Michael Lankes

Michael Lankes is a Professor at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria based at the Research Center Hagenberg, specializing in Information & Communications Technology. His research focuses on Gaze Interaction, Virtual Reality, Game Design, and Player Experience. He leads projects such as Ludic Data Visualization (2025–2029) funded by FWF and Play!Science (2017–2019) promoting citizen science through games. He has organized multiple conferences like Animation 2022 and Ars Electronica 2023. With an h-index of 14 and 688 citations, his work bridges playful interfaces, human factors, and intergenerational engagement in digital environments.

Key projects include BF-CoVAR (2016–2018) exploring co-located play for elderly and GEMPLAY (2014–2016) designing gender-inclusive physical activity games. He actively contributes to fields like facial expression analysis, trajectory data, and spatial orientation in 3D games. His research emphasizes user-centric design, leveraging VR/AR technologies to enhance player satisfaction and cognitive performance.