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ONGOING

2026
03.26

2025
09.25

08.25

12. 25
12. 25

12.25
03.25
03.25



WS25/26





SS25/26


Information

FAiR 2026

Law, Technology and Humans Journal


HUMAN OVERS[A]IGHT:
THE OPS ROOM

Aarhus 25 / Paper

VINCI 25 / Paper
VINCI 25 / Art Track

OIC Masterclass
re:publica / Panel
STS Hub / Panel


Teaching
Fundamentals of Innovation

Interdisciplinary Projects I

Evolution of Disruptive Technologies


   © Metaverse Lab 2026 / website: Kristina Tica
Metaverse Lab


Linz Institute for Transformative Change [LIFT_C]
Johannes Kepler University Linz

LIT Open Innovation Center
Altenberger Straße 69
4040 Linz

Metaverse Lab is a research group at the Johannes Kepler University Linz. This is an online portfolio and an archive of research projects, conferences, papers and teaching that is developed at the Metaverse Lab up-to-date.

The digital space, along with its interfaces to the analog world, can be understood as the "Metaverse"—a space beyond ("meta") the (physical) universe ("universe"). Social media, AI-driven chatbots, and cryptocurrencies are current manifestations of the Metaverse. In this space, there are no (state) borders, meaning that state sovereignty, with its power to enact laws, can only be exercised in a very limited way. In practice, sovereignty primarily lies with the tech giants of Silicon Valley, which has significant consequences for the rule of law and its liberal democratic order. Led by Professor Meinhard Lukas, the goal of the Metaverse Lab is to explore the transformation within and through the Metaverse using a radical, root-focused, interdisciplinary approach.
 

TEAM


 Univ.- Prof. Dr. Meinhard Lukas / head of the lab
Dr. Joaquín Santuber / research group lead
Kristina Tica MA MA / university assistant
Mariana Costa Morais MSc BSc / university assistant

Further Links:
metaverselab [at] jku.at
jku.at 


NEWS



19 July 2026CONFERENCE PRESENTATION
Kristina Tica presenting Art Paper "From Computer Vision to the Vision of Law: Human Overs[a]ight" at SIGGRAPH 2026, Los Angeles, CA. Tica, K., Santuber, J. 2026.
https://s2026.conference-schedule.org/presentation/?id=artpl_233&sess=sess232

29 June 2026
ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN ACM DIGITAL LIBRARY
From Computer Vision to the Vision of Law: Human Overs[a]ight. Tica, K., Santuber, J. 2026. Proceedings of the ACM on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, Vol. 9, No. 3, Article 37, pp. 1–10.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3816088

25 June 2026 BOOK PUBLISHED
The Socio-Politics of Legal Design and its Epistemic Consequences. Edited by Siddharth Peter de Souza and Joaquín Santuber. Oñati International Series in Law and Society, Bloomsbury.
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/sociopolitics-of-legal-design-and-its-epistemic-consequences-9781509990085/  

26 March 2026  AI Cafe #3: Your Machines, Their Rules? – Legality, Rights, and Accountability in Algorithmic Society // with Kristina Tica, Raphael Albert & Joaquín Santuberservus x theater phoenix / stadtwerkstatt | 18:00-19:30

15 March 2026
Article published in Law, Technology and Humans Journal
Dis/ordering AI–Human Oversight: Materialities, Aesthetics and Contestability. 2026. J. Santuber, M. Morais, K. Tica.
https://doi.org/10.5204/lthj.4170 

4 March 2026 BOOK LAUNCH
Mariana Morais had launched as co-writer and co-editor the book “Legal Design > Visual Law: a prática do Design Jurídico” in Brazil.

March 2026 VISITING PROFESSORSHIP
Joaquin Santuber has been appointed Visiting Professor at the School of Design of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
14 February 2026 CONFERENCE PRESENTATION
Reading the EU AI Act as a Cultural Artefact
Joaquín Santuber, 2026, presented at  the 9th International Conference “Legal Perspectives on the Internet” (COPEJI 9.0), hosted by the  Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania.
13 February 2026 GUEST LECTURE
Law, Design, and Transformative Change
Joaquín Santuber, 2026, at the Go Digital with Law Winter School, hosted by the  Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania.
https://www.jku.at/ec2u/news-events/news/detail/news/gemeinsam-eine-digitale-zukunft-gestalten-highlights-der-ec2u-winter-school-in-iasi/ 


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ARCHIVE



19 December 2025 RESEARCH ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN ACM DIGITAL LIBRARY
Visualizing AI Operations for Human Oversight: The Ops Room.
Joaquin Santuber and Kristina Tica. 2025.
In Proceedings of the 18th International Symposium on Visual Information Communication and Interaction (VINCI '25).
Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 39, 1–5.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3769534.3769580

HUMAN OVERS[A]IGHT: THE OPS ROOM. [Art Track]
Joaquin Santuber and Kristina Tica. 2025.
In Proceedings of the 18th International Symposium on Visual Information Communication and Interaction (VINCI '25).
Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 75, 1–3.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3769534.3769583

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15 December 2025 OIC MASTERCLASS #2: CREATIVE PRACTICES AS KNOWLEDGE GENERATION
JOAQUÍN SANTUBER AND KRISTINA TICA / BLOG POST

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01-03 December 2025VINCI 2025 Conference, Linz
Visualizing AI operations for Human Oversight: The Ops Room (short paper) /
Human Overs[a]ight: the Ops Room (art track)
Joaquín Santuber and Kristina Tica

–27 November 2025 OIC MASTERCLASS #2: CREATIVE PRACTICES AS KNOWLEDGE GENERATION
JOAQUÍN SANTUBER AND KRISTINA TICALIT OPEN INOVATION CENTER  JKU
 LIT Open Innovation Center 
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14-16 October 2025X Coimbra International Conference on Human Rights (CIDHCoimbra 2025)
Paper presentation: How user-centered design drives neoliberal logic in public institutions.
Mariana Costa Morais

September 2025  PANEL Legal Design Summit 2026, Helsinki
Opening Up Possibilities for Legal Design,
Joaquín Santuber

–03-07 September 2025 EXHIBITION
HUMAN OVERS[A]IGHT: THE OPS ROOM at the Ars Electronica Festival Kristina Tica & Joaquín Santuber, 2025

18 August 2025
RESEARCH ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN ACM DIGITAL LIBRARY:
COMPUTING HUMAN OVERS[A]IGHT:LAW/APPARATUS\VISION/AGENCY / 
Proceedings of the sixth decennial Aarhus Conference: Computing (X) Crisis

19-22 August 2025COMPUTING HUMAN OVERS[A]IGHT:LAW/APPARATUS\VISION/AGENCY
research paper 
presented at The sixth decennial Aarhus Conference: Computing (X) Crisis


04.2025 VINCI 2025 Conference
01-03/12/25
Linz, Austria

HUMAN OVERS[A]IGHT: THE OPS ROOM
Joaquin Santuber, Kristina Tica.
2025.


Art Track/Extended Abstract

In Proceedings of the 18th International Symposium on Visual Information Communication and Interaction (VINCI '25). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 75, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1145/3769534.3769583 
HUMAN OVERS[A]IGHT: THE OPS ROOM is a real-time generative, interactive audio- visual installation developed as a human oversight department for high-risk AI systems. It is established according to the European Artificial Intelligence Act [EU AI Act], as described in Article 14, which suggests that in high-risk AI systems a human-machine interface such as a “stop button” is needed, to bring the system to a halt. Can the system be stopped by a button, and why not? We investigate how humans can oversee and evaluate these processes, by visualizing the internal operations of an automated system. We invite visitors to take upon a central role in human oversight of high-risk AI systems and encourage them to engage with a human-machine interface to oversee the systems’ operations. We provide possibilities for action for people to claim back their political agency to stop or affect the system.

4/1 Installation Detail. Photo: Reinhard Zach