looked at and analyzed in a whole new way.

To further explore potential markets, Philipp, Vladislav and Tim need more resources. And to grow faster, they are currently in funding rounds with potential investors. “That is our top priority at the moment,” says Philipp. With the funding, they plan not only to put more resources into research and business development in the future, but also hire more employees.