Georg Luif, standing in front of an old beech tree

I build playful things.

I’m Georg — a designer, researcher and creative technologist based in Vienna, Austria. I create interactive media experiences, bring a playful, lighthearted approach to design problems, and like to explore new paths beyond the beaten one.

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From games to real-world play

My path started in digital art, but already in my first semester I discovered that what I really wanted was to make games. Why? Because game development is one of the most challenging fields there is: you have to master many disciplines at once, and the result can be extremely impactful — you give people agency inside your artwork. That passion took me to the University of Southern California on a Fulbright scholarship.

Back in Vienna, my work moved off the screen: interactive installations, robotic objects, custom electronics. Things you can touch and play with. That shift led me into artistic research, where games became a lens for studying how people play, perceive and connect.

White render of the 3D-modelled Hauptplatz façades in Mattersburg, the Trinity column in front.
Häuserchronik Mattersburg — the Hauptplatz around 1930, modelled in 3D

Education

  • MFA, Interactive Media & Games — University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts, 2015–2018. Fulbright scholarship; research assistant on Walden, a game with Tracy Fullerton.
  • Mag.art. Digitale Kunst — University of Applied Arts Vienna, 2010–2015.

Exhibitions

Positions & research

Researcher and lecturer at the Department of Experimental Game Cultures, University of Applied Arts Vienna, since 2020 — working on the FWF-funded research projects:

My research focus lies on alternative game mechanics, physical computing (PCB development), fabrication (3D printing and CAD), and AI — a technology I have been working with since GPT-2.

Teaching

  • Experimental Game Engines — seminar, University of Applied Arts Vienna. Students work across Unity, Godot, Three.js and AI-assisted tools.
  • Game Design Club — hands-on prototyping sessions at the Experimental Game Cultures department: constraints, playtests, iteration.

Toolkit

  • Engines & software — Unity, Unreal, Three.js, web technologies
  • Electronics — ESP32, PCB design, SMD workflows
  • Fabrication — CNC, 3D printing, laser cutting, CAD
  • AI — LLM integration, local models, AI-assisted creative pipelines

my favorite projects

  • BuildPsycholudic Zoo

    2026

    Three autonomous rovers share one charger — a robotic installation where care, not competition, is the game.

  • ExploreWalden, a game

    2015–2018

    PlayStation 4 and Xbox One work on Tracy Fullerton’s Walden, a game, at the USC Game Innovation Lab.

  • LearnThe EGC Device

    2025

    A classroom on a PCB: ESP32-C3, display, rainbow LEDs and a buzzer — students build a playable game in a day.

  • PlayTelephone Detective

    2026

    An AI murder mystery played through a 1940s rotary telephone — every case generated fresh, no two alike.

Milestones

  1. 2010 – 2015

    Mag.art. Digitale Kunst

    Digital art at the Angewandte, and the first games: Krallenspiel for the Metamart art market.

  2. 2015 – 2018

    USC, Los Angeles

    MFA Interactive Media & Games on a Fulbright; Walden, a game; Coyote at IndieCade.

  3. Since 2020

    Experimental Game Cultures

    Researcher and lecturer at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, on The Psycholudic Approach and Neuromatic Game Art.

  4. Today

    Studio + research

    Research and teaching, and my own studio: prototypes, custom PCBs, robots, installations.

games & gadgets & glorious failures

Sixteen years in, the recipe stays the same: hands-on making, serious engineering, and never separating the playful from the precise.

Want to work with me? Get in touch here.