Katta Spiel

Katta Spiel is an Assistant Professor for 'Critical Access in Embodied Computing' at the Human-Computer Interaction Group of TU Wien. They lead the ERC Starting Grant project ACCESSTECH (2024-2029), focusing on marginalized perspectives in technology design. Previously held an FWF Hertha Firnberg position (Exceptional Norms project) and contributed to FWF projects Social Play Technologies and OutsideTheBox.

Education: B.A. Media Culture, B.Sc. Media Systems, M.Sc. Computer Science and Media (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar). Doctorate in Participatory Design methodologies with autistic children.

Research Interests: Critical Access, Disability Studies, Queer HCI, Participatory Design, Textile Technologies. Focuses on designing technologies that account for diverse realities through collaborative, solidarity-based approaches.

Grants & Awards: ERC Starting Grant (2024), Förderungspreis Wien (2022), SIGCHI Outstanding Dissertation Award (2020). Active in policy roles including Austrian Monitoring Committee for UN Disability Convention and Young Academy of Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Labs/Teams: Leads ACCESSTECH team at TU Wien's HCI Group. Collaborates with neurodivergent, disabled, and nonbinary communities in participatory research.