European natives found interactive media startup Fresk Interactive

One of the latest interactive media startups to launch on the Silicon Prairie was founded by a pair of unlikely Iowans: Stefan and Thomas Hansen. The pair are sons of Danish citizens, were born and raised in Germany and now choose to live in Des Moines. While school initially attracted each of them to Iowa…

One of the latest interactive media startups to launch on the Silicon Prairie was founded by a pair of unlikely Iowans: Stefan and Thomas Hansen. The pair are sons of Danish citizens, were born and raised in Germany and now choose to live in Des Moines.

While school initially attracted each of them to Iowa they founded their business here for other reasons. “The amount of energy people have and that they put into [entrepreneurial] projects is pretty astounding. We could probably do a good job on the Coasts, too, but we feel like we can actually make a difference here and do something that maybe people wouldn’t expect from Iowa,” said Stefan, the younger of the two brothers.

Their startup, Fresk Interactive, creates innovative user experiences around interactive devices such as those with multi-touch surfaces like you see in mobile phones or kiosks. Stefan explained their corporate philosophy, “We believe interactive surfaces, things you can touch, things you can interact with, are going to be bigger and bigger in the coming years. We’ve had a passion for it, Thomas has been studying it for awhile, and we really thought this is the time to do it and we have the ideas to do it right now.”

Each brother brings a different skill set to the team. Stefan is a graphic designer and previously worked with the team at 8/7 Central. Thomas has a programming background and is currently a PhD candidate in human computer interaction at the University of Iowa.

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“My research is focusing on how to enable people to create applications for [these technologies], with Stefan being a designer and coming up with the visual and how this needs to communicate, I think it’s a really good combo,” said Thomas.

They worked with the Technology Association of Iowa to create an interactive display for the Heartland Greenup as their first project earlier this year. The display was used as a messaging platform, to facilitate meetups between attendees as well as provide various other information about the event in a new and innovative way.

Other past projects include concept studies for the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines and the Des Moines Skywalk System.

On Friday evening, October 8th, the team will showcase a new interactive menu and ordering system, a touch screen information kiosk and other technology projects they’ve been working on for the Des Moines Social Club (1408 Locust St) at an event called Des Moines Social Club and Fresk Interactive: A Technological Love Affair.

Here’s our interview with the Hansen brothers:



This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN's origin »

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