Softwarepraktika

Unsere Studiengänge betonen neben der Theorie auch praktische Kurse, die es den Studierenden ermöglichen, praktische Erfahrungen zu sammeln. Um die praktische Erfahrung im Bachelor-Studiengang zu erlangen, müssen die Studierenden ein Softwarepraktikum absolvieren, das der Kern der Bachelor-Arbeit ist. Nähere Informationen zum Ablauf einer Bachelorarbeit an der Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt finden Sie unter Studienabschluss/Bachelorarbeiten.

Das Softwarepraktikum ist ein Projekt in der Industrie oder in der Forschung, das normalerweise von einem Team von 2-3 Studenten durchgeführt wird. Jedes Team wird von einem wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeiter geleitet und von einem Professor betreut.

Im Folgenden finden Sie eine Liste verfügbarer und laufender Projekte. Bitte überprüfen Sie auch die Websites der Forschungsgruppen und etwaige Aushänge von Firmen an der Institutsinfotafel für weitere Informationen.

Verfügbar: Elastic Input Devices (David Ahlström)

Arduino is a popular open source hardware and software platform that can be used to »digitalize« physical objects. In this project we will use an Arduino microcontroller and stretch sensors to explore ways to create elastic objects that can be used as computer input devices.

In the first project phase you will get familiar with the Arduino Software (IDE) and its basic hardware (sensors and controller boards). The work in the second project phase will focus on reading data from a stretch sensor and on preparing this data for further use on an Android smartphone and/or smartwatch.

Technologies & Tools: Arduino • Android

Contact: Dr. David Ahlström

Verfügbar: Sensor Based Interactions For Smartwatches (David Ahlström)

Today’s smartwatches are equipped with high-quality sensors, such as a gyroscope and an accelerometer. These sensors could open up new possibilities to extend the user’s input vocabulary beyond the smartwatch’s small touchscreen. This project aims at interpreting the sensor signals that are generated when the user gestures in the air or swipes a finger (on the hand where the watch is worn) across an uneven surface and to map signal patterns to input commands.

So far, a software package has been implemented that enables long-term logging of the smartwatch’s sensor data while the user goes about doing his or her daily activities. The next two steps in this project can either be completed as two separate Bachelor projects by two groups of students or in combination as a Master project for one student.

PROJECT A – Analyzer Module
The analyzer module is a software package that can be used to analyse the logged raw sensor data and to identify regularities and patterns in data. The core of the module will be a Support Vector Machine that can be trained to automatically classify sequences of sensor data into pattern categories.

PROJECT B – Test Module
The test module is a software package that provides the necessary functionality to run a user study where participants wear a smartwatch while swiping a finger across a series of different everyday objects with non-flat (bumpy) surfaces, such as a comb, a bottle, or a computer keyboard. The intention with such a user study is to collect the vibration signals picked up by the sensors in the smartwatch and then compare these signals with signals that are generated when a user goes about doing his or her daily activities (using the analyzer module from Project A).

Technologies & Tools: Java • Android • Support Vector Machine

Contact: Dr. David Ahlström

Verfügbar: Typeface Readability (David Ahlström)

In the graphic design community and in the usability community there is an on-going discussion about how fast and easy people can read text on computer monitors and smartphone screens. The readability of a text piece is influenced by several factors. Such as the letter size, text and background color, the line length, and the shape of the individual characters making up the text.

The intended outcome of this project is a software package that provides the functionality that is necessary to conduct user studies on readability. This includes functionality to configure different test cases (i.e., combinations of various text attributes such as letter size, text color, and typeface) and functionality to present the different test cases to study participants, as well as functionality to log the time participants need to read the text in the different test cases.

Technologies & Tools: Java

Contact: Dr. David Ahlström

Verfügbar: Mehrere Praktika bei Econob (Prof. Dr. Pinzger)

The econob – Informationsdienstleistungs GmbH offers several practica (Softwarepraktikum) in the area of software evolution analysis and quality assurance in software engineering. Check out the TEWI blog for more information on available practica or contact Martin Pinzger.

Laufend: macOS and iOS Utility App – iCAL Export (David Ahlström)

Busy people with tight time schedules and full calendars often face problems finding empty »slots« in their schedules for new appointments. Often, persons negotiate about the date and time for an upcoming meeting over email, sending a list of possible dates and times to meet, back and forth.

Remarkably, with electronic calendars, such as the iCal App, it is difficult to quickly become an overview of empty time slots between day X and Y. Moreover, the user cannot generate a list that only contains empty time slots.

The outcome of this project is a utility app for macOS and iOS that reads the stored iCal calendar events and provides powerful filtering functionality to let the user easily view and export information about both upcoming events and empty time slots that are available for new meetings.

Accordingly, in this project you get the chance to learn and practice GUI (Graphical User Interface) programming using Apple’s development tools. You also have the possibility to contribute with an app in the App Store!

Technologies & Tools: Swift • Cocoa • Xcode

Contact: Dr. David Ahlström

Laufend: In-Air Interaction for Desktop Computers (David Ahlström)

Recent advances in software and hardware technology for object tracking make it now possible to detect and accurately track the position of virtually any object that is moved around within the range of the tracking hardware. In this project we will explore how a Leap Motion Controller can be used to track a user’s fingers and hands as they move around on and above the keyboard and back and forth between the keyboard and the mouse while the user is surfing the Web.

The intention is to design suitable finger and hand gestures that can serve as alternative input mechanisms. For example, wiggling up and down with a finger could be mapped to window scrolling and a quick pointing gesture to the left could be used to reload the previous webpage.

In this project you will get familiar with the Leap Motion Controller and its API and then implement a »gesture module« that maps finger and hand tracking information to various interface actions, such as for switching between applications, copy & paste, scrolling, or zooming.

This project can be adapted to suite as a Master project (by also developing a »test module« that uses the »gesture module« and by conducting a user experiment on in-air gestures).

Technologies & Tools: Java • Python • C++ (your pick!)

Contact: Dr. David Ahlström