My name is Katta Spiel. Eine Vorstellung auf Deutsch finden Sie hier.
I research marginalised perspectives on technology. My work informs design and engineering in critical ways to support the development of technologies that account for the diverse realities they operate in. My research is situated at the intersection of Computer Science, Design and Cultural Studies. Drawing on methods from (Critical) Participatory Design and Action Research, I collaborate with disabled, neurodivergent and/or nonbinary peers in conducting explorations of novel potentials for designs, methodological contributions to Human-Computer Interaction and innovative technological artefacts.
Currently, I am an Assistant Professor for “Critical Access in Embodied Computing” at the HCI Group of TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology), where I also lead a small team as part of the ERC Starting Grant ACCESSTECH (Experiencing Access with Interactive Computing). Previously, I worked on at an FWF Hertha Firnberg position related to “Exceptional Norms: Marginalised Bodies in Interaction Design”. Before that, I researched the attitudes, desires and interests of neurodivergent youth concerning play with digital games in collaboration with Kathrin Gerling and Fares Kayali and was part of the FWF-funded projects Social Play Technologies and OutsideTheBox, both at TU Wien. There, I investigated the experiences of autistic children in technological contexts, moving away from empathy and developed a concept for Participatory Evaluation. Both my bachelor degrees in Media Culture (B.A.) and Media Systems (B.Sc.) as well as my Master’s degree in Computer Science and Media (M.Sc.), I have acquired at Bauhaus Universität Weimar.
Since 2024, I am a member of the Young Academy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In 2022, I received the Förderungspreis Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaft, Technik of the city of Vienna and in 2020, I was awarded the SIGCHI Outstanding Dissertation Award.
Outside (and sometimes inside) of my research, I also like to craft, predominantly with textiles. I have also been a member of the City Council of Weimar (2009-2014).
My pronouns are they/them. You may address me as Mx. or Dr.