"If computing technology is woven into the fabric of everyday life whilst games are turning pervasive, then almost all of our everyday experiences in space-time could become intrinsically motivating, right?" Steffen P. Walz, M.A. Social Anthropology, Rhetoric

Contact
ETH Zurich, Faculty of Architecture (D-ARCH)
Chair for Computer-Aided Architectural Design (CAAD)
ETH Hoenggerberg, HIL E15.1, CH-8093 Zurich
phone: +41 44 633 - 4025 | fax: - 1050
email: walz_at_arch.ethz.ch

Complete overview of design works
playbe's playce (as in play-meets-place)

Detailed CV
Last updated 02/21/07, PDF

Research foci

• Game design theory, practice, and experimentation
• Conceptualizing and designing cross media experiences and interactive "playces"
• Serious game design, e.g. for tourism, education and learning, wellness
• Sociologies/architectures of surveillance, tracking, monitoring, control, and resistance
• History of entertainment architectures

My Ph.D. thesis supervisors are Prof. Dr. Ludger Hovestadt from the ETH Zurich and Prof. Dr. Drew Davidson, director of the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. My research is partially funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) MICS - Mobile Information & Communication Systems.

Current and latest teaching

• 01/2007: Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, one week workshop together with Tico Ballagas (RWTH Aachen): "Serious Pervasive Game Design - Towards Intrinsically Motivating Mobile Services That Serve Non-Entertainment Ends", organized by architect / ludologist Ding Zhao Chen for the Dept. of Information Arts and Design, Academy of the Arts and Design & the Dept. of Computer Science and Technology, Institute of HCI and Media Integration
• 01/2007: Shih Chien University, Taipei, Taiwan, one week workshop together with Tico Ballagas (RWTH Aachen): "Playcemaking - Designing Mobile Persuasive Interactive Games for Non-Entertainment Purposes", organized by architect / ludologist Ding Zhao Chen for the Institute of Fashion and Communications Design
• SoSe 2006: ETH Zurich, CAAD MAS Postgrad Program 2005/06: Design studio concerning the construction of a pervasive game controller shell and user interface for the pervasive and mobile tourist sightseeing game REXplorer
• WS 2005/06: University of Zurich, seminar "Application of Computer Games for Psychotherapy" together with Dr. Dr. Veronika Brezinka (University of Zurich, Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry) & School for Art and Design Zurich, Game Design B.A. Study Program
• 08-09/2005: Guest professor at Sungkyunkwan University, Faculty of Architecture, Suwon, South Korea - on behalf of Prof. Sungah Kim, Ph.D.
• SoSe 2005: University of Stuttgart, Dept. of Architecture and Urban Planning: Serious Fun: Game Design as Architectural Drafting Method (design studio class)
• SoSe 2005: ETH Zurich, CAAD Postgraduate Study Program 2004/05: Bioplay (design studio concerning pervasive biofeedback games)
• SoSe 2005: University of Zurich, seminar "Application of Computer Games for Psychotherapy" together with Dr. Dr. Veronika Brezinka (University of Zurich, Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
• WS 2004/05: ETH Zurich, DWF Entwurf: ETH Game (design class concerning a massively multiplayer location based learning game), see also the results
• WS 2004/04: University of Stuttgart, Dept. of Architecture and Urban Planning: Computer & Video Game Architecture (seminar & mini design project)
• Summer 2004: Guest professor for sustainable tourism / touristic game design at the CONVIVIO - The Network of People-Centered Design of Interactive Systems (IST 2001 38265) summer school in Split, Croatia

Assorted projects

• 02-03/2007: Visiting researcher at Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center, Pittsburgh, PA (USA)
• 03-09/2006: Project lead and game design consultancy for Save your Skin!, an Online e-learning game for dermatologists. SYS! is a module of the DOIT - Virtual Campus (Dermatology Online with Interactive Technology), on behalf of the University Hospital Zurich, Department of Dermatology, cf. project outline and in cooperation with School for Art and Design Zurich, Game Design B.A. Study Program
• 2005 - 2007: Project co-lead, game design, game controller development, and writing for REXplorer, a city wide, location based and gesture recognition historic city exploration game for tourists which launches 09/2006 - in cooperation with the Media Computing Group at RWTH Aachen and on behalf of Erlebnismuseum Regensburg Experience gemeinnützige GmbH (FRG)
• 09-10/2005: Visiting researcher at Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center, Pittsburgh, PA (USA)
• summer 2005: ELECTION SONG RE: ANGELA MERKEL in cooperation with German party Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen - achieved 150'000 downloads and knocked out some servers - project lead for own company playbe records
• 03-06/2005: - Pervasive Fundraising Game (concept & prototyping) commissioned by ETH Zurich Foundation - project lead and lead game designer in cooperation with BB'TEL GmbH, Hamburg; Ergon Informatik AG, Zurich; Architecture & Vision, Munich; iart interactive AG, Basel, WHIST Architektur, Zurich; and Flash Virtuosity, Berlin
• 2004: CAREWARE music CD distribution game experiment - "prelisten online. order. receive. pay what you like" - project lead for own company playbe records
• 2003: CARPLICATION (serious Win based racing game for Game Design B.A. study program, ca. 44MB) - project lead and lead game designer in cooperation with Novodex AG, Zurich
• 2002 - 2004: B.A. Game Design study program, University for Applied Sciences and Arts, School for Art and Design Zurich (HGKZ) - co-initiator, -founder, -fund raiser / project director
• 2001 - 2002: Mobile Application Design postgraduate program, University for Applied Sciences and Arts, School for Art and Design Zurich (HGKZ) - executive curriculum advisor, co-head
• 2001/2002: M.A.D. COUNTDOWN (pioneering serious pervasive / alternate reality multiplayer game) - project lead and lead game designer
• since 2000: own media and entertainment concept / consulting company playbe for clients such as BMW Group, Munich; Orange World, London; Incagold, London; janglednerves, Stuttgart (O2, ZDF mobil), Pixelpark, Berlin (EM.TV, Gardena, En Bw), AGI Think Tank. Task Force. Agency, Stuttgart (DaimlerChrysler, HypoVereinsbank, Einhorn, Ferrari), University for Art Media and Design Zurich HGKZ (Game Design B.A. study program)
• before 2000: Head of Interaction Design and Research, AGI Think Tank. Task Force. Agency, Stuttgart; freelance TV writer, producer, format creator, e.g. "Der Rasende Reporter kommt..." (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg); short movie script writer / doctor, executive producer (Rapid Eye Film Productions, Austin, TX); TV journalist (PRO7, "Arabella"; ORB, "TIP TV", arte, "Tracks"); music journalist (Video mag "Harakiri", Prinz etc.)

Publications

Books

2007

Borries, Friedrich von, Walz, Steffen P. and Matthias Böttger (eds.) (2007): Space Time Play. Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism: The Next Level. Basel / Boston / Berlin: Birkhäuser Publishing.

Book chapters and journals

2007

Walz, Steffen P. (2007): „Pervasive Persuasive Play: Rhetorical Game Design for the Ubicomp World.“ In: Fogg, BJ and Dean Eckles (ed.): Mobile Persuasion: 20 Perspectives on the Future of Behavior Change. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford Captology Media.

Walz, Steffen P. (2007): „Enterveillance? Surveiltainment! Imagining the game generation world.“ In: Davidson, Drew (ed.): Cross-Media Communications: An Introduction to the Creation of Integrated Media Experiences. Thompson New Media. [accepted]

Ballagas, Rafael and Steffen P. Walz (2007): „REXplorer: Using player-centered iterative design techniques for pervasive game development.“ In: Magerkurth, Carsten (ed.): Pervasive Games: Applications. Aachen, Shaker Verlag. [in press]

2006

Walz, Steffen P. and Odilo Schoch (2006): „Pervasive Game Design as an Architectural Teaching and Research Method.“ In: Gibson, David, Aldrich, Clark, and Marc Prensky (eds.): Games and Simulations in Online Learning: Research and Development Frameworks. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing.

von Borries, Friedrich, Böttger, Matthias, and Steffen P. Walz (2006): „Ausweitung der Schiesszone. Computerspiele und ihr Einfluss auf die Stadtplanung.“ In: archithese. Zeitschrift und Schriftenreihe für Architektur, Issue "CAAD" / 4.2006.

2005

Walz, Steffen P. (2005): „Delightful Identification & Persuasion: Towards an Analytical and Applied Rhetoric of Digital Games." In: McAllister, Ken and Ryan Moeller (eds.): Works and Days. Capitalizing on Play: The Politics of Computer Gaming. Vol 22, Nr. 43/44. Indiana, PA: Indiana University of Pennsylvania. pp. 185-200. Available Online at http://www.playbe.com/stuff/games_rhetoric.htm

Walz, Steffen P. (2005): „Extreme Game Design: Spielrhetorische Ueberlegungen zur Methodik des Grauens.“ In: Nohr, Rolf F., Bopp, Matthias, and Britta Neitzel (Eds.): "See? I'm Real..." Multidisziplinäre Zugänge zum Computerspiel am Beispiel von 'Silent Hill'. Münster: LIT. pp. 145-156.

Walz, Steffen P. (2005): „Constituents of Hybrid Reality: Cultural Anthropological Elaborations and a Serious Game Design Experiment merging Mobility, Media, and Computing.” In: Buurman, Gerhard M. (Ed.): Total Interaction. Theory and Practice of a New Paradigm for the Design Disciplines. Basel: Birkhäuser. pp. 122-141.

2002

Walz, Steffen P. (2002): „Public Class In The State Of Mobility.” In: Gerritzen, Mieke and Geert Lovink (Eds.): Mobile Minded. Amsterdam and San Francisco: BIS / Ginkgo Press. pp. 126-127.

Walz, Steffen P. (2002): „On the Move: Challenges and Chances of Mobile Human-Computer Interaction” In: Petric, Mirko and Inga Tomic-Koludrovic (Eds.): DESIGN Education: A Dialogue across Cultures. Split: Arts Academy Press. p. 26.

2001

Walz, Steffen P. (2001): „Symbiotic Interaction a Go Go! Mobility, Interface, (Wo)Man.” In: Teknokultura 1 Vol. 1. August. Published Online by the University of Puerto Rico at http://teknokultura.rrp.upr.edu/teknosphera/simbiotic_interaction.htm

Walz, Steffen P. and Isabel Zundel (2001): „Madness & Virtuality – An Approximation.” In: Riegler, Alexander et al. (Eds.): Virtual Reality. Cognitive Foundations, Technological Issues & Philosophical Implications. Frankfurt/Main: Lang. pp. 63-74.

Schulze-Döbold, Jürgen, Wössner, Uwe, Walz, Steffen P., and Uli Lang (2001): „Volume Rendering in a Virtual Environment.” In: Fröhlich, B., Deisinger, J., Bullinger, H.-J. (Eds.): Immersive Projection Technology and Virtual Environments. Vienna and New York: Springer. Available Online at: http://www.hlrs.de/people/schulze/publications/Schulze01a.pdf

2000

Walz, Steffen P. (2000): “Symbiotic interface contingency: The reciprocal emergence of use and abuse.” In: Sudweeks, Fay and Charles Ess (Eds.): Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication. Perth: Murdoch University Press. pp. 125-144.

1998

Staudenmaier, Ellen and Steffen P. Walz (1998): „Körper, Kids und Kreativität.“ In: Bechdolf, Ute et al. (Hrsg.): Tanzlust. Empirische Untersuchungen zu Formen alltäglichen Tanzvergnügens. Tübingen: TVV Verlag.

Conference papers

2007

Walz, Steffen P. and Rafael Ballagas (2007): „Pervasive Persuasive: A Rhetorical Design Approach to a Location-Based Spell-Casting Game for Tourists." In: DiGRA 2007 - Situated Play. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference of the Digital Games Research Association, Tokyo, September 24-28, 2007. pp. 489-497.

Ballagas, Rafael, Walz, Steffen P., Kratz, Sven, Fuhr, Claudia, Yu, Eugen, Tann, Martin, Borchers, Jan and Ludger Hovestadt: „REXplorer: A Mobile, Pervasive Spell-Casting Game for Tourists." In: CHI '07 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, San Jose, CA, USA, 2007. ACM Press.

2006

Walz, Steffen P., Ballagas, Rafael, Borchers, Jan, Mendoza, Joel, Kratz, Sven, Wartmann, Christoph, Hameed, Bilal, and Laszlo Bardos: „Cell Spell-Casting: Designing a Locative Gesture Recognition Smartphone Game for Tourists." In: Proceedings of PerGames 2006, held in conjunction with the 4th Intl. Conference on Pervasive Computing, Dublin, 7 May 06. Springer LNCS.

Ballagas, Rafael, Walz, Steffen P., and Jan Borchers (2006): „REXplorer: A Pervasive Spell-Casting Game for Tourists as Social Software." Position paper submitted to the CHI 2006 Workshop on Mobile Social Software, Montréal, Canada, April. Available Online at http://media.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/materials/publications/ballagas2006a.pdf.

Walz, Steffen P. (2006): „A Spatio-Ludic Rhetoric: Serious Pervasive Game Design for Sentient Architectures". In: Proceedings of game set and match II. International Conference 2006 on Computer Games, Advanced Geometries and Digital Technologies, TU Delft.

Brezinka, Veronika and Steffen P. Walz (2006): „Computerspiele in der Psychotherapie - den Teufel mit dem Beelzebub austreiben?" Proceedings of the 16. Kongress für Klinische Psychologie, Psychotherapie und Beratung, 3.-7. März 2006, Berlin.

2005

Walz, Steffen P., Schoch, Odilo, Ochsendorf, Mathias, and Torsten Spindler (2005): „Serious Fun. Pervasive Game Design as a CAAD Teaching and Research Method." In: Proceedings of eCAADe 2005 - Conference on education and research in computer aided architectural design in Europe, September 21-24, 2005, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal. pp. 279-286.

2004

Walz, Steffen P., Buurman, Gerhard M., Wartmann, Christoph, Schirm, Simon, Moravanszky, Adam, and Ronald Vuillemin (2004): "Carplication - A Rhetorical Study Information Racer." In: Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology ACE 2004. New York: ACM Press.

2003

Walz, Steffen P. (2003): „Delightful Identification & Persuasion: Towards an Analytical and Applied Rhetoric of Digital Games." In: Copier, Marinka and Jost Raessens (Eds.): Level Up. Proceedings of the 1st International Digital Games Research Conference. Utrecht: University of Utrecht Press. pp. 194-207. Available Online at http://www.playbe.com/stuff/games_rhetoric.htm

2002

Walz, Steffen P., Poultney, Chris, and Tobias Wörner (2002): „Container Love: Preforming the Body Electric.” In: Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Computational Semiotics for Games and New Media (COSIGN 2002). Augsburg: Universität Augsburg. 90-95. Available for download Online at http://cosignconference.org/cosign2002/papers/Walz.pdf

Wössner, Uwe, Schulze, Jürgen P., Walz, Steffen P., and Uli Lang (2002): „Evaluation of a Collaborative Volume Rendering Application in a Distributed Virtual Environment.” In: Proceedings of Eigth Eurographics Workshop on Virtual Environments (EGVE), May 2002. New York: ACM Press. pp. 113-122. Available Online at: http://www.hlrs.de/people/schulze/publications/Woessner02.pdf

2001

Walz, Steffen P. and Isabel Zundel (2001): „Introducing Interrelations of Madness & Virtuality.” In: Proceedings of the Conference on Computational Semiotics for Games and New Media. Amsterdam: CWI Press. pp. 100-107.

Posters

2005

Walz, Steffen P., Schoch, Odilo, Schaerer, Philipp, Gmelin, Sebastian, Bonwetsch, Tobias, Hillner, Bergit, Schmidt, Rafael Georg, Mermans, Bart, Przerwa, Jan, and Arno Schlueter (2005): „Serious Bioplay: A Computer Integrated Building Service Game applying Psychophysiological Input." (poster) In: Extended Proceedings of UbiComp 2005 - The 7th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, Tokyo, Japan.

Brezinka, Veronika and Steffen P. Walz (2005): „Computerspiele in der Psychotherapie von Kindern und Jugendlichen." (poster) In: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie, 4. Fachtagung der Fachgruppe Medienpsychologie, Schwerpunkt-Thema "Kinder und Medien", September 7-9, Universität Erfurt. Cf. http://www.uni-erfurt.de/LLBZ/fgt2005/

Walz, Steffen P. and Ludger Hovestadt (2005): „Serious Pervasive Game Design for Sentient Architectures." (poster) In: Online Proceedings of the MICS Scientific Conference 2005, Loewenberg, Switzerland, September 21-32. Available here

2002

Zundel, Isabel, Steffen P. Walz, and Stephan Miller (2002): „Pitch-Bend: A Collaborative Sound and Space Composition World for Immersive Virtual Environments.” (Poster) In: CD-ROM Proceedings of the World Congress of Architecture’s Poster Exhibition. Available through http://www.uia-berlin2002.com

Abstracts

2005

Walz, Steffen P. (2005): „Research Issues in ArchITectural Game Design“ (Symposium statement). Proceedings of the 2nd International Digital Games Research Association Conference (DiGRA 2005). Simon Fraser University, Vancouver.

Varia (project proposals, feasibility studies, reports, etc.)

Hartkopf, Volker, Walz, Steffen P., Davidson, Drew, Klug, Chris (2005): „The Energy Game: Towards deep learning of effective energy production, distribution, and consumption with serious interactive entertainment". Joint Research Proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy, October.

Walz, Steffen P. Hovestadt, Ludger (2005): „Serious Game Applications for Sensor and Computer Integrated Buildings and Building Complexes". Research Proposal for NCCR MICS2 submitted to the SNF Panel Review, EPF Lausanne, March. (internal)

Walz, Steffen P. and Gerhard M. Buurman (2003): gamehouse. Machbarkeitsstudie zur Einrichtung eines pionierhaften Studienganges Digital Game Design (B.A.). Beauftragt vom Bundesamt für Berufsbildung und Technologie (BBT), Bern, und herausgegeben von der Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Zürich.

Walz, Steffen P. (2002): On the Move between Proximate Distance and Distant Proximity. Study published Online by Department of Mobile Application Design, University for Art, Media and Design Zurich (HGKZ), Switzerland at http://www.madcountdown.de [=Master’s thesis at the University of Tübingen]

Journalism

Götz, Ulrich and Walz, Steffen P. (2004). "Level-Design - eine Nische für Architekten?". Email-Interview mit Ulrich Götz und Steffen P. Walz nach Fragen von Friedrich v. Borries und Ulrich Brinkmann. In: Bauwelt. 95. Jg., Nr. 30 (06.08.04). pp. 26-27.

Walz, Steffen P. (2004): "Experimental Games. An Interview with Jonathan Blow. co-organizer of the Game Developers Conference 2004 / Experimental Gameplay Workshop". In: Game Face. Kulturelles Computer- und Videospielmagazin. Mai/Juni 2004. Vol 2. 40-41.

Walz, Steffen P. (2003): „Quo Vadis Mobile Entertainment? Ein Aufruf zu glokalem und konvergentem Mobile Game Design” In: Game Face. Kulturelles Computer- und Videospielemagazin. August/September 2003. Vol. 1. pp. 16-18.

Walz, Steffen P. (2003): „Paradigame: Computerspiele als wissenschaftliches Paradigma. Ein Kommentar zur Level Up-Konferenz.” In: Game Face. Kulturelles Computer- und Videospielemagazin. Dezember/Januar 2003/04. Vol. 1/2.

Scholarly and misc. presentations

• 01/2008 Inivited lecture, "Pervasive Games: Between Fiction and Reality", Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, Interactive Media program, Ludwigsburg (FRG)
• 12/2007 Invited demo, Forum Nokia Innovation Party / Nokia World 2007, Amsterdam (NL)
• 11/2007 Co-host, "Wie leben, lieben und leiden wir morgen? Eine futurologische Tischgesellschaft in drei Gängen", dining & discourse event, together with Alexander Möhnle & Igor Mikic, organized by Vocation 31 GmbH, Stuttgart
• 11/2007 Invited workshop participant, "Homo Ludens Calculans. Computer Games and Culture", University of Hildesheim / Dr. Mertens & University for Applied Sciences Cologne / Prof. Kaminski (FRG)
• 10/2007 Invited panelist, "Mobile Games Innovation", Nokia Games Summit 2007, Lisbon (PT)
• 09/2007 Invited talk, "Entertainment parks as computer integrated game worlds" / 12. Spielraum-Fachtagung, Freizeitpark Kulturinsel Einsiedel (FRG)[canceled]
• 07/2007 Presentation, "Playce-Making: Towards Game Design Patterns For Pervasively Computed Spaces", NCCR MICS Workshop 2007, University of Neuchâtel (CH)[canceled]
• 06/2007 Invited talk, "Making Places Playces: Core Issues in Contextual Game Design For Pervasively Computed Environments", Forum Nokia Tech Days and Innovation Seminar, Budapest (HU)
• 05/2007 Scientific keynote, "Aus Ernst wird Spiel: Persuasive Games im wissenschaftlichen Fokus", GameDays 2007, Zentrum für graphische Datenverarbeitung / Fraunhofer IGD, Darmstadt (FRG)
• 05/2007 Invited talk, "Pervasive Gaming - Spiele ohne Grenzen", Geotainment workshop of the GEOKomm network, University of Potsdam, Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Softwaresystemtechnik, Potsdam (FRG)
• 04/2007 Invited presentation, ""What is Game and Interaction Design?", Parsons The New School for Design, Dept. Communication Design and Technology, New York, NY (USA)
• 02/2007 Guest lecture, "Playcemaking", Carnegie Mellon University, Entertainment Technology Center, Pittsburgh, PA (USA)
• 02/2007 Talk, "Pervasive persuasive play: Influencing audiences with mobile and ubiquitous games", Mobile Persuasion Event, Persuasive Technology Lab, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA (USA)
• 01/2007 Invited talk, "The Future of Pervasive Games: A Look Back", The Future of Mobile and Pervasive Games in China Symposium, Tsinghua University, Academy of Art and Design, Beijing (PRC)
• 12/2006 Invited presentation together with Tico Ballagas (RWTH Aachen University), "REXplorer: A Touristic Smartphone Game For A UNESCO World Heritage Protected City" / Culture for the Masses. The role of new technologies in managing visitor pressure on cultural destinations, symposium at Venice International University (IT) in cooperation with the Italian National Research Council (CNR)
• 12/2006 Invited talk, "Mixed Reality Games: When Serious Games Get Real", Serious Games Summit Europe 2006, Lyon (FR)
• 09/2006 Invited talk, “REXplorer: Place-Making with Game Design”, Nokia Research Center / Nokia Games Day (internal), Helsinki (FI)
• 07/2006 Guest lecture, "Spezielle Benutzerschnittstellen: Spiele", University for Applied Sciences Winterthur (CH)
• 05/2006 Invited poster, “REXplorer: A Locative and Gesture Recognition Tourist Sightseeing Game for Series 60 smartphones”, Nokia Academic Seminar and S60 Summit, Nice (FR)
• 11/2005 Guest lecture, "Serious Pervasive Game Design for REXplorer", RWTH Aachen, Dept. of Computer Science, Media Computing Group, Colloquium Lecture Series, Aachen (FRG)
• 10/2005 Guest lecture, "Serious Pervasive Games for Sentient Architectures", Carnegie Mellon University, School of Architecture, Center for Building Performance & Diagnostics / Prof. Dr. Volker Hartkopf, Ph.D. Colloquium Lectures Series, Pittsburgh, PA (USA)
• 10/2005 Guest lecture, "Serious Pervasive Games for Sentient Architectures", Carnegie Mellon University, Entertainment Technology Center, Pittsburgh, PA (USA)
• 08/2005 Invited lecture, "Massively Multiplayer Audio Reality Gaming", Webzen Inc, Seoul (Rep. of SK)
• 08/2005 Invited lecture, "Building Gameboards: Game Design for Computer Integrated Environments", Moyang Architects & Partners, Seoul (Rep. of SK)
• 08/2005 Invited lecture, "Play IT Smart: Serious Building Games for Sentient Architectures", Posco E & C, Seoul (Rep. of SK)
• 08/2005 Invited lecture, "Everyday Playgrounds: Architecture, Game Design, and Pervasive Computing", Sigong Time & Space Tech Inc., Seoul (Rep. of SK)
• 06/2005 Invited lecture, "Serious Pervasive Games: Vom Spass zum Ernst und zurück", International symposium on Mobile Creativity, ZKMax Munich (FRG)
• 06/2005 Invited lecture, "Serious Building Games", University of Applied Sciences Augsburg, Dept. Multimedia / Mobile experience group (FRG)
• 03/2005 Roundtable, "Gaming & Architecture" / Harvard Graduate School of Design, Dept. of Architecture, Critical-Digital Lecture Series (USA)
• 03/2005 Invited lecture, "Games with, within, and in Architecture" / MIT Dept. of Architecture, Ph.D. Colloquium, Prof. William Porter & Paul Keel (USA)
• 03/2005 Invited lecture, "Surveillant Fun: Pervasive Games as Technology of Power" / MIT Comparative Media Studies, Colloquium Lecture Series (USA)
• 03/2005 Invited lecture, "SpaceTimePlay: Applying Pervasive Game Design for Location Based Learning" / MIT Teacher Education Program (USA) & Educationarcade.org
• 03/2005 Co-examiner, "Gaming: Games" design class, Prof. Gerd de Bruyn & Henrik Mauler / University of Stuttgart, Dept. Architecture & Urban Planning (FRG)
• 01/2005 Guest lecture, "Spezielle Benutzerschnittstellen: Spiele" / University for Applied Sciences, Winterthur (CH)
• 12/2004 Invited seminar together with Prof. Dr. Ludger Hovestadt, "Research Issues in Architectural Game Design" / Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm (SE)
• 12/2004 Invited seminar together with Prof. Dr. Ludger Hovestadt, "The Spiel Is Where You Are" / Swedish Institute of Computer Science (SE)
• 10/2004 Invited lecture, "Architectural Game Design" / Carnegie Mellon University, Entertainment Technology Center (USA)
• 10/2004 Invited panelist together with Prof. Eric Kloper, Ph.D. (MIT): "Augmented Reality Games: Integrating Computer Games with Physical Environments" / Serious Games Summit, Washington D.C. (USA)
• 09/2004 Invited lecture, "An Architectural Game Design Archaeology" / Convivio EU Summer School, Split (CRO)
• 08/2004 Invited lecture, "An Architectural Game Design Archaeology" / Games Convention Developer Conference, Leipzig (FRG)
• 07/2004 Guest lecture, "Spezielle Benutzerschnittstellen: Spiele" / University for Applied Sciences, Winterthur (CH)
• 06/2004 Panelist / 1st International E-Sport Forum, Düsseldorf (FRG)
• 01/2004 Invited lecture together with Falko Löffler: “Common Mistakes in Game Design” / Quo Vadis Game Developer Gathering (FRG)
• 01/2004 Lecture together with Prof. Dr. Buurman (HGKZ): “Game Design Education” / Quo Vadis Game Developer Gathering (FRG)
• 12/2003 Invited lecture, Mobile Games Design: “[Mobility + Media + Computing] * Rhetoric = Game-Strategien für Hybride Realitäten” / University of Wuppertal (FRG) & Nokia Germany
• 10/2003 Invited lecture, Dies Universitatis / Ludwig-Uhland-Institut für Empirische Kulturwissenschaft, University Tübingen (FRG)
• 08/2003 Invited lecture, mobile entertainment track, (inaugural) Games Convention Developer Conference, Leipzig (FRG)
• 03/2003 Lecture as part of the Experimental Gameplay Workshop / Game Developers Conference, San Jose, CA (USA)
• 12/2002 Guest lecture, game design track / Australian Game Developers Conference, Melbourne (AUS)
• 04/2002 Invited lecture „On the Move” / Arts Academy University of Split (CRO)
• 03/2002 Invited lecture „Mobile Entertainment”, anomos.org & Université de Paris VIII (F)
• 11/2001 Guest lecture “Interactive entertainment and the public sphere” / University of Melbourne, Dept. of Media and Communication (AUS)
• 11/1997 Invited lecture „Pop gender discourses in youth media" / Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, International Association for the Study of Popular Music (FRG)

Organization | Committees | Expertises

• 2007 -: Management board member and co-founder, Swiss Design Institute for Finance and Banking, Zurich (CH)
• 2007: Advisory board, Serious Games Sessions Europe, Lyon, December 3, 2007 (FR)
• 2007: Review committee member, sandbox 2007: an ACM SIGGRAPH Videogame Symposium / collocated with Siggraph 2007: The International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, San Diego, August 5 -9, 2007 (USA)
• 2007: Review committee member, PerGames 2007, 4th International Symposium on Pervasive Gaming Applications, collocated with the ACM Conference on Advancements in Entertainment Technologies, Salzburg, June 11-12, 2007
• 2006 -: Member of the Academy, Deutscher Entwicklerpreis (German Game Developer Awards)
• 01/2007: Co-organizer, The Future of Mobile and Pervasive Games in China Symposium, Tsinghua University, Academy of Art and Design, Beijing (PRC)
• 2006 -: Evaluator, Swiss National Science Foundation, Department Humanities and Social Sciences (DORE)
• 2006: Review committee member, sandbox: an ACM symposium on video games / collocated with Siggraph 2006: The International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, Boston, July 30 - August 3, 2006 (USA)
• 2005/06: Review committee member, game set and match II. international conference 2006 on computer games, advanced geometries and digital technologies, TU Delft (NL)
• WS 2004/05: CAAD:Perspektive lecture series - The Architecture of Games (CH)
• 05/2004: Co-organizer, Game Design Research Symposium and Workshop, IT University Copenhagen (DK)
• 2003-2005: Advisory board member (consultancy areas: academic research), International Game Developers Association (IGDA), Frankfurt am Main Chapter (FRG)
• 2004 -: Scientific board member, Professional MSc E-Sport and Competitive Computer Gaming study program, Danube University Krems (AT)
• 2003 & 2004: Academic advisor, Games Convention Developers Conference (GCDC), Leipziger Messe GmbH (FRG)
• 2002 -: Workgroup member, Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) (FI)

Exhibitions

• 08/2005 - 10/2005 "M.A.D. COUNTDOWN" as part of the exhibition "village-global", Schloss Höchstädt (D)
• 10/2002 - 02/2003 "M.A.D. COUNTDOWN" as part of the exhibition "TeleCity", Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau (D)

Awards | Honors | Grants

• 2007 Finalist, SXSW Web Awards for my portfolio website playbe's playce
• 2007 Forum Nokia Champion, Nokia / Forum Nokia
• 2006 Finalist, medidaprix 2006, with the e-learning Online platform DOIT (Dermatology Online with Interactive Technology), and, specifically, the e-learning game "Save Your Skin!" - play a demo here; the game was commissioned by the University of Zurich, Clinic of Dermatology and has been produced by SPW mainly in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, School for Art and Design Zurich (HGKZ) and Atelier Vuarnoz, Zurich
• 2002 International Bauhaus Award 2002, 2nd prize for pervasive game & qualitative social science study M.A.D. COUNTDOWN, Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau (FRG)
• 2001 – Fellow of the ACTLab, University of Texas at Austin (USA)
• 2001 Graduate stipend, Universitätsbund / University of Tübingen (FRG)
• 2001 – Winner of several New Media / Internet Awards as concept/creative executive for AGI, Stuttgart (FRG) & 21Torr AG, Reutlingen (FRG), e.g. London International Advertising Awards (Gold); Annual Multimedia Award (Distinctions); New York Festivals (Gold); Clio Awards (Shortlist) etc.
• 2000 Travel grant, Universitätsbund / University of Tübingen (FRG)
• 1999 Texas Filmmaker's Production Fund for short movie "Ideal", together with director & co-producer Andrew Arbuckle (USA)
• 1998 Travel grant, Ministry for Science, Research and Art, State of Baden-Württemberg (FRG)

Downloads

• walz_mics_loewenberg_web.pdf
• walz_mics_loewenberg_print.pdf
• spw_mics_loewenberg_050901.ppt
• webzen_walz_050901.pdf
• moyang_walz_050902.pdf
• posco_walz_050830.pdf
• sigong_walz_050829.pdf
• gamedesign_intro_unizh.ppt
• Universität Zürich, Seminar Dr. Dr. V. Brezinka: PDF der Präsentation "Einführung in das Serious Game Design"
• convivio_swiki.pdf
• convivio_data.zip
• madcountdown.zip

Links

• EU Integrated project on pervasive games
• Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University
• Website of game designer Ernest W. Adams
• "I Have No Words & I Must Design" by game designer Greg Costikyan
• "The Art of Computer Game Design" (electronic version) by Chris Crawford
• Designing Games: rec.games.design FAQ
• Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA)
• "The 400 Rules of Game Design Project" by game designer Noah Falstein
• Gamasutra. The Art & Science of Making Games (Online portal)
• Game Design Patterns Project
• The Games Journal. Board games Online magazine
• Game Studies. The International Journal of Computer Game Research
• International Game Developers Association
• Articles and lectures by board game designer Wolfgang Kramer
• MobyGames - computer games archive
• Online history of video games and home computers
• Images from my visit to Fallingwater, October 2005
• RexPlorer project website
• My suggestion for a revised MixedReality continuum (figure)
• My suggestion for thinking about the design space of serious PervasiveGames (organigram)
• New York Times science, technology, and culture writer Clive Thompson has blogged about my website playce here.