Visual Computing and Human-Centered Technology
Visual Computing and Human-Centered Technology investigates the design and development of key technologies in the areas of computer vision, computer graphics, visualization, augmented/mixed/virtual reality, and human-computer interaction.
Contact
- Silvia Miksch, Coordinator
Research Topics
- Computer Graphics
- Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
- Visualization and Visual Analytics
- Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality
- Media Analysis and Retrieval
- Human-computer Interaction, Design and Socially Embedded Computing
- Assistive Technologies and Ubiquitous Computing
About
Visual Computing and Human-Centered Technology investigates the design and development of key technologies in the areas of computer vision, computer graphics, visualization, augmented/mixed/virtual reality, and human-computer interaction.
Topics include visual methods in the computational sciences (computer graphics and computer vision) including modeling, image analysis and synthesis, photorealistic rendering, real-time rendering, visualization of large data sets, processing of sensor data as well as the recognition of contained patterns and structures.
Further topics are socio-technical systems, mobile and ubiquitous technologies, people-centered design and evaluation, as well as ethics and responsible research and innovation. Application examples include: biological image analysis, visual surveillance, 3D reconstruction, bioinformatics, content-based multimodal retrieval, smart cities/IoT, assistive technologies, ambient-assisted living, games, healthcare, health and wellbeing, and collaboration. Furthermore, the research focus deals with interaction in these environments, where the emphasis is on designing “technologies for people” and using innovative, multimodal interfaces, which combine computer-based intelligence with cyber-physical settings.
Research topics in this respect include the development of interaction designs (especially for collaborative applications) together with the corresponding evaluation techniques. Central to VC+HCT’s innovative approach to digital technology is the multi-disciplinary combination of technical expertise with creative design and a people oriented perspective.
Research Units
Six of the faculty’s twenty-six research units are primarily focused on topics related to Visual Computing and Human-Centered Technology. Visit their pages to learn about current projects, publications, courses, and the people involved.
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Computer Vision
E193-01 / Head: Robert Sablatnig -
Computer Graphics
E193-02 / Head: Eduard Gröller -
Virtual and Augmented Reality
E193-03 / Head: Hannes Kaufmann -
Artifact-based Computing and User Research
E193-04 / Head: Hilda Tellioğlu -
Human Computer Interaction
E193-05 / Head: Paweł W. Woźniak -
Visual Analytics
E193-07 / Head: Silvia Miksch
Below is a small selection of recent research activities related to Visual Computing and Human-Centered Technology. To learn more, visit the pages of the research units listed above.
Recent Projects
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3D Machine Learning Models for Data Preparation in Automotive CFD-Simulation Process
2026 – 2027 / Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik GmbH & -
AI-Based Digital Building Inventory Using Computer Vision, Material Recognition, and Damage Detection from Image and 3D Scan Data
2026 – 2027 / STRABAG AG -
Monocular 3D Object Detection
2026 / Kapsch -
machine LEarninG-enabled Identification of archaeological Objects in the middle daNube river basin
2026 – 2028 / Austrian Academy of Sciences -
Proactive planning in water supply
2026 / DATAVIEW Handels- und Systemberatun Ges.m.b.H. -
Automated pointcloud to digital twin mapping and visualization.
2026 – 2028 / Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) -
Persuasive AI Chatbot for Counter-Extremism: A Value-Sensitive Multi-Stakeholder Feasibility Study
2025 – 2026 / Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) -
Can AI Build “Mental Immunity”? Inoculating Against Harmful Influence with AI Chatbots
2025 – 2028 / Austrian Science Fund (FWF) -
Konzipierung einer vollautomatisierten Ent- und Verladung mittels FTS für Außenbereich und
Kommissionierung
2025 – 2028 / Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)
Publication: 223720 -
Mixed Reality Post-Disaster Tools to Plan Intervention
2025 – 2027 / Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) -
Visual Computing-Grundlagenforschung
2025 – 2028 / VRVis -
Visual Analytics und Visualisierung
2025 / VRVis -
2D-to-3D lifting of foundation models for few-shot 3D object detection
2024 – 2026 / cirqular pointcloud analytics GmbH -
RE:STOCK INDUSTRY - Digital framework for the circular economy orientated reuse of existing building structures for vertical production
2024 – 2027 / Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)
Publications: 205516 / 222192 / 228343 -
ERIKA - Die digitale Begleiterin für klimabewusstes Handeln im Alltag
2024 – 2026 / Arbeiterkammer Niederösterreich -
Welten bauen mit Mathematik - Onlinetool zur parametrischen Echtzeitmodellierung
2024 / netidee Projektförderung
Publication: 229445 -
Health virtual twins for the personalised management of stroke related to atrial fibrillation
2024 – 2028 / European Commission
Publications: 210251 / 210250 / 210252 / 216532 / 219450 / 221540 / 227282 -
Climate-sensitive Adaptive Planning for Shaping Resilient Cities
2024 – 2027 / Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)
Publications: 220017 / 228171 / 229409 / 229436 -
Empathic Vehicle
2024 – 2026 / Vienna Business Agency (WAW)
Publications: 215606 / 228981 -
Bringing Point Clouds to WebGPU
2024 – 2025 / netidee Projektförderung
Recent Publications
- Multiscale Unfolding: Illustratively Visualizing the Whole Genome at a Glance / Halladjian, S., Kouril, D., Miao, H., Gröller, E., Viola, I., & Isenberg, T. (2022). Multiscale Unfolding: Illustratively Visualizing the Whole Genome at a Glance. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 28(10), 3456–3470. https://doi.org/10.1109/tvcg.2021.3065443
- Dear Reviewers: Responses to Common Reviewer Critiques about Infant Neuroimaging Studies / Korom, M., Camacho, M. C., Filippi, C. A., Licandro, R., Moore, L. A., Dufford, A., Zöllei, L., Graham, A. M., Spann, M., Howell, B., Shultz, S., Scheinost, D., & FIT’NG. (2022). Dear Reviewers: Responses to Common Reviewer Critiques about Infant Neuroimaging Studies. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 53, Article 101055. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.101055
- Perspectives of Visualization Onboarding and Guidance in VA / Stoiber, C., Ceneda, D., Wagner, M., Schetinger, V., Gschwandtner, T., Streit, M., Miksch, S., & Aigner, W. (2022). Perspectives of Visualization Onboarding and Guidance in VA. Visual Informatics, 6(1), 68–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visinf.2022.02.005
- Evaluating Active and Assisted Living technologies: Critical methodological reflections based on a longitudinal randomized controlled trial / Bieg, T., Gerdenitsch, C., Schwaninger, I., Kern, B. M. J., & Frauenberger, C. (2022). Evaluating Active and Assisted Living technologies: Critical methodological reflections based on a longitudinal randomized controlled trial. Computers in Human Behavior, 133(107249), 107249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107249
- Financial and Work Process related Perspectives of Social Robots in Care Settings / Carros, F., Preussner, A., Manavi, M., & Schwaninger, I. (2022). Financial and Work Process related Perspectives of Social Robots in Care Settings. ECSCW 2022 Workshop: Robots In Heterogeneous Contexts. Negotiation Of Co-Creative Lifelong Learning Spaces Through Participatory Approaches, Coimbra, Portugal. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/87321
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Camera Pose Estimation using Human Head Pose Estimation
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Fischer, R., Hödlmoser, M., & Gelautz, M. (2022). Camera Pose Estimation using Human Head Pose Estimation. In Proceedings of the 17th International Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications. 17th International Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications, Unknown. SCITEPRESS. https://doi.org/10.5220/0010879400003124
Project: SyntheticCabin (2021–2025) - Care Workers Making Use of Robots: Results of a Three-Month Study on Human-Robot Interaction within a Care Home / Carros, F., Schwaninger, I., Preussner, A., Randall, D., Wieching, R., Fitzpatrick, G., & Wulf, V. (2022). Care Workers Making Use of Robots: Results of a Three-Month Study on Human-Robot Interaction within a Care Home. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. CHI ’22 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New Orleans, LA, United States of America (the). https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517435
- Design Considerations for Novel Self-Adapting Toilets for Semi-Public Spaces / Mayer, P., & Panek, P. (2022). Design Considerations for Novel Self-Adapting Toilets for Semi-Public Spaces. In G. Schreier (Ed.), Studies in Health Technology and Informatics. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics / IOS press. https://doi.org/10.3233/shti220357
- SHREC 2021: Retrieval of cultural heritage objects / Sipiran, I., Lazo, P., Lopez, C., Jimenez, M., Bagewadi, N., Bustos, B., Dao, H., Gangisetty, S., Hanik, M., Ho-Thi, N.-P., Holenderski, M., Jarnikov, D., Labrada, A., Lengauer, S., Licandro, R., Nguyen, D.-H., Nguyen-Ho, T.-L., Perez Rey, L. A., Pham, B.-D., & Vu-Le, T.-A. (2021). SHREC 2021: Retrieval of cultural heritage objects. COMPUTERS & GRAPHICS-UK, 100, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cag.2021.07.010
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Immersive training of first responder squad leaders in untethered virtual reality
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Mossel, A., Schoenauer, C., Froeschl, M., Peer, A., Goellner, J., & Kaufmann, H. (2021). Immersive training of first responder squad leaders in untethered virtual reality. Virtual Reality, 25(3), 745–759. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-020-00487-x
Download: PDF (2.4 MB)
Project: VR on-site (2015–2017) - Understanding Optical Music Recognition / Calvo-Zaragoza, J., Hajič, J. jr., & Pacha, A. (2021). Understanding Optical Music Recognition. ACM Computing Surveys, 53(4), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1145/3397499
- Hornero: Thunderstorms Characterization using Visual Analytics / Diehl, A., Pelorosso, R., Ruiz, J., Pajarola, R., Gröller, M. E., & Bruckner, S. (2021). Hornero: Thunderstorms Characterization using Visual Analytics. Computer Graphics Forum, 40(3), 299–310. https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.14308
- Acute response on general and sport specific hip joint flexibility to training with novel sport device / Hoelbling, D., Grafinger, M., Smiech, M. M., Cizmic, D., Dabnichki, P., & Baca, A. (2021). Acute response on general and sport specific hip joint flexibility to training with novel sport device. Sports Biomechanics. https://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2021.1922742
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Gestalt descriptions for deep image understanding
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Hörhan, M., & Eidenberger, H. (2021). Gestalt descriptions for deep image understanding. Pattern Analysis and Applications, 24(1), 89–107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10044-020-00904-6
Download: PDF (3.52 MB) - Food Pyramid Escape - A serious escape game for the support of nutritional education in Austria and beyond / Aigner, C., Resch, E.-M., El Agrod, A., Baranyi, R., & Grechenig, T. (2021). Food Pyramid Escape - A serious escape game for the support of nutritional education in Austria and beyond. In 2021 IEEE 9th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health(SeGAH). 2021 IEEE 9th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health(SeGAH), Dubai, United Arab Emirates (the). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/segah52098.2021.9551850
- Egocentric Network Exploration for Immersive Analytics / Sorger, J., Arleo, A., Kan, P., Knecht, W., & Waldner, M. (2021). Egocentric Network Exploration for Immersive Analytics. In Computer Graphics Forum (pp. 241–252). John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.14417
- Designing to support People Working, Connecting and Living Well in Mobile Work Environments / Fitzpatrick, G. (2021). Designing to support People Working, Connecting and Living Well in Mobile Work Environments. In Dagstuhl Reports (Issue 5, pp. 23–53). Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/24936
- Uncertainty for Safe Utilization of Machine Learning in Medical Imaging, and Perinatal Imaging, Placental and Preterm Image Analysis : 3rd International Workshop, UNSURE 2021, and 6th International Workshop, PIPPI 2021, Held in Conjunction with MICCAI 2021, Strasbourg, France, October 1, 2021, Proceedings / Sudre, C. H., Licandro, R., Baumgartner, C., Melbourne, A., Dalca, A., Hutter, J., Tanno, R., Turk, E. A., Van Leemput, K., Torrents-Barrena, J., Wells, W. M., & Macgowan, C. (Eds.). (2021). Uncertainty for Safe Utilization of Machine Learning in Medical Imaging, and Perinatal Imaging, Placental and Preterm Image Analysis : 3rd International Workshop, UNSURE 2021, and 6th International Workshop, PIPPI 2021, Held in Conjunction with MICCAI 2021, Strasbourg, France, October 1, 2021, Proceedings. In Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Vol. 12959). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87735-4
- Investigation of Single Image Depth Prediction Under Different Lighting Conditions: A Case Study of Ancient Roman Coins / Frisky, A. Z. K., Harjoko, A., Awaludin, L., Zambanini, S., & Sablatnig, R. (2021). Investigation of Single Image Depth Prediction Under Different Lighting Conditions: A Case Study of Ancient Roman Coins. Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 14(4), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1145/3465742
- Studies of Work 'in the Wild' : The Field Study Tradition in Work Practice Research / Salembier, P., & Wagner, I. (2021). Studies of Work ’in the Wild’ : The Field Study Tradition in Work Practice Research. Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 30(2), 169–188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-021-09396-2
Recent Theses
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Towards fully autonomous first responder drones: A perception-driven Approach
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Schaufelberger, A. (2026). Towards fully autonomous first responder drones: A perception-driven Approach [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.133403
Download: PDF (2.11 MB) -
Leveraging Existing Natural Language Processing Techniques for Effective Text-to-Pictogram Translation for Digital Calendar Entries
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Hochreiter, F. (2026). Leveraging Existing Natural Language Processing Techniques for Effective Text-to-Pictogram Translation for Digital Calendar Entries [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.120654
Download: PDF (2.33 MB) -
Designing and Evaluating Socially Assistive Robots: The Role of Language Choice in Dementia Care Scenarios
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Düzgün, A. L. (2026). Designing and Evaluating Socially Assistive Robots: The Role of Language Choice in Dementia Care Scenarios [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.135814
Download: PDF (3.01 MB) -
Immersive Real-Time Language Translator for Augmented Reality
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Zhang, R. (2026). Immersive Real-Time Language Translator for Augmented Reality [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.132546
Download: PDF (2.72 MB) -
Personalized Empathic AI Conversational Agents for Electric Vehicle Charging Breaks
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Kusterer, S. A. (2026). Personalized Empathic AI Conversational Agents for Electric Vehicle Charging Breaks [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.138988
Download: PDF (2.59 MB) -
Conversational Agent for Intelligent Radio Communication Between Firefighters and Drones
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Mohammadi, F. (2026). Conversational Agent for Intelligent Radio Communication Between Firefighters and Drones [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.137124
Download: PDF (1.32 MB) -
Multi-View Robustness and 3D Aggregation for Object Detection Models
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Sogomonyan, A. (2026). Multi-View Robustness and 3D Aggregation for Object Detection Models [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.130312
Download: PDF (1.97 MB) -
Interactive Sampling for Class Discovery in Unstructured Data
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Fitz, L. (2026). Interactive Sampling for Class Discovery in Unstructured Data [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.136745
Download: PDF (2.5 MB) -
Digital Storytelling in Dementia Care. An arts-based knowledge translation approach to improve practical knowledge sharing among informal caregivers
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Kragl, C. (2026). Digital Storytelling in Dementia Care. An arts-based knowledge translation approach to improve practical knowledge sharing among informal caregivers [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.82987
Download: PDF (5.61 MB) -
Examining Subject Selection Bias in Unlabeled Motion Capture Datasets using Gait Analysis
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Kralofsky, B. (2026). Examining Subject Selection Bias in Unlabeled Motion Capture Datasets using Gait Analysis [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.122573
Download: PDF (620 KB) -
Gaming the Change: Shaping Climate Change Perspectives through an Empathy-driven Role-playing-game
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Stamencic, T. (2026). Gaming the Change: Shaping Climate Change Perspectives through an Empathy-driven Role-playing-game [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.116804
Download: PDF (1.93 MB) -
Who am I really? Identity and Community Practices in VR Chat
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Heßdörfer, K. (2026). Who am I really? Identity and Community Practices in VR Chat [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.136925
Download: PDF (1.75 MB) -
GUI vs CUI: A Comparative Study of Dark Pattern Recognition Emotional Response and Disengagement in Graphical and Conversational Interfaces in E-Commerce
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Balliu, G. (2026). GUI vs CUI: A Comparative Study of Dark Pattern Recognition Emotional Response and Disengagement in Graphical and Conversational Interfaces in E-Commerce [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.138182
Download: PDF (2.88 MB) -
Visual Analytics Support for Chemotherapy Treatment Response Prediction in Breast Cancer Patients
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Stadter, M. (2026). Visual Analytics Support for Chemotherapy Treatment Response Prediction in Breast Cancer Patients [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.117601
Download: PDF (3.93 MB) -
Smart Surface Reconstruction
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Erler, P. (2026). Smart Surface Reconstruction [Dissertation, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.139540
Download: PDF (5.25 MB) -
Graph Neural Networks for Writer Identification and Retrieval
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Pilizar, O. (2026). Graph Neural Networks for Writer Identification and Retrieval [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.125394
Download: PDF (1.4 MB) -
Informed Patch Sampling for 3D Medical Image Reconstruction
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Peterka, O. (2026). Informed Patch Sampling for 3D Medical Image Reconstruction [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.128140
Download: PDF (5.19 MB) -
Forklift Safety Training with a Virtual Reality Simulator
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Seirlehner, T. (2026). Forklift Safety Training with a Virtual Reality Simulator [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.137265
Download: PDF (3.51 MB) -
Beyond the Clinic: Exploring the Potential of User-Centered Design in mHealth for an Improved Wellbeing in Fertility Management.
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Altrichter, C. (2026). Beyond the Clinic: Exploring the Potential of User-Centered Design in mHealth for an Improved Wellbeing in Fertility Management. [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.111225
Download: PDF (5.02 MB) -
Exit-Strategies within the Core of the Incel Sphere
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Sadeghi, N. (2026). Exit-Strategies within the Core of the Incel Sphere [Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2026.137155
Download: PDF (3.58 MB)
Recent Awards
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Eduard Gröller:
IEEE VGTC Visualization Lifetime Achievement Award
2025 / IEEE VGTC / USA / Website -
Velitchko Filipov:
Best Paper Honorable Mention
2025 / Uncertainty Visualization Workshop / Austria / Website -
Velitchko Filipov:
Best Full Paper
2025 / Eurographics Conference on Visualization (EuroVis 2025) / Luxembourg / Website -
Robin Angelini:
Best Paper Award
2025 / Paper: Speculating Deaf Tech: Reimagining Technologies Centering Deaf People / Japan -
Katta Spiel:
Best Paper Award
2025 / Paper: Speculating Deaf Tech: Reimagining Technologies Centering Deaf People / Japan -
Velitchko Filipov:
Top Cited Article
2025 / Computer Graphics Forum / USA / Website -
Velitchko Filipov:
Best Dissertation
2024 / Austria / Website -
Florian Michahelles:
Honorable Mention Short Paper
2024 / MUC2024 / Germany / Website -
Florian Michahelles:
IoT2023 best paper award
2023 / International Conference of the Internet of Things, co-sponsored by ACM / Japan / Website -
Katta Spiel:
Best Poster Award
2023 / CSCW 2023 / USA -
Florian Michahelles:
Reviewer's Choice Award of Interact 2023 Conference
2023 / IFIP Technical Committee 13 on Human–Computer Interaction. / Austria / Website -
Geraldine Fitzpatrick:
Best Teacher Award
2023 / Austria -
Michael Wimmer:
Outstanding Technical Contributions Award
2023 / Eurographics Awards / Germany / Website -
Margrit Gelautz:
Best Poster Nominee at HAI 2022 - "The effect of exaggerated nonverbal cues on the perception of the robot Pepper", S. Fischer, D. Stoeva, and M. Gelautz
2022 / International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction (HAI) 2022 / New Zealand / Project -
Florian Michahelles:
Ten Year Impact Award
2022 / 21st International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM 2022) / Portugal / Website -
Katta Spiel:
Pride Biz Award 2022
2022 / Pride Biz / Austria -
Peter Purgathofer:
Best Lecture Award, Sonderpreis Digitale Lehre
2022 -
Katta Spiel:
Förderungspreis der Stadt Wien in der Sparte Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaft, Technik
2022 / Stadt Wien / Austria -
Katta Spiel:
Best Paper Award
2022 / Mensch und Computer 2022 / Germany -
Katta Spiel:
Best Paper Honourable Mention Award
2022 / Mensch und Computer 2022 / Germany