Hans-Christoph Steiner spends his time making private communications software usable by everyone, designing interactive software with a focus on human perceptual capabilities, building networks with free software, and composing music with computers. With an emphasis on collaboration, he has worked in many forms, including free software for mobile and embedded devices, responsive sound environments, free wireless networks that help build community, musical robots that listen, programming environments allow people to play with math, and a jet-powered fish that you can ride. To further his research, he teaches and works at various media art centers and organizes open, collaborative hacklabs and barcamp conferences. He is currently building encrypted, anonymous communications devices as part of the Guardian Project as well as teaching courses in interaction design and media programming NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program and workshops around the world.

His solo work has been performed at Tonic New York, inside the Croton Aqueduct, and inside the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel. Group projects that he has collaborated on have been exhibited at the Guggenheim New York, SFMOMA, Cartier Foundation, Lille2004 European Cultural Capitol Festival, Robodock, Wood Street Gallery, and strip malls around the New York City area. He has given talks at SRI, Eyebeam, Hangar/Barcelona, LocationOne, Zurich University of the Arts, and Geidai Tokyo National University, presenting a range of topics from art projects to music programming to intellectual property. His work has been covered by the BBC, New York Times, Wired News, Popular Science. Steiner received his Masters from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.

He is currently working on developing full-fledged visual programming platform and free, open-source media arts curricula and teachers’ guides.