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Roland Graf

Associate Professor

Contact

Photograph of Roland Graf

Biography

Curriculum Vitae
  • Dr. techn. (Doctor of Technical Science), Vienna University of Technology, 2021
  • Dipl.-Ing. (MSc equivalent), Vienna University of Technology, 2002

Roland Graf is a media artist, design researcher, and inventor. He collaborates across disciplines to design platforms, games, and interactive systems that reframe the body and interactivity in the built environment. Graf’s doctoral research focused on tracing a convergence of artistic and ludic (i.e., playful) engineering approaches at the intersection of interactive art and human-computer interaction. His current research explores the roles of play and playful exploration of emerging technologies in prototyping and building more accessible and inclusive futures.

Graf initiated and directs several interdisciplinary research collaborations at the University of Michigan including: Daylight Media Lab, a collaboration with material scientists and engineers exploring sunlight as a medium for interactive outdoor media systems; Internet of Shoes, a sensory networking platform for street-level interactions in collaboration with engineers of embedded wireless technologies. His most recent research with computer engineers, iGYM, is an inclusive augmented reality system that enables people with different abilities to play and exercise together. Funded by the U-M Exercise & Sport Science Initiative, it received the Best Paper Award in the proceedings of CHI Play 2019 and was featured in more than 300 media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, ABC News, Houston Chronicle, and USA Today.

Graf is also a co-founder of the artist collective Assocreation, whose oeuvre includes a wide range of interactive installations, happenings, and urban interventions. Assocreation’s work has been shown internationally in galleries, museums, and at art festivals, conferences, and computer/world expos, including the Bienal de Valencia, The Vienna Künstlerhaus, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, CENTRALE for contemporary art in Bruxelles, Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, CeBIT in Hannover, EXPO 2017 in Astana, TEI’15 in Stanford, as well as in the streets of, among others, New York, Detroit, Sao Paulo, Istanbul, Mumbai, Hong Kong, and Kathmandu.

Throughout his career, Graf has often worked simultaneously in different creative domains including art, architecture, and product design. His individual and collaborative work in these domains has received awards, patents, and international recognition including: the Excellence Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival for the street video game Solar Pink Pong, the Prix Ars Electronica Distinction in the Category of Interactive Art for the telematic sidewalk Bump, Winner of the National Play Everywhere Design Challenge with the urban intervention Brightmoor Runway, Feldmark licensed to the German retailer Magazin, Slim Jim exhibited by Fredericia at the Milan Design Week.

Since relocating to the USA in 2011, Graf has also collaborated with communities at the heart of Michigan’s postindustrial society on public art and design/build projects such as “Camp Take Notice” in Ann Arbor, and “Black Men for Social Change” in Flint. Before joining the Stamps School of Art & Design faculty, Graf was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Spatial and Sustainable Design at the Vienna University of Technology.

News

The pictures shows how augmented reality is used for a the iGYMFUTUREGYM international collaboration to bring inclusive play to all children.

iGYM<>FUTUREGYM Collaborate on Inclusive Augmented Realities
Santa Ono makes remarks at Michigan Union.

iGYM featured at U-M Celebrate Invention
Red Crossing: a group of people join to lift a large, red rectangle of fabric, while another person runs across it.

Red Crossing by Roland Graf + Nick Tobier in Germany
Exhibitions4

2022 Stamps Faculty Awards
Image of Somerset House, a large manor in London

Nick Tobier and Roland Graf: Red Crossing at Somerset House, London
A table made of wooden planks

Roland Graf: University Record Faculty Spotlight
Red crossing Augsburg

A Magic Carpet Offers an Experience of Solidarity
A massive wooden table for twelve people made up of seven planks, which are put together and held in place with four beech wood wedges. No nails, no fittings. Even its rough surface remains untamed, completely without wax, oil, or varnish.

Roland Graf: Feldmark Table Featured
Venn diagram showing Ludic Engineering as the intersection of Art, Play, Technology, and Innovation

Roland Graf’s Doctoral Thesis Receives “Award of Excellence”
A lamppost covered in rainbow stripes of LED lights, with a tetherball attached to the top.

All-Nite Tetherball at DLECTRICITY
Digital rendering of a garden with glowing orbs.

Stamps Shines Bright at DLECTRICITY
I Gym image

Roland Graf’s iGYM: An Interactive and Inclusive Game for Kids With and Without Disabilities
2019 Annual Conference

Roland Graf: What is the Research Telling Us?
20190928 IMG 4219

Red Crossing by Graf, Low, and Tobier at Winnipeg Design Festival
Bump

Roland Graf: Bump Featured as a Pioneering Telepresence Art Work
Io S

Roland Graf: Internet of Shoes Patent Issued
I GYM two

Roland Graf: Best Paper Award at CHI PLAY
Red carpet title

A Beacon to Connect: Red Crossing Premieres in Prague
I GYM

Roland Graf Presents iGYM at CHI 2019 in Glasgow, UK
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Roland Graf on Micro-Housing for BBC News Brazil

Work

Roland Graf: iGYM Roland Graf: iGYM Faculty Roland Graf: iGYM
Roland Graf: Solar Pink Pong: street video game Roland Graf: Solar Pink Pong: street video game Faculty Roland Graf: Solar Pink Pong: street video game
Roland Graf: Brightmoor Runway: urban intervention Roland Graf: Brightmoor Runway: urban intervention Faculty Roland Graf: Brightmoor Runway: urban intervention
Red Crossing: a group of people join to lift a large, red rectangle of fabric, while another person runs across it. Roland Graf: Red Crossing: participatory public performance Faculty Roland Graf: Red Crossing: participatory public performance
Overhead view of a yellow kite floating above two rooftops Roland Graf: Pipa Vista: urban intervention and workshop series Faculty Roland Graf: Pipa Vista: urban intervention and workshop series
Roland Graf: Internet of Shoes: sensory networking device/platform Roland Graf: Internet of Shoes: sensory networking device/platform Faculty Roland Graf: Internet of Shoes: sensory networking device/platform
Roland Graf: Bump: telematic installation Roland Graf: Bump: telematic installation Faculty Roland Graf: Bump: telematic installation
Roland Graf: Rolling Shadows: interactive installation Roland Graf: Rolling Shadows: interactive installation Faculty Roland Graf: Rolling Shadows: interactive installation
Roland Graf: Moon Ride: interactive installation Roland Graf: Moon Ride: interactive installation Faculty Roland Graf: Moon Ride: interactive installation
Roland Graf: Arising From The Surface: experimental short film Roland Graf: Arising From The Surface: experimental short film Faculty Roland Graf: Arising From The Surface: experimental short film
Roland Graf: Freedom: permanent installation Roland Graf: Freedom: permanent installation Faculty Roland Graf: Freedom: permanent installation
Roland Graf: Pink Prints Streetwear: happening, installation and object series Roland Graf: Pink Prints Streetwear: happening, installation and object series Faculty Roland Graf: Pink Prints Streetwear: happening, installation and object series
Roland Graf: Public Hanging: installation, happening Roland Graf: Public Hanging: installation, happening Faculty Roland Graf: Public Hanging: installation, happening
Roland Graf: Red Carpet: installation Roland Graf: Red Carpet: installation Faculty Roland Graf: Red Carpet: installation
Roland Graf: Feldmark: table Roland Graf: Feldmark: table Faculty Roland Graf: Feldmark: table