Offene Themen für Projekt- und Diplomarbeiten

Students interested in topics related to usable security and privacy have the opportunity to do their master theses / bachelor theses / practical research project (Einzelpraktikum) at the Research Institute CODE (Bundeswehr University Munich). More information on the research group on Usable Security and Privacy Group can be found on our website.

We offer a large variety of topics, including but not limited to:

• Tangible Security/Privacy Mechanisms (Contact: Sarah Delgado)
• Human Behavior and Physiology in Security Contexts (Contact: Felix Dietz)
• Social Engineering and Phishing (Contact: Verena Distler)
• Behavioral Biometrics (Contact: Lukas Mecke)
• Novel Security Mechanisms based on Gaze (Contact: Yasmeen Abdrabou)
• Physiologicacl Security (Contact: Mariam Hassib)
• Security and Privacy in Augmented Reality (Contact: oliver.hein ät unibw.de)

If you are interested in working with us, please get in touch with the respective contact person.

Description

Electrodermal activity (EDA) denotes the measurement of continuous changes in the electrical conductance properties of the skin in response to sweat secretion by the sweat glands. EDA is autonomously modulated by sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity, a component of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is involved in the control of involuntary bodily functions as well as cognitive and emotional states. Specifically, phasic EDA activity correlated with stress, cognitive load, and attention orienting. Therefore, measuring phasic EDA responses can give us information about the user's state.In this thesis project, we want to develop an adaptive system that modifies the visual complexity of the VR environment based on changes in phasic EDA. Specifically, we want to use new signal processing methodologies termed adaptive thresholding and gaussian filtering.The research consists of three main stages: (1) validation of the psychophysiological inference underpinning the adaptive system (2) implementation of a working VR prototype, and (3) an evaluation of the adaptive environment.

You will

• Perform a literature review
• Modify an existing VR environment
• Implement an preprocessing pipeline for phasic EDA detection
• Collect and analyze electroencephalographic (EEG), electrodermal activity (EDA) and electrocardiography (ECG) data
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present them to an audience
• (Optional) co-writing a research paper

You need

• Strong communication skills in English
• Good knowledge of Unity
• Good knowledge of Python libraries for scientific computing (e.g. Scipy, MNE).

References

• Fairclough, S. H. (2009). Fundamentals of physiological computing. Interacting with computers, 21(1-2), 133-145.
• Chiossi, F., Welsch, R., Villa, S., Chuang, L., & Mayer, S. (2022). Virtual Reality Adaptation Using Electrodermal Activity to Support the User Experience. Big Data and Cognitive Computing, 6(2), 55.
• Babaei, E., Tag, B., Dingler, T., & Velloso, E. (2021, May). A critique of electrodermal activity practices at chi. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14).
• Kleckner, I., Wormwood, J. B., Jones, R. M., Siegel, E., Culakova, E., Heathers, J., ... & Goodwin, M. (2021). Adaptive thresholding increases ability to detect changes in rate of skin conductance responses to psychologically arousing stimuli.

Description

Mixed reality (MR) systems refer to the entire broad spectrum that ranges from physical to virtual reality (VR). It includes instances that overlay virtual content on physical information, i.e., Augmented Reality (AR), and those that rely on physical content to increase the realism of virtual environments, i.e., Augmented Virtuality (AV). Such instances tend to be pre-defined for the blend of physical and virtual content. To what extent can MR systems rely on physiological inputs to infer user state and expectations and, in doing, adapt their visualization in response? Measurement sensors for eye and body motion, autonomic arousal (e.g., respiration, electrodermaland heart activity), and cortical activity (e.g., EEG, fNIRS) are widely used in psychological and neuroscience research to infer hidden user states, such as stress, overt/covert attention, working memory load, etc.However, it is unclear if such inferences can serve as useful real-time inputs in controlling the presentation parameters of MR environments.In this thesis project, we will investigate whether this blend can be adaptive to user states, which are inferred from physiological measurements derived from gaze behavior, peripheral physiology (e.g.., electrodermal activity (EDA); electrocardiography (ECG)), and cortical activity (i.e.., electroencephalography (EEG)). In other words, we will investigate the viability and usefulness of MR use scenarios that vary in their blend of virtual and physicalcontent according to user physiology. In particular, we will focus on understanding how physiological readings can passively determine the appropriate amount ofvisual information to present within an MR system.

You will

• Perform a literature review
• Modify an MR environment
• Adapt existing processing pipeline for EEG and EDA data
• Collect and analyze electroencephalographic (EEG), electrodermal activity (EDA), and electrocardiography (ECG) data
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present them to an audience
• (Optional) co-writing a research paper

You need

• Strong communication skills in English
• Good knowledge of Unity
• Good knowledge of Python libraries for scientific computing (e.g. Scipy, Neurokit)

References

• Lotte, F., Faller, J., Guger, C., Renard, Y., Pfurtscheller, G., Lecuyer, A., & Leeb, R. (2012). Combining BCI with virtual reality: towards new applications and improved BCI. In Towards practical brain-computer interfaces (pp. 197-220). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
• McGill, M., Boland, D., Murray-Smith, R., & Brewster, S. (2015, April). A dose of reality: Overcoming usability challenges in vr head-mounted displays. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2143-2152).
• Fairclough, S. H. (2009). Fundamentals of physiological computing. Interacting with computers, 21(1-2), 133-145.

Description

Biocybernetic adaptation is a form of physiological computing where real-time physiological data from the brain and the body can be used as an input to adapt the user interface. In this way, from the physiological data, we can infer the user’s state and design implicit interactions in VR to change the scene to support certain goals. This thesis aims the develop and evaluate an adaptive VR environment designed to maximize users' performance by exploiting changes in real-time electroencephalography (EEG) to adjust the level of visual complexity. The research consists of three main stages: (1) validation of the input EEG measures underpinning the loop; (2) implementation of a working VR prototype; and (3) an evaluation of the adaptive environment. Specifically, we aim to demonstrate the sensitivity of EEG power in the (frontal) theta and (parietal) alpha bands to adapt levels of visual complexity.

You will

• Perform a literature review
• Modify an existing VR environment
• Implement an online biocybernetic loop using EEG
• Collect and analyze EEG, EDA, and ECG data
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present them to an audience
• (Optional) co-writing a research paper

You need

• Strong communication skills in English
• Good knowledge of Unity and/or C#
• Good knowledge of Python libraries for scientific computing (e.g. Scipy, MNE).

References

• Biocybernetics Loops and Physiological Computing
• Development of an Adaptive Game using EEG frequencies

Description

Research from cognitive science and computerized displays of simple stimuli has shown how perceptual load is a critical factor for modulating distraction. Perceptual load is the amount of information involved in processing task stimuli. According to Lavie (1995), our attentional resources are limited and mainly directed towards task-relevant goals, but we might be more prone to distractors if we have cognitive spare resources. Previous research showed that human faces have bigger distracting power than non-face objects. This project aims to assess the distracting potential distracting effect of human avatars in a social VR scenario. We aim to transfer of traditional paradigms that assess attention and distraction to immersive VR. Lastly, we adapt the target-distractor recognizability to evaluate if a physiologically-adaptive system that optimizes for perceptual load can support task performance. The research consists of three main stages: (1) validation of the psychophysiological inference underpinning the physiological loop (2) implementation of a working VR prototype, and (3) an evaluation of the adaptive environment.

You will

• Perform a literature review
• Modify an existing VR environment
• Implement an online biocybernetic loop using EEG and/or EDA
• Collect and analyze electroencephalography (EEG), electrodermal activity (EDA), and electrocardiography (ECG) data
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present them to an audience
• (Optional) co-writing a research paper

You need

• Strong communication skills in English
• Good knowledge of Unity and/or C#
• Good knowledge of Python libraries for scientific computing (e.g. Scipy, Neurokit, MNE).

References

• Perceptual Load of faces
• Perceptual load and task engagement
• Evaluating perceptual load in VR

Description

Physiological computing is a multidisciplinary research field in HCI wherein the interaction depends on measuring and responding to the user's physiological activity in real-time (Fairclough, 2009). Physiological computing allows for implicit interaction; by monitoring the physiological signals of the user, the computer can infer, e.g., if the task demands are either too challenging or easy, and either adapt the difficulty level or when users are getting distracted from the task, the system could give them a notification. Measuring the psychological state of the user creates intriguing possibilities for Social VR scenarios as we can either adapt the number of displayed avatars, their form or even their proxemic distance. This thesis aims the develop an adaptive Social VR environment designed to support users' performance when engaged in a cognitive task using a measure of physiological state (electrodermal activity: EDA) as input for adaptation. The research consists of three main stages: (1) validation of the psychophysiological inference underpinning the physiological loop (2) implementation of a working VR prototype, and (3) an evaluation of the adaptive environment.

You will

• Perform a literature review
• Modify an existing VR environment
• Implement an online biocybernetic loop using EDA
• Collect and analyze EEG, electrodermal activity (EDA) and electrocardiography (ECG) data
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present them to an audience
• (Optional) co-writing a research paper

You need

• Strong communication skills in English
• Good knowledge of Unity
• Good knowledge of Python libraries for scientific computing (e.g. Scipy, Neurokit).

References

• Biocybernetics Loops and Physiological Computing
• Adapting task complexity of a Social VR environment based on skin conductance

Description

Prior work has explored transition visualizations between VR environments, or on specific interaction techniques for transferring objects from VR <-> AR views. However, there has been less attention on what are the more effective transitions across the reality-virtuality continuum. The focus of this work would be to (a) identify suitable MR transitions (b) create a mapping to common tasks where such transitions may be applicable (e.g., keyboard typing) (c) prototype different transitions, from R-->AR-->AV--VR, and vice versa: VR-->AV-->AR--R, and empirically investigating different parameters of each (d) run a user evaluation to assess perceived UX. comfort, sickness, etc. This project extends the work in Keep it simple? Evaluation of Transitions VR, by exploring MR transitions, instead of only across different VR environments. Evaluation metrics will involve both objective and subjective measures.

RQ1: What are the most effective methods for transitioning users across the reality-virtuality spectrum?

RQ2: How do these transition visualizations influence user experience, user physiological state, workload, and acceptance across tasks?

You will

• Perform a literature review
• Develop a environment
• Implement an preprocessing pipeline for phasic EDA detection
• Collect and analyze electroencephalographic (EEG), electrodermal activity (EDA) and electrocardiography (ECG) data
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present them to an audience
• (Optional) co-writing a research paper

You need

• Strong communication skills in English
• Good knowledge of Unity
• Good knowledge of Python libraries for scientific computing (e.g. Scipy, MNE).
• Knowledge of physiological sensing

References

• Nico Feld, Pauline Bimberg, Benjamin Weyers, and Daniel Zielasko. 2023. Keep it simple? Evaluation of Transitions in Virtual Reality. In Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 196, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544549.3585811
• Dimitar Valkov and Steffen Flagge. 2017. Smooth immersion: the benefits of making the transition to virtual environments a continuous process. In Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on Spatial User Interaction (SUI '17). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 12-19. https://doi.org/10.1145/3131277.3132183
• Han, Jihae, Robbe Cools, and Adalberto L. Simeone. "The Body in Cross-Reality: A Framework for Selective Augmented Reality Visualisation of Virtual Objects." In XR@ ISS. 2020. https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2779/paper6.pdf
• Cools, R., Esteves, A., & Simeone, A. L. (2022, October). Blending spaces: Cross-reality interaction techniques for object transitions between distinct virtual and augmented realities. In 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) (pp. 528-537). IEEE.
• Pointecker, F., Friedl, J., Schwajda, D., Jetter, H.C. and Anthes, C., 2022, October. Bridging the gap across realities: Visual transitions between virtual and augmented reality. In 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) (pp. 827-836). IEEE.
• Uwe Gruenefeld, Jonas Auda, Florian Mathis, Stefan Schneegass, Mohamed Khamis, Jan Gugenheimer, and Sven Mayer. 2022. VRception: Rapid Prototyping of Cross-Reality Systems in Virtual Reality. In Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 611, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3501821

Imagine Bob's office is connected via a (quantum-)encrypted connection to a server. How could Bob access this server from his home office if he does not have the necessary hardware at home? Well, he could get keys in his office and save them on his personal key-safe token. He could subsequently use the token at home and connect to the server.

The topic of offline distribution of cryptographic keys is interesting for researchers and practitioners alike, even outside the QKD context. Your thesis would evolve around the evaluation of already existing consumer devices that could be used to store and transport QKD-keys (or symmetric cryptographic keys in general).

Description

This projects purpose is to investigate in building a full body tracking system based on self-made trackers which are usable by the HTC VIVE and its Lighthouses. We want to compare the original HTC VIVE tracker with a varying amount of self-made trackers in order to use it for VR sport analysis.

Tasks

• Building a set of at least 10 tracker based on the enclosed literature
• Implementation of an application for testing purposes
• Compare the existing Tracker with the self-made tracker in terms of usability for VR sport analysis

Preferred qualification

• Experience in hardware and software prototyping
• Experience in C# programming for Unity 3D
• Interest in performing experiments
• Interest in performance enhancement in sports

Suggested Reading

• The HiveTrackers will serve as the foundation for the self-made trackers Tracker foundations
• This project can help to create suitable sensors Sensor foundations

Description

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an emerging visual impairment affecting millions globally [1]. In this thesis, we want you to investigate the challenges faced by individuals with AMD, particularly focusing on the differences in eye movements during simulated AMD experiences in virtual reality (VR) compared to normal or corrected vision. Building on prior research, we continue to develop a VR simulation in Unity, allowing precise control over parameters such as occlusion, visual acuity, contrast, color shifts, dark shadows, and glaring lights. Departing from previous studies, our analysis concentrates on understanding how these parameters influence task performance. Machine learning is applied to eye tracking and head movement data to discern variations between normal or corrected vision and impaired vision due to AMD.

In this thesis you aim to establish a correlation between eye movements and simulated AMD parameters. Utilising semi-constructed interviews and self-reporting, we identify when participants notice the simulated AMD, with a focus on subsequent data analysis to unveil differences in eye movements. In conclusion, visual impairments like AMD significantly impact daily tasks. One outcome could be to suggest that deviations in eye movements can be detected before users notice visual changes, offering potential as an early indicator for visual impairments.

You will

• Perform a literature review
• Modify an existing VR environment
• Implement an preprocessing pipeline for eye-tracking data
• Collect and analyze eye-tracking data using Machine Learning
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present them to an audience
• (Optional) co-writing a research paper

You need

• Strong communication skills in English
• Good knowledge of Unity
• Good knowledge of Python libraries for scientific computing (e.g. Scipy, SK Learn, Tensorflow, PyTorch).

References

• [1] World report on vision. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Description

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an emerging visual impairment affecting millions globally [1]. In this thesis, we want you to investigate the challenges faced by individuals with AMD, particularly focusing on the differences in eye movements during simulated AMD experiences in virtual reality (VR) compared to normal or corrected vision. Building on prior research, we continue to develop a VR simulation in Unity, allowing precise control over parameters such as occlusion, visual acuity, contrast, color shifts, dark shadows, and glaring lights. Departing from previous studies, our analysis concentrates on understanding how these parameters influence task performance. Using statistics we want you to investigate eye tracking and head movement data to discern variations between normal or corrected vision and impaired vision due to AMD.

In this thesis you aim to establish a correlation between eye movements and simulated AMD parameters. Utilising semi-constructed interviews and self-reporting, we identify when participants notice the simulated AMD, with a focus on subsequent data analysis to unveil differences in eye movements. In conclusion, visual impairments like AMD significantly impact daily tasks. One outcome could be to suggest that deviations in eye movements can be detected before users notice visual changes, offering potential as an early indicator for visual impairments.

You will

• Perform a literature review
• Modify an existing VR environment
• Implement an preprocessing pipeline for eye-tracking data
• Collect and analyze eye-tracking data using Machine Learning
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present them to an audience
• (Optional) co-writing a research paper

You need

• Strong communication skills in English
• Good knowledge of Unity
• Good knowledge of R libraries for statistics

References

• [1] World report on vision. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Description

Glaucoma, a prevalent visual impairment, poses challenges for millions globally [1]. In this thesis you investigate the impact of glaucoma, focusing on disparities in eye movements during simulated glaucomatous experiences in virtual reality (VR) compared to normal or corrected vision. Drawing inspiration from prior research methodologies, we want you to continue developing a VR simulation framework in Unity, offering precise control over parameters like occlusion, visual acuity, contrast, colour shifts, dark shadows, and glaring lights. Where you will continue to work on adding parameters to achieve a glaucoma simulation. Diverging from previous studies, our analysis centres on understanding how these parameters affect task performance. Machine learning is employed on eye tracking and head movement data to discern variations between normal or corrected vision and vision impaired by glaucoma.

The objective is to establish a correlation between eye movements and simulated glaucoma parameters. Using semi-constructed interviews and self-reporting, we identify when participants notice the simulated glaucoma, with a focus on subsequent data analysis to reveal disparities in eye movements. In conclusion, visual impairments like glaucoma significantly impact daily tasks. One outcome could be to suggest that deviations in eye movements can be detected before users notice visual changes, offering potential as an early indicator for visual impairments.

You will

• Perform a literature review
• Modify an existing VR environment
• Implement an preprocessing pipeline for eye-tracking data
• Collect and analyze eye-tracking data using Machine Learning
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present them to an audience
• (Optional) co-writing a research paper

You need

• Strong communication skills in English
• Good knowledge of Unity
• Good knowledge of Python libraries for scientific computing (e.g. Scipy, SK Learn, Tensorflow, PyTorch).

References

• [1] World report on vision. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Description

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an emerging visual impairment affecting millions globally [1]. In this thesis, we want you to investigate the challenges faced by individuals with AMD, particularly focusing on the differences in eye movements during simulated AMD experiences in virtual reality (VR) compared to normal or corrected vision. Building on prior research, we continue to develop a VR simulation in Unity, allowing precise control over parameters such as occlusion, visual acuity, contrast, color shifts, dark shadows, and glaring lights. Departing from previous studies, our analysis concentrates on understanding how these parameters influence task performance. Machine learning is applied to eye tracking and head movement data to discern variations between normal or corrected vision and impaired vision due to AMD.

In this thesis you aim to establish a correlation between eye movements and simulated AMD parameters. Utilising semi-constructed interviews and self-reporting, we identify when participants notice the simulated AMD, with a focus on subsequent data analysis to unveil differences in eye movements. In conclusion, visual impairments like AMD significantly impact daily tasks. One outcome could be to suggest that deviations in eye movements can be detected before users notice visual changes, offering potential as an early indicator for visual impairments.

You will

• Perform a literature review
• Modify an existing VR environment
• Implement an preprocessing pipeline for eye-tracking data
• Collect and analyze eye-tracking data using Machine Learning
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present them to an audience
• (Optional) co-writing a research paper

You need

• Strong communication skills in English
• Good knowledge of Unity
• Good knowledge of Python libraries for scientific computing (e.g. Scipy, SK Learn, Tensorflow, PyTorch).

References

• [1] World report on vision. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Description

Cataracts, affecting 65.2 million globally, are a major visual impairment. This thesis explores challenges faced by individuals with age-related cataracts, focusing on differences in eye movements during simulated cataracts in virtual reality (VR) compared to normal or corrected vision. Building on prior research [3, 4], we will implement a cataract simulation in Unity, controlling parameters like visual acuity, contrast, color shift, dark shadows, and glaring lights. Unlike previous studies, our analysis will explore how these parameters affect task performance. We will employ machine learning on eye tracking and head movement data to discern differences between normal or corrected and impaired vision.

This work aims to establish a correlation between eye movements and cataract simulation parameters. Through semi-constructed interviews and self-reporting, we aim to identify when participants notice the simulated cataract, focusing subsequent data analysis on differences in eye movements. In conclusion, visual impairments, especially cataracts, impact everyday tasks. One outcome could be to suggest that deviations in eye movements can be detected before users notice visual changes, offering potential as an early indicator for visual impairments.

You will

• Perform a literature review
• Modify an existing VR environment
• Implement an preprocessing pipeline for eye-tracking data
• Collect and analyze eye-tracking data using Machine Learning
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present them to an audience
• (Optional) co-writing a research paper

You need

• Strong communication skills in English
• Good knowledge of Unity
• Good knowledge of Python libraries for scientific computing (e.g. Scipy, SK Learn, Tensorflow, PyTorch).

References

• [1] World report on vision. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
• [2] Seddon, J., Fong, D., West, S. K., & Valmadrid, C. T. (1995). Epidemiology of risk factors for age-related cataract. Survey of ophthalmology, 39(4), 323-334.
• [3] Krösl, K. (2020). Simulating vision impairments in virtual and augmented reality (Doctoral dissertation, Wien).
• [4] Jones, P. R., & Ometto, G. (2018, March). Degraded reality: using VR/AR to simulate visual impairments. In 2018 IEEE Workshop on Augmented and Virtual Realities for Good (VAR4Good) (pp. 1-4). IEEE.

Description

Glaucoma, a prevalent visual impairment, poses challenges for millions globally [1]. In this thesis you investigate the impact of glaucoma, focusing on disparities in eye movements during simulated glaucomatous experiences in virtual reality (VR) compared to normal or corrected vision. Drawing inspiration from prior research methodologies, we want you to continue developing a VR simulation framework in Unity, offering precise control over parameters like occlusion, visual acuity, contrast, colour shifts, dark shadows, and glaring lights. Where you will continue to work on adding parameters to achieve a glaucoma simulation. Diverging from previous studies, our analysis centres on understanding how these parameters affect task performance. Using statistics on the eye tracking and head movement data to discern variations between normal or corrected vision and vision impaired by glaucoma.

The objective is to establish a correlation between eye movements and simulated glaucoma parameters. Using semi-constructed interviews and self-reporting, we identify when participants notice the simulated glaucoma, with a focus on subsequent data analysis to reveal disparities in eye movements. In conclusion, visual impairments like glaucoma significantly impact daily tasks. One outcome could be to suggest that deviations in eye movements can be detected before users notice visual changes, offering potential as an early indicator for visual impairments.

You will

• Perform a literature review
• Modify an existing VR environment
• Implement an preprocessing pipeline for eye-tracking data
• Collect and analyze eye-tracking data using statistics
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present them to an audience
• (Optional) co-writing a research paper

You need

• Strong communication skills in English
• Good knowledge of Unity
• Good knowledge of R libraries for statistics

References

• [1] World report on vision. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
• [2] Seddon, J., Fong, D., West, S. K., & Valmadrid, C. T. (1995). Epidemiology of risk factors for age-related cataract. Survey of ophthalmology, 39(4), 323-334.
• [3] Krösl, K. (2020). Simulating vision impairments in virtual and augmented reality (Doctoral dissertation, Wien).
• [4] Jones, P. R., & Ometto, G. (2018, March). Degraded reality: using VR/AR to simulate visual impairments. In 2018 IEEE Workshop on Augmented and Virtual Realities for Good (VAR4Good) (pp. 1-4). IEEE.

With the increasing proliferation of augmented reality glasses (e.g. Hololens), we are getting closer to the vision of truly mobile interaction in a digitally augmented physical world. As a consequence, a major part of the interaction with such devices will happen on the go. This establishes a need for interaction and visualization techniques that support the user in highly mobile situations. In this thesis, we will prototype and evaluate such interaction and visualization techniques to better support users while interacting on the go.

Tasks:

• Development of interaction concepts
• Prototypical implementation
• Design and conduct a user study

Requirements:

• Good programming skills (C#, Unity is a plus)

Mixed reality describes a continuum between physical reality and complete digitality (i.e., virtual reality). Both, reality and digitality, offer inherent advantages and disadvantages depending on the use case. For example, a higher degree of digitality causes a loss of connection to the real world and, on the other hand, a higher degree of reality decreases the immersiveness of the experience.In this thesis, we will investigate how the positive and negative factors of reality and digitality affect different usage scenarios. Furthermore, we want to investigate how users can move on this continuum, i.e., how they can control the amount of digitality and reality.

Tasks:

• Development of interaction concepts
• Prototypical implementation
• Design and conduct a user study

Requirements:

• Good programming skills (C#, Unity is a plus)

We, the Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety - Queensland (CARRS-Q) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia, offer you a unique position for your Master/Bachelor thesis in the areas of human-computer interaction and infotainment systems for motorbikes.

Join us on the journey of shaping the digital future and break the cycle with newest innovation technology approaches. We are a dedicated research team based in Brisbane in the Sunshine State of Australia and look for creative and out of the box thinking minds to join our team onshore.

We work on the most difficult challenges in the automotive industry where the only limits are our own imagination. Digitalization will be key to ensure a safe riding experience in the future. Come join our creative team to shape the future of motorbikes. All in?

What awaits you?

We will work with you to shape and scope your thesis project to align with any of the following activities:

• You will prepare real-world rider studies in various traffic scenarios and different interaction concepts.
• Evaluate various output media for a safe riding experience.
• Build a pretotype with an innovative mixed approach of augmented reality and voice speech. In addition, this unique placement provides
• the ability to present and discuss your solutions with industry experts at BMW Motorrad Munich on a higher level.
• the chance to discuss the newest trends in smart voice agents with other creative minds within industry and relevant stakeholders such as the state police in Queensland with an idea to learn from them and support shaping infotainment solutions for the future.

What should you bring along?

• Currently enrolled full time in an undergraduate or graduate program at an accredited college or university studying Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), or related fields like Computer Science Engineering, Software Engineering, Informatics, Data Science. Master’s degree preferred.
• Proven experience in software development, software engineering, prototyping or similar role.
• Experience in software development life cycles (SDLC).
• Experience with software design and development in a test-driven environment.
• Knowledge of coding languages (e.g.,C++, Java, JavaScript, Python) and platforms like Unity.
• An elevated mindset that is willing to think outside of the box and sees opportunity in every difficulty.
• Being able to work in a team is key for this position.

Challenge accepted? Apply now!

Earliest starting date: 01.05.2023
Duration: 6 - 12 months
Working hours: Full-time

The aim of this work is to get an overview of the possibilities of developing the representation of objects in three-dimensional space for smartwatches. As part of a literature review, the first step is to determine the technical feasibility and the current state of development. In the next step, these insights can be programmed and implemented for WatchOS

You will:

• Perform a literature search
• Examination of the various possibilities of 3D display in smartwatches
• Implementation of a 3D model for WatchOS
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present it to an audience

You need:

• Strong communication skills in German or English
• Good knowledge of WatchOS development (Swift)

Due to the increasing complexity of digital workplaces, workers often face interruptions, mental overload, and a The aim of this paper is to get an overview of the different digital feedback possibilities in sports. Within the scope of a literature research, the first step is to determine the current models and the current state of research. Then, a study will be conducted to test which models are best suited as feedback. The main focus will be on the psychological aspect regarding the effect on motivation and the perception of feedback.

You will:

• Perform a literature search
• Investigation of the different digital feedback options
• Carrying out a study
• Analyze the impact of the feedback on the users
• Summarize your findings in a thesis and present it to an audience

You need:

• Strong communication skills in German or English
• Good knowledge of psychology (ideally related to sports)

Description

Human-AI interaction understanding is evolving comparatively slower than technical AI understanding. A particularly interesting issue is the perception of ownership over the creations made with AI support. How the ammount of effort, time, and iterations over a given outcome influence the user's sense of ownership?. In this thesis you will explore these correlations and contribute to the understanding of Human-AI collaboration.

You will

• Develop AI protoypes using LLMs and Difussion models
• Deploy your prototypes in a Museum where a significant ammount of people will try your app
• Collect data during the museum exhibition
• Analyze real-world data and report the findings

You need

• Good knowledge of Python
• Understanding the deployment of models from Huggingface
• Knowledge of how to develop User Interfaces

References

• Draxler, F., Werner, A., Lehmann, F., Hoppe, M., Schmidt, A., Buschek, D., & Welsch, R. (2023). The AI Ghostwriter Effect: Users Do Not Perceive Ownership of AI-Generated Text But Self-Declare as Authors. ArXiv, abs/2303.03283.

Description

A recent trend in human-computer interaction is augmenting human sensory capabilities, among them interoceptive awareness, or the knowledge of one's own organism. This can be helpfult from a enhanced health perspective but also for a human enhancement standpoint, given that having such information could help individuals optimize the inputs they provide to their bodies to increase physical/cognitive skills. Continuous Glucose Monitoring devices provide information about the individual's blood, which can potentially be used to track activities or reactions to food/medications/habits. In this thesis, you will explore the potential applications of this devices for enhancing human performance. Ultimately creating a wearable device that read's user physiological information via blood, and delivers feedback through haptic/auditory channels.

You will

• Perform a review of current literature
• Collect in-the-wild data from participants to create an base dataset
• Create an AI/ML model that can do inferences based on CGM data
• Create a prototype that provides feedback to the user based on the AI/ML inferences

You need

• Android Programming Skills
• Understanding of AI/ML techniques

References

• Steeven Villa, Jasmin Niess, Takuro Nakao, Jonathan Lazar, Albrecht Schmidt, and Tonja-Katrin Machulla. 2023. Understanding Perception of Human Augmentation: A Mixed-Method Study.
• Albrecht Schmidt Augmenting Human Intellect and Amplifying Perception and Cognition

Description

Current advancements in VR technology have enabled high-quality visual and auditory feedback, but achieving realistic touch sensations, specifically temperature, continues to be challenging. This thesis explores the integration of encountered-type haptics and Peltier temperature plates to enhance temperature perception in VR. Specifically, it investigates rendering varied temperatures in large-scale Virtual Reality using a single temperature-enabled end-effector.

You will

• Control a Robot from Unity using a plugin
• Control the temperature of peltier elements using arduino
• Attach the eeltier elements to the robot end-effector
• Run User-Studies to test your prototype
• Analyze the collected data

You need

• Good knowledge of Unity
• Willingness to learn hardware prototyping

References

• Steeven Villa and Sven Mayer. Cobity: Cobity: A Plug-And-Play Toolbox to Deliver Haptics in Virtual Reality
• Steeven Villa, Sven Mayer, Jess Hartcher-O'Brien, Albrecht Schmidt, and Tonja-Katrin Machulla. 2022. Extended Mid-air Ultrasound Haptics for Virtual Reality.
• V. R. Mercado, M. Marchal and A. Lécuyer, "“Haptics On-Demand”: A Survey on Encountered-Type Haptic Displays,"

Problem Statement

This thesis aims to explore the potential of data physicalization for health-related wellbeing motivation in a private context, specifically in the areas of sleep. By designing a visualisation for a prototype that translates stress and sleep data into a physical representation, this thesis seeks to examine the effectiveness of data physicalization as a motivational tool for individuals to make positive changes to their wellbeing.

Tasks

• Perform a literature review
• Design multiple visualisations
• Programm multiple suitable visualisations
• Evaluate visualisations
• Write a thesis and present your findings in the Disputationsseminar
• (Optional:) co-write a research paper

Requirements

• Basic knowledge of user research
• Experience with hardware prototyping (Arduino)
• Experience with visualisations

Problem Statement

This work aims to develop and evaluate innovative interaction techniques that enable users to effectively explore and analyze large datasets in for example Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR).In particular, the techniques should enable the selection of spatial regions and temporal segments and at the same time enable seamless interaction in both dimensions.This is a programming heaving thesis.

Tasks

• Perform a literature review
• Design of interaction techniques
• Implementation of interaction techniques
• Evaluation of techniques
• Write a thesis and present your findings in the Disputationsseminar
• (Optional:) co-write a research paper

Requirements

• Basic knowledge of user research
• Willingness to dive into / Experience with VR/AR programming