Beat Signer

Beat Signer, a computer science expert, is currently a professor at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium where he co-directs the Web and Information System Engineering laboratory. With over 15 years of experience in cross-media information management, he has an expertise in human-computer interaction, interactive paper, ubiquitous and tangible computing, innovative presentation solutions, multimodal and multi-touch interaction, data physicalization, and document engineering.

Beat has studied Dipl. Inf.-Ing. ETH and Dr. sc techn. ETH in computer science at ETH Zurich, where he has also worked as a Senior Researcher and Lecturer and Research and teaching assistant. He also has experience in the software engineering industry at Oerlikon Contraves in Zurich and in PC software/hardware installations and support at Teleprint tdc SA in Baden-Dättwil, Switzerland.

Beat's recent projects include investigating post-WIMP user interfaces for improving data exploration, the interaction with large datasets (Big Data), and developing a prototype for tangible holograms based on the Microsoft HoloLens and a custom-built wearable device for tactile feedback. His work on paper-digital user interfaces and cross-media information spaces has led to innovative cross-media publishing solutions and novel forms of paper-based human-computer interaction.