about me

Joerg Hofstaetter

I was born in 1975 in Gmunden, a small village in upper Austria. I studied Architecture and Industrial Design at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design at the Angewandte Vienna where I graduated from Studio Hadid. In 2004 I founded ovos, an interactive design studio on playful learning I am still managing together with partners.

In 2008, I did a research visit in Los Angeles, cooperating with designers and filmmakers. This was followed by various publications, including “learning games & virtual spaces”, topics I am still passionate about. I love teaching and have had various engagements, also I publicly speak on the topic of digital strategies, playful learning and Gamification on events such as Games for Change Festival New York, TEDx Vienna, Games Festival Seoul, European Conference on Game-Based Learning, etc. Currently, I teach Human-Computer Interaction at the University of applied arts Vienna, Klasse Kartak.

I do believe in the power of digital play for learning and am involved in a range of European research projects on Serious Games, Gamification and the nature of play.

I am happy to ride on of my bikes both on the way to work and on the weekend listening to classical music or audio books. I do not post images of my three sons on Social Media although they make me happy and smile almost every day.

Find a list of some of my lectures and talks.

Find out more about me on LinkedIn.