Research Program
The main research question of the postgraduate programme is how digital media and the related field of human-computer interaction (HCI) can be used to design systems in a way that they have a holistic and lasting positive impact on society.
Therefore the following aspects are important:
- Does the use increase the wellbeing, for example by improving the health?
- Does the system support its user's aspirations towards competence and autonomy?
- What is the expected long term impact for individuals and society?
To approach these questions, the postgraduates design, develop, implement and evaluate new interactive systems in various application areas. They will focus on complex systems which support their users or stakeholders in various application areas. Although digital media is a part of everyday life, the postgraduate programme will emphasise three areas. Those three areas represent exemplary distinctive challenges, which can be transferred in other domains:
- Topic Area A: medicine and health
- Topic Area B: research and development
- Topic Area C: everyday life
The approach of the postgraduate programme will be interdisciplinary and will incorporate different methods while advancing them. The three main research methods applied will be:
- Methods of HCI: The postgraduates will use human-centred design methods as well as employ participative design while developing interactive systems.
- Methods of AI (Artificial Intelligence): From this repertoire, especially the semantic and cognitive approaches will be of importance.
- Design-Methods: Design methods applied in (digital) media and product design will be used, especially when cooperating with designers.
The aim of the postgraduate programme is, based on the different methods, to create new interdisciplinary approaches for development and analysis. Their goal is to create and assess Empowering Digital Media. Additionally, the aim is to develop to a certain extent new technologies, if it is based on commercially available hardware. Example technologies are printable displays and sensors as well as tangibles.