Hello there! My name is Rafael Morales and I’m from Malaga (Spain). I am multi-disciplinary interaction designer, computer scientist, and innovator in emerging technologies. My Human–Computer Interaction research explores a variety of novel technologies using ultrasound (haptic and acoustic levitation), new interaction techniques using tangible interaction and gesture-based interaction, and research methods.

I hold a PhD in Computer Science from the Universite Paris-Saclay working with professors Caroline Appert, Gilles Bailly, and Emmanuel Pietriga. I have a BSc dregree and MSc in Computer Science from Universidad de Malaga. During my graduate studies, I worked at multiple academic institutions in Europe (i.e., University of Bristol under Sriram Subramanian). In my postdoc I worked in a different field within Human-Computer Interaction, i.e., acoustic levitation. My approach in this novel technology was to build sound-transparent tangible structures to create interactive mid-air experiences.

Currently, I am working as Haptic Research Engineer at Ultraleap Ltd. I am co-leading the Levitate project (funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020) by assisting partners, conducting new research approaches, and building novel interfaces. My main research in this project is to build new acoustic levitators and potential emerging research lines. On TouchLess (FET Horizon 2020), I am conducting strategic research on the design of novel multi-modal feedback and its applications. Also I am interested on building new mid-air haptic devices and designing novel mid-air haptic interactions.