Beat Signer

Beat Signer is Professor of Computer Science at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Director of the Web & Information System Engineering (WISE) laboratory. His research focuses on cross-media information spaces and architectures (CISA) spanning interactive paper, dynamic data physicalisation, and tangible holograms.

His educational background includes a Computer Science degree from ETH Zurich, where he completed his PhD thesis on fundamental concepts for interactive paper and cross-media information spaces in 2005. Key research areas include:

• Cross-media document formats and resource-selector-link (RSL) hypermedia metamodel
• Context-sensitive adaptation and cross-media transclusion
• Multimodal interfaces (Mudra, iGesture) and tangible computing
• Internet of Things interoperability and semantic middleware

Recent publications (2023-2025) reveal strong trends in dynamic data physicalisation hardware, FAIR positioning systems (OpenHPS), end-user IoT development (eSPACE), and next-generation human-information interaction paradigms. His work increasingly integrates Solid protocols for decentralized data and explores thermal dimensions in tangible holograms.

As Principal Investigator, he leads multiple EU-funded projects including OpenHPS, TangHo, and eSPACE. His team has developed influential frameworks like MindXpres for cross-media presentations and CMT for context modeling.

He supervises 13 doctoral researchers including Dr. Maxim Van de Wynckel and Dr. Audrey Sanctorum, focusing on cross-media applications in education, IoT, and data visualization. His WISE laboratory develops innovative solutions bridging digital and physical information spaces through projects like ArtVis for collaborative data exploration and TangHo for physically augmented virtual objects.