About

Dr. Michael Nitsche joined the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech in 2004. He holds a PhD in Architecture from the University of Cambridge and has also earned an M.Phil. and M.A. from Cambridge University and Freie Universität Berlin, respectively. His research focuses on digital spaces and their intersection with physical environments, experimenting with borderline areas of digital and physical media through the use of video games, mobile technology, and digital performances. Nitsche combines theoretical analysis with practical experiments, aiming to support human creativity by designing new digital media that blend digital and material elements. He is the author of 'Video Game Spaces: Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Worlds' and co-editor of 'The Machinima Reader,' with publications spanning topics such as Human-Computer Interaction, Game Studies, virtual worlds, digital performance, and machinima. Nitsche formed the Digital World & Image Group (DWIG) at Georgia Tech and has collaborated with notable organizations including the National Film and Television School London, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Turner Broadcasting, and Alcatel Lucent. His work has been supported by NSF, NEH, and industry grants. His research interests include craft, digital performance, hybrid space, interaction design, locative social media, and video game space, with a focus on designing digital media that foster human creativity in environments where digital and physical realms converge.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Multimedia
• Engineering
• Aesthetics
• Human–computer interaction
• Visual arts
• Art

Selected publications

• Entangled Histories Radio: Exploring Ecological Justice and Civil Rights Through Tangible Interactions

  2026-03-07

  articleOpen access

  Entangled Histories Radio is a tangible interface that investigates the connection between local ecologies and the voices of the American Civil Rights Movement. The system senses real-time ecological data from the base of a tree and maps these inputs onto a curated archive of speeches and music from the movement. These sounds are played through a speculative object: a vintage radio. We position the urban forest as a "living archive" that interlocks with a historical human archive. In doing so, we explore how tangible, embodied experiences can bridge environmental and civil rights justice. This work-in-progress contributes a speculative approach for designing with living archives and offers a material response to critiques that more-than-human (MTH) design can overlook layered socio-political issues if not carefully attended to.

  PublisherDOI

• Investigating a geometrical solution to the vergence-accommodation conflict for targeted movements in virtual reality

  Displays · 2026-02-07 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• PlayFutures: Imagining Civic Futures with AI and Puppets

  2026-02-13

  preprintOpen access

  Our project supports children's critical AI engagement with through participatory workshops envisioning public spaces. We ran a workshop with 9-12 year olds (n=7) combining AI, puppet-making, performance, and design futuring to reimagine civic spaces. Participants used ChatGPT to visualize changes to local places, created puppets representing different viewpoints, and performed debates about the proposed changes. Our findings reveal children's critical engagement with AI as a design tool, preference for iterative refinement, and desires for authentic over 'AI-like' content. This work contributes methods for engaging children in civic discussions through making and performing futures. It also demonstrates how these methods can scaffold critical AI literacy.

  PublisherDOI

• Into the Makerverse: Communal Tangible Making and Place-Based Futuring with AI

  2026-03-07

  articleOpen access

  This pictorial presents a case study of "Into the Makerverse", a community workshop that engaged about 250 children and parents in combining AI and tangible making to express desired futures for our city. We thematically analyzed 43 exit interviews and 70 (intro) and 48 (outro) questionnaires to surface themes of craft as meaning-making, prioritizing craft over AI, recognizing AI limitations, and moving beyond technocentric futures. Our discussion reflects on tangible making for AI literacy, participatory design futuring for emphasizing human agency with AI, and the importance of collaborating with local communities for AI engagements that are driven by genuine local interest. We extend and amplify calls for AI engagements that work in service of community desires for local futures and argue for a tangible craft-based approach to support this.

  PublisherDOI

• The Effect of Six Weeks of Squat Training on Dynamic Postural Control: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Adjunctive tDCS

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Evaluating TUI Design for Tacit Knowledge: Perceived Effects and Interface Efficiency in Woodworking

  2026-03-07

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Capturing and communicating tacit knowledge remains a challenge for tangible interaction design. This project presents the third stage out of four of an educational interface evaluation for a tacit knowledge project in woodworking practices. It briefly covers earlier stages of the project, including sensing and interface design, before focusing on the evaluation (n= 14) of a customized block plane TUI. It argues from a sensing approach to the design and ultimately the feasibility of an educational interface for tacit knowledge. The evaluation combines SUS with soma-based approaches to capture a novel range of responses. The findings reveal how the interface fosters growing emotional engagement and shifting attention throughout the targeted woodworking practice. They demonstrate the value of soma-informed evaluation for tracking these temporal dynamics and point to future design directions for tacit knowledge interfaces.

  PublisherDOI

• Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Balance, Functional Performance, and Neurocognitive Function in Males with Chronic Ankle Instability: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

  DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · 2026-03-01

  articleOpen access

  Background: Approximately 40% of individuals who experience an ankle sprain subsequently develop Chronic Ankle Instability (CAI). Recent evidence highlights alterations in Central Nervous System (CNS) function and deficits in neurocognitive performance among this population. Therefore, there is a need for interventions that target neural excitability alongside traditional physical rehabilitation.Methods: This study is a randomized, sham-controlled, single-blind clinical trial. Twenty participants with CAI will be randomly assigned to two groups (n=10 per group): (1) anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (a-tDCS) combined with exercise, and (2) sham tDCS combined with exercise. The intervention consists of 12 sessions (three times per week). Assessment of self-reported outcomes, balance, functional performance, and neurocognitive function (such as reaction time) will be conducted at baseline, mid-intervention (6th session), and post-intervention (12th session).Results: As this is a study protocol, primary results are expected to demonstrate whether the combination of a-tDCS and exercise leads to superior improvements in postural balance and neurocognitive reaction time compared to exercise with sham stimulation. It is hypothesized that tDCS will enhance neural plasticity, thereby amplifying the functional gains from the exercise program and improving self-reported stability.Conclusion: This study aims to provide empirical evidence for the role of non-invasive brain stimulation in musculoskeletal rehabilitation. If effective, tDCS could be established as a valuable complementary intervention alongside exercise therapy to address both the physical and neurocognitive deficits associated with Chronic Ankle Instability, potentially reducing the recurrence of sprains.

  PublisherDOI

• PlayFutures: Imagining Civic Futures with AI and Puppets

  2026-02-13

  articleOpen access

  Our project supports children's critical AI engagement with through participatory workshops envisioning public spaces. We ran a workshop with 9-12 year olds (n=7) combining AI, puppet-making, performance, and design futuring to reimagine civic spaces. Participants used ChatGPT to visualize changes to local places, created puppets representing different viewpoints, and performed debates about the proposed changes. Our findings reveal children's critical engagement with AI as a design tool, preference for iterative refinement, and desires for authentic over 'AI-like' content. This work contributes methods for engaging children in civic discussions through making and performing futures. It also demonstrates how these methods can scaffold critical AI literacy.

  PublisherDOI

• Mold Sounds: Queering Ecologies in Polyphonic Material Explorations

  2025-02-25 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  In "Mold Sounds," we design a more-than-human encounter that explores how biomaterials, specifically molds, can reorient narratives of toxicity towards polyphonic, multi-species assemblages that speak to queer ecologies. We designed an environment in which molds grow and interact with conductive components, thus altering the sounds produced by the artifact. We reflect on how this helps complicate essentialist, heteronormative narratives in human and non-human relations. Through material engagements, "Mold Sounds" fosters reflections on how we might design for polyphony, or multi-species temporal rhythms, reconsider the nature of toxicity, and explore the unpredictability of queer ecological entanglements in more-than-human design.

  PublisherDOI

• Designing a Teaching Interface for Tacit Knowledge: Approach and Implementation

  2025-06-22 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Tacit knowledge remains central in design, art, and craft practices.At the same time, it remains difficult to capture, understand, and communicate such knowledge efficiently.We explore a 3-step pilot study on capturing, understanding, and communicating tacit knowledge in woodworking.We first present a way to capture tacit knowledge through a multi-sensory system that listens to human, material, and tool encounters.Then, we analyze data from the system comparing expert and amateur performances.Based on the analysis, we propose insights and design criteria for designing an educational interface for tacit learning in woodworking.Finally, we present a tangible interface based on these criteria and implemented for communicating tacit knowledge.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Ali Mazalek

  Toronto Metropolitan University

  9 shared

• Timothy N. Welsh

  University of Toronto

  8 shared

• Gabby Resch

  University of Ontario Institute of Technology

  6 shared

• Xiaoye Michael Wang

  University of Toronto

  5 shared

• Daniel Southwick

  Autodesk (United States)

  4 shared

• Ian Robinson

  University of Lincoln

  4 shared

• Andrew Quitmeyer

  4 shared

• Yilin Elaine Liu

  Georgia Institute of Technology

  3 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Architecture and History of Art

  University of Cambridge

• M.Phil, Architecture

  University of Cambridge

  2000

• M.A., Theaterwissenschaft; Germanistik

  Freie Universität Berlin

  1998