“u19 – freestyle computing” is Austria’s largest computer competition for young people. It’s been held annually since 1998 in conjunction with the Prix Ars Electronica and has successfully established itself as a setting in which the creative spirit of youth can interface with our digital future. The growing number and diversity of submissions each year-including Internet applications, websites, graphics, computer animation, sounds and homebrew hardware & software-bespeak an unconventional and creative encounter with our mediatized society.

During the Festival, this year’s winners will be on display in the Simulation Lab (2nd Upper Level).


The permanent exhibit on the 1st Upper Level showcases the incredible diversity of u19 entries and the fascinating 3- to 19-year-olds who created them. The “Console” station is an interactive table that utilizes objects resembling trading cards as tools to control data visualization, videos and animated films. The “Wall of Fame” features the young inventors and artists themselves. This year’s u19 Golden Nica winner—the first production to emerge from the KrmpfKrmpf Studios—inspired us to set up a miniature animation studio right in the u19 exhibit area. It’s designed to get young visitors to the Museum of the Future into the do-it-yourself spirit and develop their own film sequences. The studio provides a camera, simple editing equipment, a selection of background projections and-just like in this year’s Golden Nica winner—Lego blocks for set construction and Lego figures as the starring cast.