Georg Luif https://georgluif.at/ Game designer & creative technologist in Vienna — games, interactive installations, robotic birds and custom electronics. en Häuserchronik Mattersburg: the Hauptplatz you can hold https://georgluif.at/log/haeuserchronik-mattersburg-the-hauptplatz-you-can-hold/ p-20260926-mtbg Sat, 26 Sep 2026 19:30:00 GMT For the 70er Haus der Geschichten I built a tactile model of Mattersburg’s Hauptplatz around 1930: twelve houses, 3D-printed at 1:100, on a base plate after the old cadastral map. For the 70er Haus der Geschichten I built a tactile model of Mattersburg’s Hauptplatz around 1930: twelve houses, 3D-printed at 1:100, on a base plate after the old cadastral map.

Pick a house up and put it on the reading plate, and the display tells its story — historical photos, the house chronicle, who lived and worked there, in German and English. Or scan its QR code with your phone.

It is a prototype; grant applications for the rest of the town are under way. The model and the building stories are at mattersburg.haus.

]]> Walden, a game, on PlayStation 4 https://georgluif.at/log/walden-a-game-on-playstation-4/ p-20260926-wald Sat, 26 Sep 2026 14:30:00 GMT Walden, a game is the USC Game Innovation Lab’s first-person year at Walden Pond, under Tracy Fullerton. You keep the cabin, walk the woods, and let the season do the rest. I was a research assistant on it during the MFA, from 2016 to 2018. Walden, a game is the USC Game Innovation Lab’s first-person year at Walden Pond, under Tracy Fullerton. You keep the cabin, walk the woods, and let the season do the rest.

I was a research assistant on it during the MFA, from 2016 to 2018. The job was the PlayStation 4: port the build and ship it, get the older code to run, add a localization system, and work on the UI. Unity and C#.

The lab’s credit is on the Game Innovation Lab people page. The game is at waldengame.com.

]]> First positions out of the lighthouse tracker https://georgluif.at/log/first-positions-out-of-the-lighthouse-tracker/ p-20260317-lhx1 Tue, 17 Mar 2026 16:05:09 GMT The custom Vive-lighthouse tracker returns its first usable data: X, Y, and a bit of rotation, captured with two BPW-34 photodiodes on a home-made PCB. Floppy-disk film works surprisingly well as a cheap IR bandpass filter. The custom Vive-lighthouse tracker returns its first usable data: X, Y, and a bit of rotation, captured with two BPW-34 photodiodes on a home-made PCB. Floppy-disk film works surprisingly well as a cheap IR bandpass filter.

Two diodes is barely enough, but the target — indoor tracking for small robots at ten to fifteen euros a unit — still looks reachable. The next board gets at least three sensors.

]]> A 48-hour experiment in borrowed power https://georgluif.at/log/a-48-hour-experiment-in-borrowed-power/ p-20260117-qi48 Sat, 17 Jan 2026 18:13:53 GMT Built over a weekend: a Qi receiver feeding an ESP32, so a phone laid down to charge quietly powers the LEDs underneath it. No batteries, no wall plug — the visitor brings the power source. Built over a weekend: a Qi receiver feeding an ESP32, so a phone laid down to charge quietly powers the LEDs underneath it. No batteries, no wall plug — the visitor brings the power source.

For installations this solves a real maintenance problem, and there is something pleasing about the phone being both guest and generator. Laser-cut case, charging status in light.

]]> Crow v2 moves its head https://georgluif.at/log/crow-v2-moves-its-head/ p-20260116-cr2v Fri, 16 Jan 2026 18:21:44 GMT Version 2 of the animatronic crow is alive on the bench — just head and neck this time, three servos for tilt, rotate, and extension. Testing the whole assembly in Fusion360 before printing saved several motor-holder reprints. Version 2 of the animatronic crow is alive on the bench — just head and neck this time, three servos for tilt, rotate, and extension. Testing the whole assembly in Fusion360 before printing saved several motor-holder reprints.

The feathers remain the hard part: super glue, fur, and feather hands for days. A small controller pad steers it for now; voice control can wait.

]]> Twenty cases later, the time tracker has a body https://georgluif.at/log/twenty-cases-later-the-time-tracker-has-a-body/ p-20250906-tk4a Sat, 06 Sep 2025 16:08:32 GMT The time tracker finally lives in a case that fits. The first prints tried to be one perfect piece — misaligned buttons, a display that never sat right. Switching to a modular design broke the streak; buttons, OLED, and buzzer each get their own tolerances now. The time tracker finally lives in a case that fits. The first prints tried to be one perfect piece — misaligned buttons, a display that never sat right. Switching to a modular design broke the streak; buttons, OLED, and buzzer each get their own tolerances now.

ESP32 inside, syncing to the tracking system in the cloud. It looks a little Star Trek, which was the point.

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