PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Ulrike Gabriel

Ulrike Gabriel is a media artist whose generative systems turn breathing, perception and brain-wave signals into changing images and robotic behavior. She studied philosophy in Munich from 1983 to 1985, painting and applied graphics at the city's Academy of Fine Arts from 1985 to 1990, and postgraduate new media at the Städelschule's Institute for New Media in Frankfurt from 1991 to 1993. Her works include Breath, Perceptual Arena, Terrain and Memory Arena; with poet Oskar Pastior, she developed Oskarine, which recombines recorded readings into generative poems. From 2000 to 2002, she taught at Codelab; she worked in ecological agriculture in Argentina from 2003 to 2006 and held a professorship in Electronic Media at HfG Offenbach from 2006 to 2012, where she led students in designing the MMK Plattform with Frankfurt's Museum für Moderne Kunst in 2012. As of October 2026, she investigates “-NI versus AI-” through musical improvisation.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1964–1993

    Philosophy and art studies

    She is born in Munich in 1964, studies philosophy there from 1983 to 1985, and studies painting and applied graphics at Munich's Academy of Fine Arts from 1985 to 1990. From 1991 to 1993, she completes postgraduate study at the Städelschule's Institute for New Media in Frankfurt.

  2. 1991–1992

    Breath as biofeedback

    She develops Breath at Helicopter Lab, Eurocopter Germany, in 1991 and at the Städelschule's Institute for New Media in Frankfurt in 1992. A sensor belt measures breathing and drives the oscillation of generative polygons.

  3. 1993

    Perceptual Arena and Terrain

    In 1993, she co-produces Perceptual Arena with Canon Artlab in Tokyo, a virtual-reality environment that generates abstract forms from participant reactions in real time, with movement tracking and a sensor glove guiding interaction. She and Bob O'Kane set up OTHERSPACE in Offenbach in 1993, where she leads the content and concepts. At Ars Electronica in 1993, Terrain debuts with a visitor's brain-wave readings changing the lights above autonomous solar robots.

  4. 1998

    Memory Arena

    In 1998, Memory Arena links a text generator with one for graphic structures and places words as attractors in virtual space; the work adds artificial-life and semantic-network elements to her interactive systems.

  5. 2000–2002

    Codelab and Oskarine

    From 2000 to 2002, she teaches at Codelab at Podewil Medien in Berlin. In 2001, she develops Oskarine with poet Oskar Pastior; its Java program recombines recordings of his readings into new poetic sequences.

  6. 2003–2006

    Ecological agriculture in Argentina

    From 2003 to 2006, she works in ecological agriculture in Argentina.

  7. 2006–2012

    Professor of Electronic Media

    From 2006 to 2012, she is professor of Electronic Media at HfG Offenbach. In 2012, she leads students who develop the MMK Plattform's concept and design with Frankfurt's Museum für Moderne Kunst.

  8. As of October 2026

    Musical improvisation and AI

    She explores generative systems and investigates the characteristics of “-NI versus AI-” through musical improvisation.

Career

  1. 2006–2012Offenbach University of Art and DesignProfessor of Electronic Media
  2. 2000–2002Podewil MedienTeacher
  3. 1993OTHERSPACECo-founder

Education

  1. 1993StädelschulePostgraduate Study
  2. 1990Academy of Fine Arts Munich

From the biography.

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 48% of people shaping AIWe estimate where the people shaping AI work today, how universities, companies and research institutes split across countries, and how country shares have changed since the 1960s.
  3. 43% of living people shaping AI work outside their country of birthWe estimate that 43% of living people shaping AI work outside their country of birth (520 of 1,198 people with known birth and employment countries).
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionWe estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Ulrike Gabriel yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. HfG Offenbach - Emeriti hfg-offenbach.de. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Ulrike Gabriel - Breath llllllll.de. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. ARTLAB3: Perceptual Arena - Space Paradox Interactive Environment yukikoshikata.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Ulrike Gabriel - Perceptual Arena llllllll.de. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. InterCommunication No. 14: Let There Be Light ntticc.or.jp. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Ulrike Gabriel - Terrain 01 llllllll.de. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Ulrike Gabriel - Memory Arena llllllll.de. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. Ulrike Gabriel - Oskarine llllllll.de. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. Ulrike Gabriel - DichterLesen.net dichterlesen.net. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. HfG Offenbach - MMK Plattform hfg-offenbach.de. Checked 21 October 2026.
  11. Music | Ulrike Gabriel ulrikegabriel.bandcamp.com. Checked 21 October 2026.