The Northern Times
  • News
  • Lifestyle
  • Culture
  • People
  • What’s happening
  • Economy
  • Opportunities
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Lifestyle
  • Culture
  • People
  • What’s happening
  • Economy
  • Opportunities
No Result
View All Result
The Northern Times
No Result
View All Result

“Stress is something useful!” an interview with Arno Zijlstra and Bernard Maarsingh of Jamzone

January 17, 2020
in Opportunities
Home Opportunities

What does it mean to make it in the north? This is part of a series of portraits of local people, organizations, and companies working to further internationalize Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe. This time we spoke to Arno Zijlstra and Bernard Maarsingh, Cofounders of Jamzone, an ‘innovation lab’ that combines psychology and technology to help people and companies.

By Thomas Ansell

When you’re asked to strap on a heart monitor before trying out a product, you know it’s going to be good. So I find myself wired up in an elegant Leeuwarder building, wearing VR goggles and climbing up a fiendishly puzzling tower.

Whilst it might look like a simple puzzle game, it’s significantly cleverer than that. This is ‘Stressjam‘, a VR programme developed by Jamzone to help people understand their own bodies’ reactions to stress, in concert with a trained expert. It’s underpinned by a belief that stress (in the biological sense) isn’t bad unless it is mis-managed. “Stress is something useful”, declares Bernard Maarsingh, one of the co-founders of Jamzone. “This also has a clinical function, in it helps people deal with stress caused by, for example, burnout”, Maarsingh continues.

Indeed, Stressjam was used at the finals of the ‘Dutch stress Championship’, where people demonstrate their mental fortitude and ability to control their ‘stress symptoms’. “Actually”, says Zijlstra (another co-founder), “it’s the rhythms of stress that are important”, what he means is that stress is a constant in life; the important part is how people orient their stress, and work with their own body to know what the causes of the stress are.

“VR is not quite yet trusted as a tool, there’s a sort of uncanny valley with it”, says Maarsingh. All of my doubts about the effectiveness of VR are done away with when I try ‘Darejam’, where you’re put into a virtual elevator, taken to the top of a virtual tower, and then told to (not quite virtually) walk to the end of a gangplank and hop off. If my brain isn’t fooled, my heart most certainly is. I bunny-hop off the plank, half grimacing, and watch my character flop to the canyon floor. “You controlled your mental stress quite well”, says Maarsingh, “but your bodily stress markers were high”.

So, why is this most advanced of places- half lab, half development centre- based in Leeuwarden? It was a conscious choice, says Zijlstra. “There is a good supply of knowledge and students, there are several game labs in Leeuwarden, and a mental health institute. So really, we have everything we need here.”

But what about the team behind these developments? Maarsingh and Zijlstra met at a networking event: Maarsingh is a “brainy psychologist” and head of postmaster management education at the University of Groningen/ PPO whilst Zijlstra is a “techy creative” Innovation Architect. Their offices in Leeuwarden are filled with smiling young recruits, buried in code, or user experience updates. “People come to us, just at the right moment”, grins Zijlstra, when I ask about how their recruitment process usually goes.

Maarsingh notes that when Jamzone does advertise, jobs receive interest from around the world: “people are so highly motivated that they want to work through the night, but that’s not really in-keeping with our philosophy!”, he laughs. The culture of Jamzone is relaxed, creative, and safe in the knowledge of its employees: “we try to create a feeling of being meaningful”, says Zijlstra.

It’s certainly an inspiring environment to be in, all high ceilings, tapping keyboards, and creative interior architecture. And, if anyone at Jamzone wants to know what their stress markers are doing, well, the heart monitor is just down the hall.

Jamzone is just one of a large number of innovative Life Science and Technology companies in the Northern Netherlands. For more information about the North’s strongest industries, or to find jobs at companies like Jamzone, head to www.makeitinthenorth.nl

Header Photo by Bradley Hook from Pexels. All other images via Jamzone

Tags: FrieslandinnovationJamzoneMake it in the NorthVR

Related Posts

Job fair to be held at the Vismarkt this week
What's happening

Job fair to be held at the Vismarkt this week

September 11, 2023
Many talented biologists are looking for a job in the North – Bioclear Earth
Make it in the North

Many talented biologists are looking for a job in the North – Bioclear Earth

June 17, 2023
From food to its employees, Tetra Pak is focused on protecting what’s good
Economy

From food to its employees, Tetra Pak is focused on protecting what’s good

June 12, 2023

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Popular News

  • Father and six children from Ruinerwold lived in basement for years waiting for the end of time

    Father and six children from Ruinerwold lived in basement for years waiting for the end of time

    2873 shares
    Share 1149 Tweet 718
  • Scottish company working on ferry service between Edinburgh and Eemshaven

    1827 shares
    Share 731 Tweet 457
  • German students score rap hit with “Bonnetje Mee”

    1730 shares
    Share 692 Tweet 433
  • Two COVID-19 Coronavirus cases confirmed in Province of Groningen

    1491 shares
    Share 596 Tweet 373
  • Olympic champion Epke Zonderland now a doctor

    1374 shares
    Share 550 Tweet 344
The Northerntimes is powered by: TopDutch

No Result
View All Result
  • Arts
  • Contributors
  • Covid-19 News
  • Covid Chronicles
  • authority
  • personal
  • photo reportage
  • professional
  • Crime
  • Culture
  • Drenthe
  • Dutch history
  • Econ 050
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Eurosonic Noorderslag
  • Friesland
  • Groningen
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Make it in the North
  • National
  • News
  • Nightlife
  • Opinion
  • Opportunities
  • Education
  • People
  • Expats
  • International students
  • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Sports
  • submitted articles
  • Top Dutch Business
  • Travel
  • Typical Dutch
  • Ukraine
  • Uncategorized
  • What’s happening
  • World

Welcome Back!

OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Submit a article

Send in an article to be published on The Northern Times.

Send a news tip

Got a story idea or want us to be aware of anything?