Welcome to the web site of Michael Kriegel. I am a Research Associate and PhD Student at the school of mathematical and computer sciences in Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh.

I am currently working on the EU FP 7 project LIREC (living with robots and interactive companions). Our project studies artificial companions such as robots or virtual characters with a focus on long-term interaction. From March 2006 to February 2009 I was working on the EU FP6 project eCircus (education through characters with emotional intelligence and roleplaying capabilities that understand social interaction). In eCircus we applied game like virtual environments inhabited with intelligent agents to social problems like bullying and intercultural empathy.

Parallel to being an RA, I am also doing a PhD in Computer Science here at Heriot Watt University. For that I am looking into the process of authoring interactive stories.

I am originally from Germany and my home town is Berlin. After finishing school I studied Computer Science there at the Berufsakademie Berlin. I did a Masters in Virtual Environments at the University of Salford near Manchester. Parallel to studying I also worked several years in the HMI (Hahn-Meitner Institute Berlin), where I was developing Afors-Het a software for numerical simulation of solar cells.