Research Group Interactive Systems

The Interactive Systems research group (IAS) was founded in 2000 by Pro­fessor Martin Hitz. Its core com­pe­tencies span the areas of usability eng­ineering, novel inter­action mech­a­ni­sms, non-classical user inter­faces, cogni­tive psy­chology in the con­text of user inter­faces, smart home con­trol and inter­action, and design and modelling of in­for­mation systems.

Human-centered com­puting and design is the central theme of most of our research activities. Much of our work is currently focused on the inter­action between the human and the artifacts or digital devices she uses. Thereby we are par­ticularly in­te­rested in various aspects of user-friendliness within the context of:

• mobility and inte­gration of com­puterized com­po­nents into every­day artefacts/­devices (form factors, inter­action mech­­anisms, appli­cation areas),
• accessi­bility (under-served popu­lation groups, digital divide, e-government), and
  
• various interface paradigms (3D, virtual- and augmented reality, ubiquitous/­pervasive computing).

We offer se­ver­al courses on in­ter­ac­tive sys­tems and re­lated top­ics, such as Vis­ual Design of In­ter­ac­tive Sys­tems, Mo­bile Human-Computer In­ter­ac­tion, and User Ex­per­i­ence Eng­i­neer­ing. We also co­ord­i­nate a Bach­elor’s spec­i­al­i­za­tion in In­ter­ac­tive Sys­tems and a Mas­ter’s spec­i­al­i­za­tion in Human-Computer In­ter­action.