“More than just fun and exciting, play is a working model of flexibility. There is a vital link between play, psychological development and learning.”

Ben Schouten is Full Professor of Playful Interactions in Intelligent Systems. In addition, he is scientific director of education at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. He is an advisor for the European Commission on the Internet of Things as well as for the Dutch Cultural Media Fund, responsible for E-culture. Schouten is interested in games & play design for social innovations, citizen empowerment and culture.

Schouten was the general chair of the renowned CHI PLAY 2017 conference and co-founder of the Games for Health Conference series. He has co-edited several scientific volumes, such as the proceedings of the 5th International Joint Conference of Ambient Intelligence and the thematic issue of the Journal of Ambient Intelligent Systems (2013), on playful Interactions and Serious Games.

Ben Schouten graduated from the Rietveld Art Academy in 1983 and received a Master’s degree in Mathematics, specializing in chaos theory, in 1995. In 1996 Ben Schouten founded Desk.nl, providing innovative internet related solutions. In 2001, Schouten received his PhD from the University of Amsterdam for his award-winning thesis on intuitive image browsing and searching. In the following years, Schouten had his own group at the Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI, Amsterdam) and taught at the Utrecht School of Art & Technology (HKU). In 2010, he was appointed Full Professor of Playful Interactions in Smart Environments at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and in 2013 Lector of Play & Civic Media Research at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.