Prof. Stefan Rieger
Stefan Rieger, Dr. phil., since 2007 Professor for Mediahistory at the Ruhr-University of Bochum. Studied German and Philosophy, received a grant from the "Graduiertenkolleg" Theory of Literature (Konstanz) where he continued his research as member of the "Sonderforschungsbereich" Literature and Anthropologie. His doctoral dissertation was on baroque art of memory (Speichern / Merken. Die künstlichen Intelligenzen des Barock, München 1997). His Habilitation concerned the relation between Media and Anthropology. (Die Individualität der Medien. Eine Geschichte der Wissenschaften vom Menschen, Frankfurt/M.2001.) Stefan Rieger was a recipient of a DFG Heisenberg fellowship. Stefan Rieger was research fellow at the KuKo (Kulturwissenschaftliches Kolleg Konstanz) and at the MECS (Lüneburg).
Recent publications: Die Enden des Körpers. Versuch einer negativen Prothetik, Wiesbaden: Springer VS 2018 (Reihe Anthropologie – Technikphilosophie– Gesellschaft; hrsg. von Klaus Wiegerling) und zusammen mit Dawid Kasprowicz, Handbuch Virtualität, Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin: Springer VS 2020.
RESEARCH PROJECT
Haptic Rendering. Simulation of the tactile sense
The project focuses on the relation of the human body and virtuality in terms of haptics. With special regard to media studies there are pivotal issues concerning the human body, which are up to debate: the scope ranges from assumedly simple prosthetics including variable types of digital human to haptic manipulations. As haptic rendering those manipulations enable the simulation of reality in technical surroundings for a variety of reasons (from ergonomics to entertainment). "Haptic rendering allows users to 'feel' virtual objects in a simulated environment"(Salisbury/Conti/Barbagli 2004:24).