> here you can find a list of my recent works / publications. hit me up at at Researchgate for the most recent updates.

enjoy reading!

What User Interface to Use for VR? 2D, 3D or Speech – A User Study

abstract: In virtual reality different demands on the user interface have to be addressed than on classic screen applications. That's why established strategies from other digital media cannot be transferred unreflected and at least adaptation is required. So one of the leading questions is: which form of interface is preferable for virtual reality? Are 2D interfaces---that are mostly used in combination with mouse or touch interactions---the means of choice, although they do not use the medium's full capabilities? What about 3D interfaces that can be naturally integrated into the virtual space? And last but not least: are speech interfaces, the fastest and most natural form of human interaction/communication, which have recently established themselves in other areas (e.g. digital assistants), ready to conquer the world of virtual reality? To answer these question this work compares these three approaches based on a quantitative user study and highlights advantages and disadvantages of the respective interfaces for virtual reality applications.

Keywords: virtual reality, comparison of user interfaces, input modality, 2D interface, 3D interface, speech interface

Worldmaking: designing for audience participation, immersion and interaction in virtual and real spaces.

abstract: Artists often try to open up new experiences for people, challenging them to extend horizons and perception. This becomes particularly relevant when thinking about experiencing built environments: Here, technologies like Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVE) or Head-Mounted Displays (HMD) can be used as a tool to offer richer experiences to the audience in both art installations and exhibitions. We have been developing several exhibitions tackling the challenges that come with exhibiting in (semi -) public spaces: how do we engage visitors in our exhibitions, what role do bystanders play and how can this be considered in the development and design process? The exhibitions were built in a chronological order (2015-2018) and increasing degree of immersion and interaction. For exhibition one, we built a CAVE-like tryptic projection showing linear pre-rendered videos of seven different built environments. In exhibition two we build a replica of a hot-air-balloon and let people experience architecture from birds eye view using a HMD. Exhibition three is also an immersive VR using a HMD, but from a very different angle. Here we use a bike to let people actively explore a space by regulating speed and direction of the bike. By using the discreet method of observation, we ensured that the visitors were not disturbed in their experience, which in turn would falsify our findings. So we are able to compare and discuss these three approaches in regards to the above mentioned criteria within this paper.

Keywords: virtual reality, spatial perception, exhibition, (semi-) public space, architecture, museum

Do you feel what you see? multimodal perception in virtual reality

abstract: This paper discusses how different physically existing materials can be mapped on virtual textures in mixed reality environments by carrying out an explorative user study (n=101). For physical materials-in form of 3d trackable and moveable cubes-acrylic, wood and aluminum have been used. The virtual textures convey the impression of ceramic, fabric, glass, leather, paper, wood, acrylic, quartz, granite and aluminum. The study reveals which virtual textures match well with the different virtual textures and which do not match at all.

Keywords: haptics, mixed reality, perception, virtual reality
read more: Master's Thesis

improving pedestrians safety through proactive street lighting

abstract: Although digital revolution has pervaded almost every part of daily life, cities remained seemingly analogue and furthermore inhabitants are mostly excluded from the digital layer. By using established infrastructure of city lights we try to ensure that our concept can be implemented in the most simple and realistic way: Our intention is to project content on pavement by replacing timeworn light bulbs with a projector linked with an intelligent sensor array. With this approach we expect to increase social interaction within open spaces by creating a more engaging way through the city and reduce the use of distracting and separating mobile devices. Considering the increasing wish for safety as well as present accident statistics, society faces the necessity to support the needs of their weakest traffic participants – pedestrians. As for today we propose several applications to support pupils having a safe way to school and back, to highlight danger zones to prevent accidents and to guide large crowds in an increasingly complex city. We want to provide a more economical, safer and smarter way to lighten up the way through future cities.

Keywords: Smart City; Intelligent Street Light; Hybrid Space; Pedestrian Safety
read more: www.hybrid-city-lighting.de

Incentive Guidance of Crowds by Smart City Lights

abstract:Although digital revolution has pervaded almost every part of daily life, cities remained seemingly analogue and furthermore inhabitants are mostly excluded from the digital layer. Considering the increasing wish for safety as well as present accident statistics, society faces the necessity to support the needs of their weakest traffic participants – pedestrians. As for today we propose to guide large crowds in an increasingly complex city by incentive hints. By using established infrastructure of city lights we try to ensure that our concept can be implemented in the most simple and realistic way. With this approach we expect to increase security and traffic optimization within open spaces by creating a more engaging way through the city.

Keywords: Incentive, Guidance Systems

self-presentation offline & online [german]

introduction (short): Who am i? - no later then with the wide spread of the participatory internet, this question can no longer be answered with a homogeneous response: identities fragment, offline identities become online users. this process of transformation creates inter alia partial, pseudo- and substitutional identities that first of all, presents the user within his brave new [online] world which later can become a part of their overall identity. how self-sufficient are these two identity constructs? to what extent is one able draw conclusions about their offline-identity from these new avatars?

Keywords: social; identity; avatars;

urban hacking in virtual realities [german]

„The ultimate display would, of course, be a room within which the computer can control the existence of matter. A chair displayed in such a room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining, and a bullet displayed in such a room would be fatal. With appropriate pro-gramming such a display could literally be the Wonderland into which Alice walked.“

[Sutherland, I., 1965. The Ultimate Display. pp. 506-508.]

Keywords: urban; hacking; virtual reality; space;