HCI Thesis topics

Potential areas for thesis work

• Augmented / virtual reality
  • Augmented and virtual reality are still relatively new technologies. Hence, there is still a large gap to fill on the understanding of how these technologies influence our sensory perceptions for the good or the bad.
  • Equipment to work with:
    • Augmented reality: Magic Leap
    • Virtual reality: HTC Vive + additional trackers
    • AR/VR mobile phone headset
  • Skills to posit or to learn:
    • Java or C++
    • Game engine (e.g., Godot, Unity, etc.)
      

• Decision making in recommender systems
  • Recommender systems are a commonly used tool to assist people in making decisions among an abundance of choices. To create systems that can effectively recommend items to people, an understanding of their behaviors, preferences, and needs are needed.
    • Online experiments
  • Useful skills to posit or to learn. Which skills are needed is depending on the scope:
    • Machine learning for creating recommendation lists
    • Programming languages such as python for data manipulation
    • Web languages to create the online experiments
    • Affinity with psychological and/or cognitive models

• Serious games
  • Serious games are games that focus on education/training rather than entertainment. They are used to provide engagement in learning in different areas.
  • Useful skills:
    • Affinity with games and game design
    • Being creative
    • Programming skills are a plus
    • Familiar with qualitative studies
• Persuasive technology
  • Persuasive technology are technologies that are designed to induce a behavioral or attitudinal change. This is done through persuasion or social influence rather than by coercion.
  • Useful skills:
    • Experiment design
    • Affinity with psychological and/or cognitive models
    • Programming skills are a plus