Open Thesis Topics

The following open topics are currently available:

Topic

In recent years, a innovative technique known as hand redirection has revolutionized interaction in virtual reality (VR).
The technique leverages offsets between the user's real and virtual hand to take control over their hand movement trajectories (e.g., redirecting their real hand to locations that differ from the locations they see their virtual hand in). This can be used, for example, to interact with objects out of the user's reach. Previous research has shown that such techniques can go unnoticed by users if the offset stays below the so called perceptual detection threshold.

While existing investigations have only focused on the redirecting the user's hand, in this thesis, the goal is to apply the concept to the the user's legs and feet. Specifically, in the context of this thesis, you will:

  • identify relevant degrees of freedom in human leg and foot movement that are suitable for redirection
  • implement a prototype that applies redirection to legs and feet
  • study the perception of leg and foot redirection in a detection threshold experiment
  • implement 2-3 sample scenes that showcase this novel type of redirection

References

The following papers can serve as a reference to learn more about the topics (see also the videos on the linked websites and on my profile):

Prerequisites

  • Read the provided papers above (might require VPN to access)
  • Be familiar or get familiar with the concept of hand redirection (see also further publications on my profile website)
  • Background or interest in Virtual Reality
  • Ideally: experience with Unity3D
  • Completed HCI lecture and ideally already attended at least one seminar at our chair

How to apply

Please send me an email with the following pieces of information (if you do not answer every point, your application will not be considered):

  • When you plan to start the thesis
  • When you plan to finish the thesis
  • A short motivational statement (max 0.5 pages) why this topic is interesting for you
  • Your transcript of records and your CV

Advisors

See personal profile of Dr. André Zenner

Topic

As virtual reality (VR) becomes increasingly immersive and untethered, users are more likely to interact with mid-air interfaces while physically moving within real-world environments. However, this freedom introduces safety risks: users may unknowingly reach toward real-world hazards like hot drinks, sharp objects, or fragile items.

Hand redirection—a perceptual illusion technique that subtly alters the trajectory of a user's hand in VR—has been widely explored for interaction enhancement and space compression. Yet, its potential for real-world safety augmentation remains underexplored.

This thesis proposes a novel concept called “Redirect to Protect”: a system that uses the onboard cameras of modern headsets (e.g., Meta Quest 3) and vision-language models (VLMs) to detect real-world obstacles and dynamically redirect users’ hand movements away from them during VR interactions. This approach aims to preserve immersion while enhancing physical safety.

Research Gap

While prior work has explored hand redirection for interaction optimization and spatial manipulation, few systems integrate real-time environmental understanding with redirection for safety purposes. Moreover, the integration of VLMs for semantic scene understanding in VR safety contexts is still in its infancy.

Main Research Steps

  • Scene Understanding: Use cameras onboard a VR headset and VLMs to detect and semantically label real-world objects.
  • Risk Assessment: Identify which virtual UI elements, if interacted with, could lead to collisions with real-world obstacles.
  • Redirection Strategy: Apply hand redirection techniques to subtly alter reach trajectories toward safer paths.
  • System Implementation: Build a proof-of-concept prototype system on a modern HMD (e.g., Meta Quest 3).
  • User Study: Conduct a controlled lab experiment to evaluate safety, usability, and user perception.

References

The following papers can serve as a reference to learn more about the topics (see also the videos on the linked websites and on my profile):

Prerequisites

  • Interest in VR and AI and HCI
  • Having read the provided papers above (might require VPN to access)
  • Ideally: experience with Unity3D/VR/AR and/or VLMs/LLMs
  • Ideally: completed HCI lecture and/or already attended at least one (pro-) seminar at our chair

How to apply

Please send me an email with the following information (if you do not answer every point, your application will not be considered):

  • When do you plan to start the thesis?
  • When do you plan to finish the thesis?
  • A short motivational statement (max 1 page) why this topic is interesting for you.
  • Your transcript of records and your CV.

Advisors

 

See personal profile of Dr. André Zenner

This thesis should investigate how gamification can be applied to established neuropsychological tasks such as Semantic Verbal Fluency and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task to enhance user experience in digital or remote cognitive assessments.

The thesis scope includes designing gamified variants of one neuropsychological tasks, developing a functional prototype, and conducting an user-centered evaluation of gamified task variant with regard to user experience and task validity.

 

How to apply
Please send me an email including the following:

  • Whether it is a Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis
  • Your estimated thesis start date
  • Your transcript of records and CV
  • A brief summary of why this topic interests you
See personal profile of Janna Herrmann

This work focuses on human-robot collaboration, in more detail, how a robotic arm and a human can work together at an assembly cell such that the robot pro-actively supports the worker in assembling a workpiece. A prototypical set-up including the robot and components of the workpiece are already available as well as a mixed-reality duplicate of the set-up, which can be used to conduct Wizard-of-Oz (WoZ) style user-studies using AR glasses. Building on the existing work, your task is to conceptualize, plan, conduct and assess a user-study to determine the most appropriate work dynamic (the optimal division of tasks) between the robot and the worker. This also includes determining the most suitable modalities for human-robot communication during the process. This thesis is a collaboration between ZeMA (Zentrum für Mechatronik und Automatisierungstechnik gGmbH) and DFKI. The practical work will be done at the Power4Production Hall at Eschbergerweg 46, Saarbrücken.

Focus

The focus is on the user-study itself. You will need to create a storyline, think about relevant questions, including identifying which data must be recorded, find participants, plan the execution, and analyze the results. 

Prerequisites

  • Background in planning and conduction user-studies (e.g. from the HCI lecture)
  • Interest in Mixed Reality (e.g. Meta Quest AR headsets)
  • Interest in Robotics
  • Enrolled in a Bachelor programme in computer science, mediainformatics or related field

How to apply

Please send us an email with the following pieces of information (if you do not answer every point, your application will not be considered):

  • When you plan to start the thesis
  • When you plan to finish the thesis
  • A short motivational statement why this topic is interesting for you
  • A summary why you would be a good fit for this topic
  • Your transcript of records and CV
See personal profile of Dr. Tim Schwartz